Minecraft Server Bot Scanners

Introduction

With the growing popularity of Minecraft and the rise in the number of active servers, some server administrators have been encountering unexpected and undesired behavior from external entities known as "Server Scanners." These are automated bots that attempt to connect to servers, causing spam messages to appear in the server console, and are primarily designed to gather information and cause annoyance. This article provides comprehensive information and guidance on how to handle Server Scanners and the steps we've taken to protect your server.

What are Minecraft Server Scanners

Minecraft Server Scanners are automated bots that attempt to connect to Minecraft servers. Their main goal is to send requests to servers which result in a message being displayed in the server's console. These bots do not join the server as they aren't real accounts, which allows them to spam requests at a rapid pace. These bots primarily gather statistics, spam, and in some cases, advertise. While these bots are generally harmless in terms of gameplay, they can cause annoyance and concern for server administrators due to the constant spam messages they generate in the server console.

Known Server Scanners

It's important to be aware of the known server scanners to better understand their impact on your server.
Below is a list of known server scanners, along with their IP addresses:

Name	IP	Notes
shepan	132.145.71.44	Self-described as "Spying on Minecraft Servers"
ServerOverflow	149.102.143.151
pfcloud	45.128.232.206	Primarily used for spam
pfclown	193.35.18.105 & 193.35.18.163	Scanner operating from two IPs
ThisIsARobbery	193.35.18.92
notschesser	193.35.18.92

Blocking Server Scanners: Our Approach

As your server hosting provider, our priority is maintaining a safe and seamless gaming experience. To tackle the issue of intrusive Minecraft Server Scanners, we've taken proactive measures to protect your server from these undesirable entities. We have decided to null route, or drop all traffic from the IP addresses associated with known server scanners at our **Chicago nodes**. This decision has been made after careful consideration of the annoyance and potential disruption these scanners can cause to our clients. We are currently working on implementing similar blocking measures for these IPs in our other server locations, including the UK, Germany, Australia, Finland, and France. We aim to extend this protection to all our clients, regardless of their server location, to ensure a consistently safe and enjoyable gaming experience. The IP addresses we have null routed are shown to the left.

IP
132.145.71.44
149.102.143.151
193.35.18.0/24
45.128.232.206

With this action, we have effectively blocked these scanners from attempting to connect to your server when hosted on our Chicago nodes. This means that you, as a server administrator, won't need to take any further action to block these IP addresses.

Conclusion

While Minecraft Server Scanners can be a nuisance, with the proper understanding and actions, their impact can be significantly reduced. It's important to note that there are genuine server scanners which serve useful purposes, but the excessive and intrusive actions we've seen from the IP addresses we've null routed are not welcomed.
As the Minecraft community grows, cooperation and information sharing among server administrators are essential for maintaining a safe and enjoyable environment for all players.
If you discover any new server scanners causing unwanted and excessive connections, please get in touch with our Support Team. We're committed to maintaining the integrity and performance of your Minecraft servers, and your reports will help us keep our protection measures up to date.
In addition, if you're experiencing any issues as a result of these null routes, we encourage you to contact us. Our team is ready and eager to help resolve any issues and ensure your gaming experience is as smooth as possible.
Remember, we're here to support you every step of the way in your Minecraft server journey.

tip

If you have any questions about the content of this article or need help with anything outlined here, feel free to reach out to us via Discord or a Client Area Ticket and we’ll do our best to sort it out with you!