The 2025 Bot Nuke Is Here: A War Against RuneScape’s Cheaters

Cheating in RuneScape has always been a problem, but by 2025, it had reached a breaking point. Botting was no longer an underground nuisance—it was the backbone of an illicit economy. With real-world profit on the line, bot makers found ways to exploit Old School RuneScape’s imperfect detection systems and turn thousands of automated accounts into gold-printing machines.

 

According to internal estimates, up to 44% of active accounts at one point were bots. Nearly half of the game. Even Jagex moderators, including Mod Ash, weighed in publicly on the damage this was causing to the game’s ecosystem. The community started buzzing about a “bot nuke” that wiped out large numbers of these accounts—but anyone paying close attention knew it wasn’t a complete victory. Some hotspots were cleaned out, but others remained thriving bot havens.

 

This article dives into those hot zones, the scale of profits bots are generating, and one player’s relentless mission to disrupt, expose, and ultimately propose a way to nuke these money-making machines for good.

 

The Elves of Prifddinas Under Siege

 

In the elven capital of Prifddinas, harmony is supposed to reign. After defeating the Fragment of Seren, players are welcomed into a glittering city of opportunity. But recently, reports from elves and nearby adventurers painted a darker picture: rampant thieving by suspicious accounts.

 

Investigations revealed characters in full Rogue outfits with thieving capes, parked endlessly at stalls. The suspicious part wasn’t the activity itself—thieving elves have always been a profitable grind—but the scale.

 

Campo’s Jack, an account with only the bare minimum requirements for Song of the Elves, had amassed 80 million thieving XP.

 

TheySaggy, another account, pushed past 200 million XP, ranking 715 in the world, and pocketing an estimated 2.8 billion OSRS GP in loot.

 

World-hopping confirmed it wasn’t just one or two outliers—bots were present in almost every other world. Each earned roughly 3 million GP an hour, and none of them responded to player interaction.

 

Air Orb Bots and the Cosmic Rune Collection

 

Next stop: the Wilderness Air Obelisk. Here, armies of bots charge air orbs for profit, each hauling stacks of cosmic runes. Their stats reveal a clear pattern: magic, construction, and runecrafting only, tailored to one purpose.

 

One account, Zilmfix SAS 7, had gained 6.1 million magic XP in three weeks, equating to about 155 hours of non-stop orb charging. That’s a 70 million GP haul from just one bot. Multiply that across dozens of worlds, and the numbers balloon.

 

But unlike the unresponsive thieving bots, these orb runners could be disrupted. Killing them in the Wilderness netted thousands of cosmic runes, sparking the creation of a unique project: a bot-busting bank tab. Each stack of loot—cosmic runes, gear, or coins—serves as a trophy, a reminder of a bot taken down.

 

In just a short spree, over 10,000 cosmic runes were collected, worth more than 1 million GP. And when the bans finally landed, the satisfaction was doubled: loot in the bank, bots in the graveyard.

 

The Mage Training Arena Infiltration

 

The Mage Training Arena (MTA) is a place most players visit reluctantly to grind out their infinity robes. But bots see it differently: an endless, low-effort goldmine.

 

One account, Gutchers, jumped from 17.5 million to 26.2 million magic XP in just three weeks, with no other stats. Another, Egop, climbed from 16.5 to 24 million. These accounts grind 24/7, slowly converting points into wands and robes, and while profits average only 200k GP an hour, the sheer volume of bots makes the operation lucrative.

 

Even after reports, many remained active, some pushing near 40 million XP. By conservative estimates, a single account could generate over 167 million GP selling gear.

 

Blue Dragon Bots in Gu’Tanoth

 

Even Gu’Tanoth, the ogre city, wasn’t safe. Behind the Watchtower quest barrier, bots farmed blue dragons in relative secrecy. Each killed 60–70 dragons an hour, earning 250–300k GP in bones and hides.

 

Investigations found accounts with over 24 million XP, evidence of months of automated farming. Attempts to confuse or disrupt them failed; their scripts always returned them to the same spot. Ultimately, the only solution was the “nuclear option”—reporting them to Jagex, which did result in bans.

 

Gem Mine Exploits in Shilo Village

 

In Shilo Village, gem rocks are a dream for bots: low requirements, steady profit, and high yields. Some bots mined 900 gems an hour, raking in 350–400k GP per account.

 

Two distinct farms emerged: bots on the top level with obviously high mining XP, and stealthier bots on the bottom floor, instantly logging out if approached. One such account had 33 million mining XP, equating to over 200 million GP earned. Weeks later, it had climbed to 44 million XP, proving many still evade detection.

 

Curiously, many of these accounts also trained Herblore to level 81 or 85, suggesting they doubled as minigame bots for Mastering Mixology, another profitable niche.

 

Toward a True Bot Nuke

 

Despite waves of bans and visible progress, the bot problem persists. From Prifddinas to Shilo, from orbs to dragons, automated accounts continue to farm cheap OSRS GP and distort the game’s economy.

 

That’s why a new proposal—a comprehensive plan to eliminate gold-farming bots—has been drafted and shared with the community. The document, refined with player feedback, aims to close loopholes and address bot networks at their core. Its release sparked controversy: after posting it to Reddit, the author was temporarily banned, possibly mass-reported by bot operators themselves.

 

But bans and pushback only highlight the proposal’s potential. If the bot makers are worried, then maybe this really is the ultimate bot nuke.

 

The war against bots isn’t over. The community is fed up, Jagex is watching, and with enough support, RuneScape might finally have the tools to reclaim its world from the scripts and farms that have plagued it for decades.