Understanding the importance of security is always important when starting your Minecraft Server. Although the most likely targets may not appear to be a Minecraft server and its integrity, those who seek to cause online trouble will not stop their favorite pastime to spare those who just want to unwind. Having focused on “crafting” your exciting environment for countless hours, it is important to take steps to protect yourself from DDoS (server overload) attacks and numerous hacking attempts. Luckily there are reputable companies out there like Apex Hosting providing 24/7 protection against these threats.
By using Apex Hosting, what is used when connecting to servers will not be the IP address that you use for personal use. Instead, you can receive an IP address dependent on the server-client that the business hosts. These intricate networks of servers are robust enough to withstand DDoS attacks from aggressors, and will protect your local IP and identity.
After properly securing your connection to your Minecraft server, the next thing to focus on would be securing your experience while in the game. Internet trolls will often try to ruin players’ interactions by performing uncomfortable or otherwise unacceptable acts such as damaging environments, constructing odd barricades to significant resources, and stealing hard-won objects. Remaking a complete universe will take countless hours, killing the fun for everyone who put so much time and effort into it in the first place. Fortunately, there are a lot of ways to prevent that from happening.
First and foremost, there must be a line in the sand which prevents players from joining the server which is not supposed to. The most effective means of doing this is by whitelisting players who can participate on the server you ‘re managing. Normally as soon as a server is open, anyone who has the IP address will be able to log onto it. It is not uncommon for players to even mistakenly join your Minecraft server while attempting to join another one. And keeping the peace by allowing only certain people to access the list will provide a protection against many headaches at once. Players who aren’t on your whitelist will have a message pop up, notifying them of their denial of access, while those who you have already typed will be able to connect without any issues whatsoever. Whitelists can be easily maintained by either you or a trusted moderating party, and can be turned on or off at will.
Having your server public in this way will bring an often exciting element of surprise and confusion into the mix. Allowing access for everyone will create larger communities quicker than just adding one name to the whitelists at a time. Given that collaborative working and world-building are cornerstones of the Minecraft experience, many people opt for this. Players that enter and are involved in creating problems can be banned either temporarily or permanently by using administrative commands; the /op command assigns administrative capabilities and enables the trusted admin community to offer bans. It is very important that this power is given to only people you have properly vetted in advance because if they turn out to be hidden trolls they will be able to ruin the entire group’s experience. Please note that you will never allow anyone to have full access to your control panel either, as this will compromise your server control completely and may not even be recoverable.
Plugins to server launchers such as Spigot and Bukkit are enabled. A server owner can make great use of them to control custom chat and other responses to people who would otherwise be allowed to participate but might say the occasionally naughty or inacceptable word. They also allow for unique RPG elements on the creative side that only impact the server, and not the users on it.
Although everyone has unique tastes and requirements for playing, safeguarding your server against attacks no matter what size and style makes it a vital backbone for everyone to enjoy the full Minecraft experience. Really taking this is a significant step in the development of a culture that will evolve for years to come.
