Mavericks: GameKit.framework 'gamed' process –constant network connections

"Apple doesn't like LS in much the way that Stalin didn't like Trotsky. It is not really a conflict between an Apple resource and LS. It is a conflict between Apple and you over who controls your system resources."

Dang. That's awesome.

There seems to be a simple solution within Finder. Remove both:

/System/Library/Frameworks/GameKit.framework/Versions/A/Resources/gamed

/System/Library/Launch Agents/com.apple.gamed.plist

Thank you for your help as it was annoying me to no end as well.

Your fix worked perfectly!

As mentioned above, you don't need to delete files, which will cause an error in the system log. Instead, just log in as an administrative user, run the Terminal application, and type (or copy from here and paste) at the prompt:

sudo defaults write /System/Library/LaunchAgents/com.apple.gamed Disabled -bool true

After restarting your computer, gamed will not be running and the Little Snitch network monitor won't be flashing. I've tested and guarantee it works with Mavericks.

To reverse the change, you can type:

sudo defaults delete /System/Library/LaunchAgents/com.apple.gamed Disabled

thisea wrote:

The problem solves itself by installing Yosemite 🙂

No, it doesn't.

I'm reading this discussion because I've finally had enough of the call-home attempts on YOSEMITE 10.10.5 to take action.

gordonol wrote:

Apple has failed to generate any enthusiasm among gamers, so the people responsible for that division use this feature to get in your face...

Well that's false - gamed, like other background processes, is just that - in the background, and the vast majority will never even know it exists or what it's doing. Only those using LS or HandsOff! or some other such app would have a clue about all the unnecessary and intrusive call-outs, so it is definitely not "in your face" any more than fontd or sysmond are.

If Apple really wanted to throw their games in your face, they'd invoke a window every hour that said

Would You Like To Play A Game?

And some folks don't run LS with Network Monitor in the menu bar, so even those users likely wouldn't know how often gamed calls home to mommy.

I've used LS for years, but until recently I normally kept the menu item turned off.

Now that I've been watching it more closely, I've been blocking more processes.

Seems /System is a whitelist, so finding /System/Library/..../gamed is easy, but changing or removing or disabling it is hard. I haven't found a work-around yet... except...

I have a daemon that kills the process called gamed. That stopped it cold until next reboot. It took a kill -9 to do it.

I would certainly rather disable it.

-Keith

(on El Capitan 10.11.1 on a new MacBook Pro)

Thank You THANK YOU!! 🙂

I found this thread after having major connectivity problems - my tech Son said it was my (new) Mac - maybe the wi-fi - Each time Firefox wouldn't load, I tried switching off Wi-Fi which sometimes worked, if not I re-started Firefox which cured the problem- temporarily.

Then I noticed the flashing red "X" in LS (menu bar) monitor... opened network monitor and noticed lots of RED under "gamed" in library/frameworks...

I did as you suggest - problems gone, to those that say this solution doesn't work you may want to copy/paste into terminal as the command has to be EXACT including all spaces, and you have to re-start your Mac after closing terminal

... Now if someone would compile a list of ALL the "redundant" new "features" and how to disable them, like this, that would be perfect...

Any idea if this works with El Capitan? I tried the suggestion - copied and pasted the string into Terminal but got the following:

Could not write domain /System/Library/LaunchAgents/com.apple.gamed; exiting

Does this mean that Apple has blocked this command from being carried out in Terminal? Is there another way to do this?

Hi. I encountered the same problem as you mentioned.

It can be solved by logging-in as root first and run the command you want after that;

Log-in as root:

sudo su -

Next, run the command you want. I decided to run them both eventually;

You can copy and paste this into the Terminal:

defaults write com.apple.gamed Disabled -bool true

Change the "true" to "false" to change it back.

Alternatively you could use the following command;

defaults delete com.apple.gamed Disabled

... to remove the setting entirely.

Good luck!

Hi All,

I must say the entries work BUT when restarting the system, the 'gamed'-service is again alive and kicking. This means that my earlier remark about first logging-in as root doesn't solve the issue.

So, after every restart you'll have to open the console and enter:

sudo defaults write com.apple.gamed Disabled -bool true

or

sudo defaults delete com.apple.gamed Disabled

With this the 'gamed'-service is gone and Little Snitch can focus on more meaningful things.

Next challenge is to enter the above into a script that's executed everytime the system starts-up.

I'll try to something like i found here: http://apple.stackexchange.com/questions/156288/how-to-get-shell-scripts-to-run- at-startup-on-yosemite

... and be back in a couple of days with a result.

I don't remember which command I used, but one of them worked for me and gamed hasn't been active in quite some time.

I didn't want to uninstall it in case I ever do want to try some games.

It seems the commands don't work for everyone though.

If one fails, try another.

I tried commands from a couple different sites recently to get Dock to hide/unhide faster.

There's an extensive and useful list of terminal commands here. https://github.com/mathiasbynens/dotfiles/blob/master/.osx

i am experimenting with a different fix. it seems to be working even after restart.

i put the offending machine (el capitan) into firewire target mode and mounted it on an older laptop (snow leopard). i went to the

/System/Library/LaunchAgents/

folder and found "com.apple.gamed.plist" and made a backup copy for safety.

i then opened the original file with a text editor and deleted the contents. it is now a blank text file.

i restarted the el capitan laptop and little snitch is not reporting any connection attempts. everything seems ok.

As I don't know how to do it exactly, I'm not comfortable using sudo and I'm probably not alone, hence the other suggested workarounds.

Wouldn't it be easier just to trash game center.app? I'm on El Capitan.

I'm not sure that just trashing the "game center.app" will solve the problem (updating the OS may even reinstall the App), BUT if you run a third party firewall or anti-virus/anti-malware software or an app like Little Snitch you can use them to permanently block the "GameKit.framework 'gamed' process" from connecting to anything (It's called Phoning Home). If you set things up right you may have a "Merry Christmas". I am using all of the above to stop "GameKit.framework 'gamed' process" from launching and It's “Denied” just fine.

Little Snitch works fine if you set it up right but it can seem to be setup right even if you don't set it to be ruthless. :-)

Thanks for the suggestion but this does not work on El Capitan At least not 10.11.6. None of the above suggestions in this thread work. At least not on my iMac. It just reappears and keeps phoning away I also get 'Could not write domain /System/Library/LaunchAgents/com.apple.gamed; exiting'.

Its amazing Apple seem to have made it indestructible in this version. There seem to be no library files relating to Gamed visible and even the process pathway logged by Little Snitch (/System/Library/PrivateFrameworks/GameCenterFoundation.framework/Versions/A) does not exist or is invisible.

I have it blocked on LS and it phones about 400 times each startup before giving up. This doesnt seem to do any harm or slow things, its just annoying something unneccessary cant be stopped! Its seems a mystery why Apple have made it so unstoppable and insistent in its connection attempts, though maybe its for reasons greater than just games... ooer spooky! 


If anybody ever finds a way to 100% stop it on 10.11 and later please post!