PacketWard is a lightweight, server-side connection guard. It checks new connections before Minecraft starts its handshake and quietly drops sources already known for scanning or abuse. Bad traffic gets nothing useful from your server, leaving its resources free for actual players.
There is no client install. The default block level is 4 out of 5, with levels 1 to 5 available and level 0 to switch filtering off.
If the lookup service is unavailable, PacketWard allows the connection by default and behaves as if it is not installed. Rate limits have their own policy and deny by default. Everything is configurable in a commented packetward.json5 file.
PacketWard also supports trusted proxies using PROXY protocol v1 or v2.
Connecting IP addresses never leave your server. PacketWard creates an anonymous lookup prefix locally, receives possible matches, then confirms the complete match on your server before making a decision.
It does not send player names, UUIDs, joins or server activity, and it does not log network identifiers.
Modern versions are available for Fabric, NeoForge or Forge as appropriate and use PolyLib. Standalone Forge builds are also available for Minecraft 1.12.2 and 1.7.10.
