Dota 2: Gamers must use the same Dota phone number as Steam if they want to climb Rank

In an effort to clean up matchmaking in Dota 2, Valve has added a warning system that requires players to use the same mobile phone number on Dota as Steam.

Steam confirmation often requires a mobile phone number to be associated with the account so that the owner can receive login notifications, as well as protect from hacker attacks. Dota 2 now uses the same feature to confirm players in rank.

If someone is found to have broken Steam’s Terms of Use, such as boosting MMR or low conduct scores, their account will be blacklisted in rank mode.

Valve applies a system that can detect and automatically ban players who violate the above. It will block the phone number associated with the Dota 2 account, not allowing players to participate in the rank.

The problem is that many toxic people can buy new phone numbers or use software that generates unused numbers to bypass Valve’s control. That’s why Valve wants players to use the same phone number for both Dota 2 and Steam.

During a data mining case, they found the following lines of messages

“The phone number associated with your Dota account does not appear to be matching Steam. Please link that phone number to Dota.”

Currently, Dota 2 doesn’t have this penalty or warning deadline, but if Valve wants to push it, they need to be tougher. In a future update, it is possible that gamers will be prevented from participating in the rank until they link the same account number.

This is one of the methods the company tries to cover the loophole, allowing players to get banned from ranking.