How to Protect Your Minecraft Server from Griefers

Griefing is inevitable on public servers. The question is how prepared you are. With the right plugins, grief becomes a minor inconvenience instead of a disaster.

Layer 1: Prevention (Claims)

GriefPrevention — Players use a golden shovel to claim land. Only they and trusted players can build inside claims. New players get starter claim blocks automatically.

WorldGuard — For admin areas (spawn, arenas). Define regions with granular protection flags.

Layer 2: Detection (Logging)

CoreProtect is essential. It logs every block placed/broken, container interaction, and entity kill.

Key commands:

• `/co inspect` — Click any block to see its history
• `/co rollback u:PlayerName t:1h` — Undo a player's actions
• `/co lookup u:PlayerName` — View full history

Layer 3: Response (Rollbacks)

When you find grief:

1. Inspect with `/co inspect`
2. Identify the griefer
3. Roll back: `/co rollback u:GrieferName t:24h`
4. Ban the player
5. Done — area restored in under a minute

Layer 4: Backups

Run automatic backups every 6-12 hours. Keep 7 days of history. Store off-server.

Layer 5: Anti-Xray

Enable Paper's built-in anti-xray (engine-mode 2). It replaces hidden blocks with random ores, making x-ray texture packs useless.

Quick Setup Checklist

1. CoreProtect (detection + rollback)
2. GriefPrevention (player claims)
3. WorldGuard (spawn protection)
4. Paper anti-xray (engine-mode 2)
5. Anti-cheat (Grim)
6. Automatic backups
7. Clear rules at spawn

Post your rules on your ServerList.cc listing too.