In an interview with The Division‘s community developer Hamish Bode, technical director Anders Holmquist details the server infrastructure in which the game’s online components operate.
The server will validate to check that you’re not going into areas you shouldn’t or you’re trying to go through walls.
“The basic principle of The Division is that the server is authoritative.
Basically, whatever the server says goes—what happens in combat, what loot is generated, and so on.