SteamID
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
A SteamID is a unique identifier used for Steam, an online game service run by Valve Software.
It provides a way of uniquely identifying a player. The SteamID replaces the WonID, previously used when Half-Life CD key checks were done through WON. SteamID's are, at the moment, mainly used by Half-Life, Half-Life 2 and their numerous modifications, such as Counter-Strike. Steam ID's follow a simple format being: STEAM_0:a:x, where a (0 or 1) is the authentication server used for the ID, and x (up to 8 digits long) being the unique id number. When Steam was first released, there a bug with the authentication servers that allowed the same SteamID to be created from both authentication servers (for example there can be a 0:0:86 and a 0:1:86). This problem was promptly fixed.
SteamIDs can also be used to determine when the user associated with the ID signed up. For example, a four digit SteamID would mean that the user signed up in the early days of Steam, while an eight digit SteamID implies that the user is relatively new to Steam games.
