DDoS
Distributed denial of service: an attack that floods a server with traffic or connections from many sources until real players cannot connect.
DDoS stands for distributed denial of service. In an attack, many machines, usually compromised devices in a botnet, send traffic to a target at the same time. The goal is not to break in but to overload the network or the server so that legitimate players cannot connect or keep getting disconnected.
Types you will see
- Volumetric attacks send more raw traffic than the network connection can carry. Nothing on the server itself can stop these; they have to be filtered upstream in the network.
- Protocol and application attacks look more like real players, for example floods of connection attempts or bot accounts joining. These target the Minecraft server software and can sometimes be handled with plugins, rate limits or proxy settings.
Why game servers are targets
Minecraft servers are attacked more often than you might expect. Common reasons are rivalries between servers, players who were banned, or someone simply testing a tool. Small servers are not safe just because they are small.
Why it matters for server owners
Filtering volumetric attacks is the job of the network your server runs on, not something you can install. What you can control:
- Do not host a public server on your home connection. An attack then takes your whole household offline and exposes your home IP.
- Behind a proxy such as Velocity or BungeeCord, keep backend servers unreachable from the internet so only the proxy is exposed.
- Close ports you do not need, and never expose services like RCON publicly.
- Use a domain with an SRV record so you can move the server without announcing a new address.
Practical tip
If players suddenly cannot connect while the server console looks normal, check whether other services on the same network are affected too. That points to a network-level problem such as an attack rather than a server crash, and it is something to report to your host.