Tutorials/Griefing prevention



Griefing is the act of irritating and angering people in video games through the use of destruction, construction, or social engineering. Popularized in Minecraft by teams, griefing has become a serious problem for server administrators who wish to foster building and protect builders.

History of griefing
Griefing is far from a new phenomenon in video games. It dates to the late 1990s, when it was used to describe the willfully antisocial behaviors seen in early massively multiplayer online games like Ultima Online and first-person shooters like Counter-Strike. But even before it had a name, griefer-like behavior was familiar in prehistoric text-based virtual worlds like LambdaMOO, where joyriding invaders visited "virtual rape" and similar offenses on the local populace. Frustrated users or mal-intentioned gamers have oftentimes tried to cause grief among other players in multiplayer servers they join, but many griefers just "do it for the lulz", or just out of plain boredom.

Basic Griefing Methods and Prevention
There are other forms of griefing, however they are simply variations on the ones listed above. Essentially, if moderators are attentive and the server is equipped with the necessary plugins, a server can be very secure from griefing.

Griefing Clients
While modifications to Minecraft clients are fairly popular with legitimate mods, griefers also often employ client modifications to aid their efforts. Common client "hacks" include:


 * Flying: Not necessarily used just for griefing, this hack gives the user the ability to fly similar to as if they were in Creative mode at adjustable speed levels. However, it can be used to easily find a place to vandalize.
 * X-Ray or Wallhack: Stops the rendering of any block besides ones desirable to the griefer. This hack is often used to find chests or valuable minerals such as diamond.
 * Fullbright or Night-Vision: This hack lights up all blocks as if they were in direct sunlight, even in pitch darkness.
 * No-fall: This hack prevents damage from being taken when falling from high areas.
 * Sneak: This allows griefers to sneak indefinitely and move at a faster pace. This will keep their nameplates hidden behind walls just as if they were holding the sneak button.
 * Speed Breaking or Instant Mine: This allows for griefers to break blocks at a much faster speed than normal.
 * Aura or Forcefield: This auto attacks anything from players to mobs within striking range.
 * Nuker: This destroys all blocks within reach radius automatically.
 * God: This makes the user invincible. Almost all versions of this hack have been patched.
 * Step: This modification allows for the user to simply walk up blocks and small cliffs (up to 9 blocks high) as if they were half steps.
 * Build: Build hacks are simply modifications that instantly place blocks in a predetermined pattern. Common builds include cubes, pillars, and platforms.
 * Fast Place: This modification eliminates the normal delay when placing blocks.
 * Freecam: This mod allows the user to separate themself from his body and fly around to scout out areas. Since infinite reach was patched, the user of this mod cannot affect any blocks outside their reach radius.
 * Spam or Flood: This allows the client to send a huge number of chat messages to the server.

How to Prevent Griefing
While there is not much that can stop a determined griefer, there are ways for a server to mitigate the risks of being griefed. The following is a list of steps server owners can take to try to keep their server protected:


 * Protect the server with appropriate anti-griefing plugins.
 * Do not let administrators abuse their power (this can incite anger in users and bring about griefing). Also, be cautious in choosing who to give administrative permissions to begin with.
 * Be careful what permissions to which people have access. Owners can limit access with Server modifications.
 * Be careful where the server is advertised. While more exposure means more members, it also means griefers can find it just as easily.
 * Become familiar with what griefers are capable of doing. There are no hacks "to gain op" or "delete the server". If one takes the time to learn what is possible (by watching griefing videos from popular teams and reading griefing forums), you will be more able to counter it.

For a much more in-depth (and anti-grief biased) analysis, see Crayboff's thread on the topic.

Anti-Griefing Server Modifications
While there are many people creating grief-friendly client modifications, there are equally dedicated programmers creating server plugins to foil their attempts. Using the popular and extensible Bukkit server software and other Server Mods, programmers have made numerous add-ons to enforce correct client behavior. There are plugins that allow administrators to log and rollback all edits done on an individual basis, employ jails to trap griefers, and even protect certain blocks or entire chunks.

Is Griefing A Bad Thing
While many servers do not allow greifng and protect spawns there are some reasons. First why do they grief well some do it 'For the lolz' others 'For the reaction' and last 'For fun' all these reasons are valid and is there way of playing.

When notch created this game he did say 'we would prefer it if you did not grief' in the rules.

How Do They Grief
well most griefers know use other people clients which they make for the public also there are now many clients where they pay and get the in game client but sometimes they do cost more than this game itself so that is why many people stick to the non payed clients.

Greifng teams like 'Team Avolition'(Team Freedom is what it stands for) and ICanHasGrief and also many other popular griefers on video sites have custom clients which either another very well know coder like Scetch the creater of the Nodus client a very popular non payed client to make theres. This also brings high demand for there client so people say they have a leaked version they either found or hacked sometimes it could be a member of the team how would cleverly do a link via adfly or serveys so you can trust them but if not it COULD be a virus so DO NOT risk it.

Clients have many good features for them to greif with so look on this page at the client section for more info.

Why Are People Intrested In watching Griefing Vidoes
Well it is simple either they want ideas of how and who to grief, enjoy watching it for comedy and entertainment or they do it to see how they grief and how to prevent it like they age old Hello i am a moderator from Planet Minecraft here to review your server for a higher rank in the listings. I will require OP or admin to do this to test and because I am important you may think that I do not need OP or admin still but i will not grief and we also need to use the reviewing client so this is important or IT will be kicked off the sight A:You do not know that a moderaotr is comming on so check your email B:Why OP or admin? Couldn't you just show them C:Sometimes the server is not on Planet Minecraft and also even if they are pretending to be another site your server is on please do not belive them. Now planet minecraft does have mods and admins so if you did recive an email do not be dumb listen to them because they are important.