Select cloud protection level
Verified with Windows 11 25H2 — updated on July 30, 2026
Supported on: At least Windows Server 2016, Windows 10
Path in the GPO console
Computer Configuration\Administrative Templates\Windows Components\Microsoft Defender Antivirus\Mp Engine Description
This policy setting determines how aggressive Microsoft Defender Antivirus will be in blocking and scanning suspicious files. If this setting is on, Microsoft Defender Antivirus will be more aggressive when identifying suspicious files to block and scan; otherwise, it will be less aggressive and therefore block and scan with less frequency. For more information about specific values that are supported, see the Microsoft Defender Antivirus documentation site. Note: This feature requires the "Join Microsoft MAPS" setting enabled in order to function. Possible options are: (0x0) Default Microsoft Defender Antivirus blocking level (0x1) Moderate Microsoft Defender Antivirus blocking level, delivers verdict only for high confidence detections (0x2) High blocking level - aggressively block unknowns while optimizing client performance (greater chance of false positives) (0x4) High+ blocking level – aggressively block unknowns and apply additional protection measures (may impact client performance) (0x6) Zero tolerance blocking level – block all unknown executables
Registry
Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows Defender\MpEngine Value name: MpCloudBlockLevel
MDM / Intune (CSP)
./Device/Vendor/MSFT/Policy/Config/Defender/CloudBlockLevel Microsoft Learn documentation Mapping data: Microsoft Learn (CC BY 4.0)
CSP values
-
0 (Default)- NotConfigured. -
2- High. -
4- HighPlus. -
6- ZeroTolerance.
Export Builder
BETAConfigure the state, scope and options, then generate .reg, PowerShell, Intune and SCCM outputs — or add the setting to a multi-setting collection.
These exports write the registry — this is not a managed GPO. ⓘ
.reg file
Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00
; Exported from gporais.com
; Policy: Select cloud protection level
; State: Enabled
; Supported on: At least Windows Server 2016, Windows 10
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows Defender\MpEngine]
"MpCloudBlockLevel"=dword:00000001
"MpCloudBlockLevel"=dword:00000000More formats (PowerShell, Intune, SCCM)
PowerShell
# Exported from gporais.com
# Policy: Select cloud protection level
# State: Enabled
# Supported on: At least Windows Server 2016, Windows 10
$path = 'HKLM:\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows Defender\MpEngine'
New-Item -Path $path -Force | Out-Null
Set-ItemProperty -Path $path -Name 'MpCloudBlockLevel' -Value 1 -Type DWord
Set-ItemProperty -Path $path -Name 'MpCloudBlockLevel' -Value 0 -Type DWordIntune XML
OMA-URI: ./Device/Vendor/MSFT/Policy/Config/Defender/CloudBlockLevel
Data type: String
Value:
<enabled/>
<data id="MpCloudBlockLevel" value="0"/>Intune Remediation
# === Detection script ===
# Exported from gporais.com
# Policy: Select cloud protection level
# State: Enabled
# Supported on: At least Windows Server 2016, Windows 10
function Test-RegistryValue {
param(
[Parameter(Mandatory = $true)][string]$Path,
[Parameter(Mandatory = $true)][string]$Name,
[object]$Expected,
[ValidateSet('String', 'DWord', 'MultiString')][string]$Kind = 'String',
[switch]$Absent
)
try {
$item = Get-ItemProperty -LiteralPath $Path -Name $Name -ErrorAction Stop
} catch {
return $Absent.IsPresent
}
if ($Absent.IsPresent) { return $false }
$actual = $item.$Name
if ($Kind -eq 'DWord') { return ([int64]$actual) -eq ([int64]$Expected) }
if ($Kind -eq 'MultiString') {
$actualValues = @($actual)
$expectedValues = @($Expected)
if ($actualValues.Count -ne $expectedValues.Count) { return $false }
for ($i = 0; $i -lt $expectedValues.Count; $i++) {
if ([string]$actualValues[$i] -ne [string]$expectedValues[$i]) { return $false }
}
return $true
}
return [string]$actual -eq [string]$Expected
}
$checks = @(
(Test-RegistryValue -Path 'HKLM:\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows Defender\MpEngine' -Name 'MpCloudBlockLevel' -Expected 1 -Kind DWord)
(Test-RegistryValue -Path 'HKLM:\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows Defender\MpEngine' -Name 'MpCloudBlockLevel' -Expected 0 -Kind DWord)
)
if ($checks -notcontains $false) {
Write-Output 'Compliant'
exit 0
}
Write-Output 'Non-compliant'
exit 1
# === Remediation script ===
# Exported from gporais.com
# Policy: Select cloud protection level
# State: Enabled
# Supported on: At least Windows Server 2016, Windows 10
$path = 'HKLM:\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows Defender\MpEngine'
New-Item -Path $path -Force | Out-Null
Set-ItemProperty -Path $path -Name 'MpCloudBlockLevel' -Value 1 -Type DWord
Set-ItemProperty -Path $path -Name 'MpCloudBlockLevel' -Value 0 -Type DWordSCCM scripts
# Exported from gporais.com
# Policy: Select cloud protection level
# State: Enabled
# Supported on: At least Windows Server 2016, Windows 10
# SCCM Configuration Item guidance:
# Create a Configuration Item of type "Setting: Script".
# Discovery script: use the Detection script below.
# Remediation script: use the Remediation script below.
# Compliance rule: the Discovery script output equals 'Compliant'.
# === Detection script ===
# Exported from gporais.com
# Policy: Select cloud protection level
# State: Enabled
# Supported on: At least Windows Server 2016, Windows 10
function Test-RegistryValue {
param(
[Parameter(Mandatory = $true)][string]$Path,
[Parameter(Mandatory = $true)][string]$Name,
[object]$Expected,
[ValidateSet('String', 'DWord', 'MultiString')][string]$Kind = 'String',
[switch]$Absent
)
try {
$item = Get-ItemProperty -LiteralPath $Path -Name $Name -ErrorAction Stop
} catch {
return $Absent.IsPresent
}
if ($Absent.IsPresent) { return $false }
$actual = $item.$Name
if ($Kind -eq 'DWord') { return ([int64]$actual) -eq ([int64]$Expected) }
if ($Kind -eq 'MultiString') {
$actualValues = @($actual)
$expectedValues = @($Expected)
if ($actualValues.Count -ne $expectedValues.Count) { return $false }
for ($i = 0; $i -lt $expectedValues.Count; $i++) {
if ([string]$actualValues[$i] -ne [string]$expectedValues[$i]) { return $false }
}
return $true
}
return [string]$actual -eq [string]$Expected
}
$checks = @(
(Test-RegistryValue -Path 'HKLM:\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows Defender\MpEngine' -Name 'MpCloudBlockLevel' -Expected 1 -Kind DWord)
(Test-RegistryValue -Path 'HKLM:\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows Defender\MpEngine' -Name 'MpCloudBlockLevel' -Expected 0 -Kind DWord)
)
if ($checks -notcontains $false) {
Write-Output 'Compliant'
exit 0
}
Write-Output 'Non-compliant'
exit 1
# === Remediation script ===
# Exported from gporais.com
# Policy: Select cloud protection level
# State: Enabled
# Supported on: At least Windows Server 2016, Windows 10
$path = 'HKLM:\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows Defender\MpEngine'
New-Item -Path $path -Force | Out-Null
Set-ItemProperty -Path $path -Name 'MpCloudBlockLevel' -Value 1 -Type DWord
Set-ItemProperty -Path $path -Name 'MpCloudBlockLevel' -Value 0 -Type DWordBuilding a multi-setting collection? Add this setting and generate combined .reg / PowerShell / GPO scripts.