Request for troubleshooting: KeyStats does not track keyboard and mouse usage in Delta Force: Hawk Ops and Cities: Skylines II

[monkey-180]

Dear maintainers of KeyStats,
Hope you’re doing well! My name is monkey, and I’m a grateful user of KeyStats. This tool has been incredibly helpful for tracking my daily keyboard and mouse usage, and I really appreciate the effort your team has put into developing and maintaining it.
I’m writing to kindly report a small issue I’ve encountered: when I run two games (Delta Force: Hawk Ops and Cities: Skylines II), KeyStats stops recording any keyboard or mouse activity generated during gameplay. The statistics remain unchanged throughout the gaming session, but the tracking function works normally again once I close the games. Since I only play these two games, I’m unable to confirm if this issue applies to other games.
Would it be possible for your team to look into the compatibility of KeyStats with these two games? It would mean a lot to me if the tracking feature could work seamlessly while playing these games.
Thank you so much for your time and attention to this matter. I wish your team continued success in improving KeyStats, and I look forward to any updates on this issue.
Best regards,
monkey
Date: April 3, 2026

[debugtheworldbot]

Why keyboard & mouse input in games may not be counted

KeyStats uses the standard Windows global input hooks (Low-Level Hooks) to count your keystrokes and mouse activity. This works reliably for everyday use, but has inherent limitations in games due to how Windows handles input:

1. Games use a different input path

Most games — especially fullscreen ones — read input directly from hardware via DirectInput, Raw Input, or XInput, bypassing the standard Windows message queue entirely. When a game acquires exclusive input access, the system simply doesn't deliver those events to our hook, so some or all keystrokes and clicks go uncounted.

2. Anti-cheat systems actively block input monitoring

Anti-cheat software such as Vanguard, EasyAntiCheat, and BattlEye will block any third-party program from listening to keyboard and mouse input. Global input hooks are the most common technique used by cheating software, and anti-cheat systems cannot distinguish a statistics tool from a cheat — so they block everything.

This is a limitation of the Windows input architecture, not a bug in KeyStats. Tools like WhatPulse face the exact same issue. The macOS version is not affected because macOS routes all input through a single kernel-level pipeline (Quartz Event Tap) that no application can bypass.

[monkey-180]

I have fully understood your explanation, and I really appreciate your patient and detailed guidance and assistance.