Choosing a DDoS-Protected Game Server

Choosing a DDoS-Protected Game Server

Game servers are among the most frequently targeted infrastructure by DDoS attacks. Attacks carried out by rival players, malicious individuals, or organized groups can make your server inaccessible for hours. This guide explains how to protect your game server against DDoS attacks.

Why Are Game Servers DDoS Targets?

Game servers are a favorite target for attacks for several reasons:

• Competition: Rival server owners or players
• Personal grudges: In-game disputes
• Ransom: "Pay to stop the attack" extortion
• Entertainment: Some attackers just want to cause harm
• Low cost: Launching a DDoS attack is now very cheap

Game Server DDoS Statistics:
- Gaming sector receives ~35% of all DDoS attacks
- Average attack duration: 30-60 minutes
- Most targeted games: FiveM, Minecraft, CS2, Rust
- Attack launch cost: $5-50 (dark web)

Types of DDoS Attacks

1. UDP Flood

The most common game server attack. Exhausts the server's bandwidth by sending large amounts of UDP packets.

UDP Flood Characteristics:
- Protocol: UDP (connectionless)
- Target: Bandwidth exhaustion
- Size: Usually 1-100 Gbps
- Detection: Abnormal UDP traffic increase
- Effect: Server inaccessible, high ping

2. SYN Flood

Exploits the TCP connection establishment process. Fills the server's connection table with half-open connections.

SYN Flood Characteristics:
- Protocol: TCP SYN packet
- Target: Connection table overflow
- Size: Usually low bandwidth, high packet count
- Detection: Many SYN_RECV states
- Effect: New connections cannot be established

3. Application Layer Attacks (Layer 7)

Game protocol-specific attacks. Sends requests that look like legitimate game packets but overload the server.

Layer 7 Attack Examples:
- FiveM: Fake player connection requests
- Minecraft: Ping flood, login spam
- CS2: Fake matchmaking requests

4. Amplification Attacks

Amplifies attack traffic using protocols like DNS, NTP, or SSDP.

Amplification Factors:
DNS Amplification:  ~50x amplification
NTP Amplification:  ~556x amplification
SSDP Amplification: ~30x amplification

What to Look for in DDoS Protection

1. Filtering Capacity

How many Gbps of attacks can it absorb? This is the most basic criterion.

Filtering Capacity Guide:
< 10 Gbps:   Against small attacks
10-100 Gbps: Against medium-scale attacks
100+ Gbps:   Against large attacks
1+ Tbps:     Enterprise-level protection

Path.net offers Tbps-capacity filtering infrastructure.

2. Latency Impact

How much does ping increase when DDoS protection is active? Some protection systems increase latency even without an attack.

Acceptable Latency Increase:
For game servers: < 5 ms additional latency
For web applications: < 20 ms additional latency

Path.net latency impact: < 1-2 ms

3. Automatic Triggering

Does protection activate automatically when an attack is detected? Systems requiring manual intervention can take a long time after an attack starts.

4. Game Protocol Filters

General DDoS protection may not be able to distinguish game traffic from legitimate attack traffic. Game protocol-specific filters are essential.

Path.net Game Filters

Path.net offers filters specifically developed for game servers:

FiveM Filters

FiveM Protocol Filters:
- UDP port 30120 (default FiveM port)
- FiveM handshake verification
- Fake connection request detection
- Player count anomaly detection
- Source IP verification

Minecraft Filters

Minecraft Protocol Filters:
- TCP port 25565 (default Minecraft port)
- Minecraft handshake verification
- Login spam protection
- Ping flood protection
- Botnet connection detection

CS2 Filters

CS2/Source Engine Filters:
- UDP port 27015 (default CS2 port)
- Source Engine protocol verification
- A2S query flood protection
- Fake player connection detection

What to Do Under Attack

Emergency Response Steps:

1. Detect the attack
   - Abnormal traffic increase
   - Player disconnections
   - High ping values

2. Identify attack type
   tcpdump -i eth0 -n | head -100
   netstat -s | grep -i flood

3. Notify REXE support team
   - Attack start time
   - Attack type (UDP/TCP/Layer7)
   - Affected port/protocol

4. Temporary measures
   # Null route attack source
   ip route add blackhole ATTACK_IP/32
   
   # Apply rate limiting
   iptables -A INPUT -p udp --dport 30120 \
     -m limit --limit 1000/s -j ACCEPT
   iptables -A INPUT -p udp --dport 30120 -j DROP

5. Activate/update Path.net filter

REXE's Game Server DDoS Protection

REXE offers game server-specific DDoS protection through the Path.net infrastructure:

• Tbps-capacity filtering: Against large-scale attacks
• Game protocol filters: FiveM, Minecraft, CS2, Rust and more
• Low latency: < 2 ms additional latency when protection is active
• Automatic triggering: Activates instantly when attack is detected
• 24/7 monitoring: NOC team continuously monitors
• Support: Immediate support during attacks