Have you ever been in a situation where you’re enjoying a game and suddenly your character freezes and crashes the entire game? You try to get back in the game, but you’re completely blocked from using it. Many popular gaming streamers have stopped playing online games due to these problems.
This happens when your server suffers from DDoS attacks. These attacks are carried out by multiple malware-infected bots on your server, purposely to stop you from playing the game and disturbing your gaming progress. This also creates huge financial losses for the game creators and server providers.
That’s why we’ve created this blog, explaining what DDoS attacks are, their various types, and how they harm gaming servers. We’ve also listed some solutions for game server DDoS protection that will help you enjoy lag-free gaming.
But first of all, let’s understand what DDoS attacks actually are in gaming servers.
What Is a DDoS Attack in Gaming Servers?
DDoS attack in gaming servers create congestion or jamming using malware-infected botnets in the network path so that it can’t identify real players. These attacks usually block the visibility of online games so that no one can access them.
Whenever a player tries to access the game, the server finds it with the help of an IP address, but due to this jam, the server denies its services (denial of service), so no one can access it.
Some players purposely prepare DDoS attacks and continuously send requests to the opposite team’s servers to slow down their performance and force them to lose the game.
This happens with many popular mainstream games and online services with a large audience base. Attackers send malware-infected bots to the web page, which converts it into a bot, and then they infect other systems in the same way, creating a network.
This entire network, or group of bots, sends requests to the server’s IP address, creating a traffic jam on the network.
Now, let’s try to understand what type of problems these attacks create for the servers.
How DDoS Attacks Affect Gaming Servers
Before we discuss the solutions ( game server DDoS protection ) let’s understand the signs of DDoS attacks on your server. Here are some common problems:
High ping and lags
When many bots send requests to the server simultaneously, it becomes difficult for it to distinguish between real and fake users. This blocks data transfer between the player and the server. So, players who previously were able to access the game instantly due to low latency are now being rejected even after repeated attempts.
Sudden crashes and disconnections
Due to a busy route, the gaming servers used by the players can’t read the input, causing the game to crash repeatedly. No matter how many keys you press or commands you give, the server loses connection to the real player due to high traffic and is unable to process anything.
Loss of player trust and bad ranking
DDoS attacks harm players as well as the reputation of those hosting providers. The server can’t stop the attacks, so players lose trust in that brand, damaging its credibility in the gaming community. This leads to a loss of customers and revenue for the hosting provider.
Monetization and ad revenue loss
Many PC and console games have their own shops where players can pay to upgrade their character’s power. These games also generate money through ad clicks. However, DDoS attacks prevent players from accessing the game, causing significant losses for game owners.
Common Types of DDoS Attacks on Gaming Servers
The main reason for DDoS attacks is the huge traffic from botnets that imitate real players. To identify a real player, the server uses all the power of RAM and processors, making them tired. This creates interruptions while gaming and crashes the entire game. So, it’s important to know about these DDoS attacks in detail; that’s why we’ve listed them below:
Best DDoS Protection Solutions for Gaming Servers
Now, it’s time to learn some best solutions to protect your gaming servers from DDoS attacks. Our team of experts has tested some real methods that you can follow easily to avoid DDoS attacks.
Here are some common practices that everyone can follow:
VPN
The first and foremost thing that you can do is enable your VPN. You can replace your current IP address with a different one so that botnets can’t track your real address. This will stop the server from receiving botnets.
WAF
A web application firewall is a security tool that continuously monitors traffic and blocks malicious data. This tool uses a reverse proxy to block common attacks like SQL injection and XSS. More importantly, it stops fake IP addresses.
UDP inspection
The server’s User Datagram Protocol (UDP) doesn’t verify the identity of the sender of a request, which allows attackers to exploit it by sending fake requests. To avoid this situation, you can use network security measures like UDP inspection, which identifies real players and blocks fake ones.
AI analysis
AI can also help prevent DDoS attacks. It verifies the player’s login behaviour to differentiate between real and fake players during DDoS attacks. Modern gaming servers use AI intelligence along with security tools to provide multi-layered defense.
Fixed requests
Fixed requests refer to the number of requests an IP address can send to the server in a given time period. When you set a specific number of requests, it prevents the effect of botnets, allowing you to enjoy lag-free gaming.
How to Choose the Best DDoS-Protected Hosting for Gaming
Following each and every security measure can be really time-consuming, and not everyone is familiar with so many technical terms. Therefore, the simplest solution is to purchase a hosting server from providers like GTXGaming or OVHCloud. They have built-in DDoS mitigation that deals with everything automatically. Along with this, they offer:
Scalable resources
DDoS attacks use botnets that send requests to a server or website. To handle these multiple requests, servers use resources until they are completely drained. This slows down the game performance. However, a flexible server can mitigate this problem by scaling the RAM and storage to handle the traffic.
High bandwidth
Servers that provide low bandwidth or uplinks can’t handle even 10 to 20 players. And because DDoS directly targets the data path, that’s where the most congestion occurs. High bandwidth means easily transferring 10 to 20 gigabytes of data per second, which is ideal for handling high traffic.
DDoS mitigation
Many game hosting services offer full DDoS mitigation, making their servers DDoS-proof. This feature eliminates the need to install any separate security tools or systems. It uses multi-layered defenses to monitor traffic in real time, detect bugs, and scrub UDP to ensure only genuine IP addresses reach the server.
Uptime
Always choose a server with an uptime of over >99% so you can enjoy uninterrupted gaming. DDoS attacks can crash the local server, but those with high uptime avoid this situation by using two power fields, multiple low-latency data centers, and load balancers to distribute traffic.
Final Words
All online platforms are targets of DDoS attacks, but this is a major problem in the gaming community. Because it’s a platform for competition and rivalry, no player wants to see their opposite team win.
These attacks do frustrate players, but also affect game creators and hosting providers financially. Frequent DDoS attacks often take down games for extended periods, and then developers have to work tirelessly to restore them.
We’ve created this blog to educate you about DDoS attacks on gaming servers. Our technical experts and writers have explained whatDDoS attacks are, their types, how they affect gaming servers, and solutions (DDoS protection game server ) to prevent them. For your convenience, we’ve also explained how to choose the best DDoS-protected hosting.
FAQ
Q1: Can a DDoS attack permanently damage my game server?
A: No, a DDoS cannot permanently damage your game server. The server will return to its normal position once the attack stops. But it may lose the player’s trust and reputation in the gaming community.
Q2: How does using a VPN help in preventing DDoS attacks on gaming servers?
A: With the help of a VPN, you can change your server’s IP address to something else. This way, the attacker won’t trace the real server location to establish a new connection through bots.
Q3: Why are Minecraft and FiveM servers targeted the most?
A: Both Minecraft and GTA 5 ( FiveM is a multiplayer framework of GTA 5) are popular games with large audience bases, helping hosting providers earn huge money through live service and ads. That’s why cybercriminals target them the most.
Q4: What are the types of DDoS attacks?
A: DNS amplification, Slowloris, UDP and SYN floods, and IP fragmentation attacks are the types of DDoS attacks.
Q5: How do DDoS protection services work?
A: DDoS protection services use a multi-layered defense system that filters real-time traffic with the help of a web application firewall, inspects UDP floods, and detects malicious data to stop botnets.
Q6: Are there free ways to protect my gaming server from DDoS attacks?
A: Yes, there are many free ways to protect your gaming server from DDoS attacks. Always keep your firewall and antivirus on, use a VPS to change your IP address, and set a specific limit on IP requests.
