Is it safe to give away your IP address to other Minecraft players? i have an internet firewall so i think it should be ok.
one other thing, what is going on with my IP when other players are on? does it slow the internet down? are they signing onto my internet? please explain in full detail.
To my understanding, you must disable your firewall completely before running a server. I wouldn't give away your IP address, but rather connect a different way, such as (I am not sure how to do this) making a website that players can type in and connect to your server with. Ex: *Start up minecraft, click multiplayer, type in <URL>.com, ???, Profit.*
There is (to my understanding) nothing wrong with giving away your IP addresses, but there should be some precaution taken.
To my understanding, you must disable your firewall completely before running a server. I wouldn't give away your IP address, but rather connect a different way, such as (I am not sure how to do this) making a website that players can type in and connect to your server with. Ex: *Start up minecraft, click multiplayer, type in <URL>.com, ???, Profit.*
There is (to my understanding) nothing wrong with giving away your IP addresses, but there should be some precaution taken.
one other thing, what is going on with my IP when other players are on? does it slow the internet down?
In theory, yes it does slow your internet down, but the affect should be minimal. Your internet speed is measured in a unit called bandwidth. Think of bandwidth as a garden hose and think of internet traffic as water. The more you turn the nozzle up, the more water flows through the hose. Every time a player joins your server, it's consumes some water and not as much water is available for other services. Gaming traffic is very low bandwidth though. I wouldn't worry about it slowing things down unless you're hosting like 30 people on a home connection and you have the lowest grade DSL possible.
Also, as far as IP address security, I know for fact all the mods and admins of this forum know your IP :tongue.gif:
i am using my ip i just write localhost and i give the ip to my friends on once on the form so idk why i was on a differnt server i wrote localhost so i dont think its the wrong ip
This is actually dangerous advice. If you're hosting public services, it's much better to configure your firewall properly than open yourself up to the internet nasties.
100% Agreed!
You do NOT have to take down a firewall to configure for specific port access. In my case I'm using CentOS 6 and simply configure the ports I am ok with having open and the ports I wish to have closed through iptables. I can configure it to only listen to specific ports, specific ips, ranges, etc etc... so no, you do NOT have to disable a firewall to run a server. In fact, all of the production linux servers I have worked with are using firewalls on them and almost all of them specifically are open to just what they need and nothing else, specifically for safety reasons.
So please, do not tell people to leave themselves at risk if you don't know what you're talking about.
The chance that something will happen just because someone knows your ip, however, is low. But even when you may not know it, people probe servers all the time.
I could show you the log of my btmp log for my linux server, but you wouldn't want to read it because of how long it is. Even WITH firewall rules, every now and then probes come across and people try and bruteforce and try to get a root session. Could you imagine the exploits you'd be open to if you left all your ports open and didn't close them? Oh man..
Remember, a firewall is not an evil program that kills your access to everything so it can't reach out to the internet. It is a protective barrier between you and the other side. It is there so you can tell it what gets in and what gets out. If you configure it to not allow anything, you won't get anything. If you tell it you only want some ports listened to, that's all it will allow. But you need to read your manual, the guide, or do a little research if you are unsure how to set it up correctly!
Some good principals of running a server if you're a newbie to security....
If on windows:
- Make sure your firewall is configured properly! Most windows software is going to be all shiny with silly guis and lots of options. The important thing is to make sure the security is high and that you're only allowing the programs you need to access the internet.
- If you use this machine for anything personal, make sure your personal data is SAFE.
- Passwords should be strong!
- Never hurts to check logs now and then.
If on linux:
- Make sure your firewall is listening to ONLY the ports you need. Don't leave yourself for openly known exploits. You'll get portscanned and probed more times than you can imagine. For the most part, these are usually bot programs and automated scripts looking for machines to pwn. But they're common. Don't be a n00b, get that firewall configured right!
- Check your logs, check them often, update firwall rules as needed!
- If you use SSH - consider perhaps changing the port you use (also updating your firewall as well to accept this change), this will seriously decrease the number of active bot probes out there looking for crap machines and dictionary attacks hitting you!
- Remember... do not allow root access on SSH. You should have it set so that you have to login with a normal session and then su to root. If you get bruteforced and hit with root, it's all over! Both passwords need to be STRONG, don't leave yourself open to bruteforce/dictionary attacks!
- Don't leave open sessions. Always exit those sessions when you're done with them.
Giving out your IP is a lot like giving out your address and your phone number.
Most the time you can trust people with it, but if you aren't careful, some stranger with bad motives could come rob you. Or, he could randomly find you and rob you.
one other thing, what is going on with my IP when other players are on? does it slow the internet down? are they signing onto my internet? please explain in full detail.
There is (to my understanding) nothing wrong with giving away your IP addresses, but there should be some precaution taken.
There is (to my understanding) nothing wrong with giving away your IP addresses, but there should be some precaution taken.
In theory, yes it does slow your internet down, but the affect should be minimal. Your internet speed is measured in a unit called bandwidth. Think of bandwidth as a garden hose and think of internet traffic as water. The more you turn the nozzle up, the more water flows through the hose. Every time a player joins your server, it's consumes some water and not as much water is available for other services. Gaming traffic is very low bandwidth though. I wouldn't worry about it slowing things down unless you're hosting like 30 people on a home connection and you have the lowest grade DSL possible.
Also, as far as IP address security, I know for fact all the mods and admins of this forum know your IP :tongue.gif:
lol jks they are **** for server hosting
http://tinyurl.com/9l6km29
Oh and Yogization, Firewall does NOT have to be disabled, add "Minecraft" to the allowed programs.
If you're behind a NAT gateway there's really no compelling reason to have Windows Firewall on.
100% Agreed!
You do NOT have to take down a firewall to configure for specific port access. In my case I'm using CentOS 6 and simply configure the ports I am ok with having open and the ports I wish to have closed through iptables. I can configure it to only listen to specific ports, specific ips, ranges, etc etc... so no, you do NOT have to disable a firewall to run a server. In fact, all of the production linux servers I have worked with are using firewalls on them and almost all of them specifically are open to just what they need and nothing else, specifically for safety reasons.
So please, do not tell people to leave themselves at risk if you don't know what you're talking about.
The chance that something will happen just because someone knows your ip, however, is low. But even when you may not know it, people probe servers all the time.
I could show you the log of my btmp log for my linux server, but you wouldn't want to read it because of how long it is. Even WITH firewall rules, every now and then probes come across and people try and bruteforce and try to get a root session. Could you imagine the exploits you'd be open to if you left all your ports open and didn't close them? Oh man..
Remember, a firewall is not an evil program that kills your access to everything so it can't reach out to the internet. It is a protective barrier between you and the other side. It is there so you can tell it what gets in and what gets out. If you configure it to not allow anything, you won't get anything. If you tell it you only want some ports listened to, that's all it will allow. But you need to read your manual, the guide, or do a little research if you are unsure how to set it up correctly!
Some good principals of running a server if you're a newbie to security....
If on windows:
- Make sure your firewall is configured properly! Most windows software is going to be all shiny with silly guis and lots of options. The important thing is to make sure the security is high and that you're only allowing the programs you need to access the internet.
- If you use this machine for anything personal, make sure your personal data is SAFE.
- Passwords should be strong!
- Never hurts to check logs now and then.
If on linux:
- Make sure your firewall is listening to ONLY the ports you need. Don't leave yourself for openly known exploits. You'll get portscanned and probed more times than you can imagine. For the most part, these are usually bot programs and automated scripts looking for machines to pwn. But they're common. Don't be a n00b, get that firewall configured right!
- Check your logs, check them often, update firwall rules as needed!
- If you use SSH - consider perhaps changing the port you use (also updating your firewall as well to accept this change), this will seriously decrease the number of active bot probes out there looking for crap machines and dictionary attacks hitting you!
- Remember... do not allow root access on SSH. You should have it set so that you have to login with a normal session and then su to root. If you get bruteforced and hit with root, it's all over! Both passwords need to be STRONG, don't leave yourself open to bruteforce/dictionary attacks!
- Don't leave open sessions. Always exit those sessions when you're done with them.
Sure lol.
Or you just get a VPS :tongue.gif:
http://tinyurl.com/9l6km29
Most the time you can trust people with it, but if you aren't careful, some stranger with bad motives could come rob you. Or, he could randomly find you and rob you.
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Advanced Guide to server-ip and server-port settings.