The creator of Garry’s Mod, Garry Newman, has not logged into his own game for several years. As a result, the legendary «Yes, I am the real garry!» achievement, originally awarded for playing on the same server as Garry, could only be obtained through Steam Achievement Manager or other illegitimate methods. However, in July 2026, the community encountered something completely unexpected: Garry had seemingly returned—but not in the way anyone had hoped.
Recently, the Garry’s Mod community was stirred by reports that Garry had been constantly playing on a particular server. Numerous screenshots surfaced showing Garry on the server and players unlocking the famous achievement simply by joining it. After investigating the situation, the community discovered that it was neither the real Garry nor a compromised account. Instead, it was a bot that had been assigned Garry’s SteamID.
Whenever someone joined the server, the game checked whether Garry’s SteamID was present. Since the bot used Garry’s identifier, every player on the server automatically received the achievement. On this server, players could even temporarily become «Garry» themselves.
The technique of spoofing SteamIDs is not new. Garry’s Mod developers have used similar methods internally for years to grant themselves the achievement. However, the wider community only became aware of the trick after the controversy surrounding the server hosting the fake «Garry».
The server hosting the fake Garry has since been added to Facepunch’s blacklist, meaning it no longer appears in the in-game server browser. Players can only connect directly via its IP address. Garry himself has not commented on the incident, remaining just as indifferent as before.
It is important to note that Valve prohibits impersonating another user’s SteamID, whether for a player or a bot. Such actions violate Valve’s policies and may result in a VAC ban, permanent account restrictions, or similar sanctions against a Workshop addon or community server.
