How to IP ban a player on a Minecraft server
Banning a player's name works until they make a new account. For people who keep coming back, you can also ban their IP address.
Name bans and IP bans
A name ban stops one account. Minecraft accounts are cheap, so a determined griefer returns in a minute. An IP ban stops the network connection the player joins from, whatever account they use.
The limits of IP bans
IP bans are useful, but they are not magic:
- Shared addresses. A school, a café or a family may share one address. Banning it bans everyone there. Be careful with an address used by a lot of people.
- Changing addresses. Many home connections change address now and then, and a mobile phone changes often.
- VPNs and proxies. Anyone can use another address in seconds.
For these reasons, use an IP ban for repeat offenders, and combine it with a whitelist or an application form if the problem is constant.
Find the address
Many plugins record addresses: EssentialsX has /seen <name>, which shows the last address when you have permission. Use these only for moderation and do not share them, since an IP address is personal data in many countries.
Ban an address on Saryno
Open Settings, Maintenance and bans. Under Banned addresses, enter one address per line and press Save. The ban is applied at the front door, before the game: a banned player is refused with "You are banned from this server", even if the server is asleep and without waking it.
Tick Use this list on all of my servers too to apply the list to every server you run. That is the way to keep a griefer out of a whole network of your servers. Both IPv4 and IPv6 addresses work.
Protect the server from floods
Separately, Saryno limits how many connections one address can open and how fast. Someone who opens hundreds of connections to overload a server is turned away automatically, with no setup, while normal players are not affected.
Be fair
- Write down why you banned someone. Saryno's activity list shows who changed the list and when.
- Give players a way to appeal, such as a form or a Discord channel.
- Review old bans now and then: addresses get passed to new people.
For name bans and the other tools, see how to ban and unban players.