In July 2024, a Gcore customer in the gaming industry experienced a huge DDoS attack on their Minecraft servers. As they were using Gcore DDoS Protection, the attack was completely mitigated, and gamers were unaffected. This DDoS attack was significant, reaching a peak of almost 1 Tbps (924 Gbps), as illustrated in the graph below.
How DDoS Attacks Affect Minecraft Servers
Minecraft, with over 500 million registered users, 166 million monthly players, and 10,000 global servers, faces significant risks from distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks. When a Minecraft server is hit with a DDoS attack, players may experience problems with logging in to servers, loading worlds, navigating biomes, using tools, and chatting. They can also experience general lags, disconnections, timeouts, or server crashes.
These in-game disruptions can affect gameplay and ruin the gaming experience for players while causing financial and reputational losses to server owners, operators, and the wider Minecraft community. Learn more about the impact of DDoS attacks on Minecraft servers in our dedicated white paper.
Concerning Trends in Gaming DDoS Attacks
DDoS attacks have become a prevalent issue for all companies with an online presence, but the gaming sector is particularly heavily targeted. The appeal of gaming servers to attackers lies in the immediate and noticeable impact that even a brief disruption can cause. Gamers demand seamless and uninterrupted play, and any downtime can drive them to seek alternative platforms. This makes gaming companies especially vulnerable to losing their user base during attacks.
The attack on the Minecraft server is a stark reminder of the potential damage. An attack of 300 Gbps is sufficient to incapacitate an unprotected server, leading to significant downtime and user frustration. When attacks reach the magnitude of 1 Tbps, only the most robust DDoS mitigation services can handle such a load. This scenario underscores the necessity for gaming companies to invest in specialized DDoS protection solutions to safeguard their infrastructure.
How Gcore Stops DDoS Attacks on Minecraft Servers
We offer specialized, proprietary Minecraft DDoS protection countermeasures designed to handle volumetric attacks, application-layer attacks, and advanced botnet threats. These countermeasures cover all versions of the game and are included as standard features within Gcore DDoS Protection. The effectiveness of these measures was evident in the recent incident, where the attack was neutralized without any impact on the gaming experience.
Our approach to DDoS mitigation involves a combination of advanced technologies and strategies. These include machine learning algorithms to detect and block malicious traffic in real time, robust infrastructure capable of absorbing and dispersing attack traffic, and continuous monitoring to quickly identify and respond to threats. By employing these methods, we help our customers’ gaming servers remain resilient against the evolving threat landscape.
Prevention: The Key to Keeping Gamers Happy
When it comes to DDoS attacks, prevention is key to keeping your gamers happy. Downtime and disruptions can lead to a loss of player trust and revenue. Explore our white paper, The Ultimate Guide to Preventing DDoS Attacks on Minecraft Servers, to learn how to keep your Minecraft servers safe from devastating cyberattacks.
