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 laughs", or just out of plain boredom. An increase in organized griefing occurred with the creation of teams producing their own videos which popularized Minecraft griefing. After the popularization by teams such as Team Avolition, many griefing groups were created and brought a large fanbase for the topic. Fortunately for server administrators, the increase in griefing has pushed the creation of numerous anti-griefing tools and techniques.

Basic griefing methods and prevention
{| class="wikitable" cellpadding="4" ! Method ! Description ! How To Prevent
 * Destruction
 * Self explanatory. Basically, most griefers' goals are to destroy as much stuff as they can in order to make the server as ugly as possible. This can include Creative "nuking", where users can instantly destroy all blocks in reach, or "torch nuking" when the griefer destroys only torches (many hacked clients have these as built in features).
 * This can be avoided with block and chunk protection plugins. Logging/Rollback plugins can completely undo the damage done by individual griefers.
 * Creation
 * Nearly as frequently as simple destruction of servers, griefers also often attempt to create offensive structures such as swastikas, and nude or offensive pixel art. Also, cages around AFK players are built, often of hard materials, like obsidian.
 * Logging/Rollback plugins can completely undo the damage done by individual griefers.
 * Chat Spamming
 * Chat spam is simply typing large amounts of messages in chat and sending them, often randomly. The result of this can be server lag, which thus makes chat spam more of an annoyance rather than vandalism.
 * Stopping chat spam is relatively easy with spam protection plugins.
 * Abusive Mob Spawning
 * This form of griefing is (obviously) spawning mobs to the point that the server lags. If the spawned mobs are hostile, then they can be especially destructive on PvP servers. Creepers and "endermobs" (endermen, ender dragon) are even more destructive as they can move and destroy blocks. Spawn eggs made this even more of a problem.
 * The /killall command can easily dispatch of the spawned mobs (though one must watch out; it does destroy Minecarts, Boats, and Paintings). To prevent it all together, there are plugins stopping mobs from spawning.
 * Lava/Water Flooding
 * If able, griefers often will attempt to place as much lava (preferable because of its killing properties) and water around a map in order to make it as ugly and dangerous as possible. Rarely, water and lava can be used in conjunction to create massive amounts of cobblestone, or even rarer, obsidian, very quickly.
 * The best way to prevent this from happening is to simply limit who is able to place lava or water. If the damage has already been done, the best way to remove it is with world editing plugins.
 * Spawn Killing
 * On servers with PvP enabled, some players will take advantage of this to kill legitimate players as they spawn (because the spawn point/area is predictable). The use of client modifications such as "Kill Aura" is frequently used to give the griefer a large advantage.
 * The most effective way at preventing this is to disable PvP in the spawn area with server plugins and provide multiple exits for newly spawned players to escape from (a single exit point is very predictable).
 * Tree Griefing
 * For a long time, block logging plugins did not have the ability to roll back the growth of trees. Because of this, many griefers will place saplings and use bonemeal (if available) to grow full trees in the locations where houses once stood, preventing rollbacks from easily undoing their damage.
 * Previously, server admins would restrict the use of saplings and bonemeal, however that lead to problems for normal players. Luckily, logging/rollback plugins are now able to track and undo player-grown trees.
 * Fire Griefing
 * Most builders use a lot of flammable materials, and if the server has fire spread enabled, a griefer armed with a Flint and Steel can destroy a lot, very quickly. Fire was nerfed in Beta 1.6 and currently does much less damage than it once had. However, this can still burn a large chunk of flammable objects, such as Chests.
 * The most effective way at preventing this is to disable PvP in the spawn area with server plugins and provide multiple exits for newly spawned players to escape from (a single exit point is very predictable).
 * Tree Griefing
 * For a long time, block logging plugins did not have the ability to roll back the growth of trees. Because of this, many griefers will place saplings and use bonemeal (if available) to grow full trees in the locations where houses once stood, preventing rollbacks from easily undoing their damage.
 * Previously, server admins would restrict the use of saplings and bonemeal, however that lead to problems for normal players. Luckily, logging/rollback plugins are now able to track and undo player-grown trees.
 * Fire Griefing
 * Most builders use a lot of flammable materials, and if the server has fire spread enabled, a griefer armed with a Flint and Steel can destroy a lot, very quickly. Fire was nerfed in Beta 1.6 and currently does much less damage than it once had. However, this can still burn a large chunk of flammable objects, such as Chests.
 * Fire Griefing
 * Most builders use a lot of flammable materials, and if the server has fire spread enabled, a griefer armed with a Flint and Steel can destroy a lot, very quickly. Fire was nerfed in Beta 1.6 and currently does much less damage than it once had. However, this can still burn a large chunk of flammable objects, such as Chests.

With the addition of Fire Charges, it is possible for griefers to do a "range" griefing attack. The griefer would have to have exact calculations on their target, so this method would be very unlikely, but still possible. plugins can limit the size of a map, and some make automatic saves/backups of the file. 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.
 * Disable fire spread with world protection plugins.
 * Cannon Griefing
 * A griefer can build cannons to bombard players' creations with TNT or sand. This is very annoying and truly destructive.
 * Unfortunately, cannons do not require special blocks other than water, obsidian and redstone. Only restricting TNT could help.
 * Social Engineering
 * Social Engineering is any technique used as an attempt to gain the trust of people by acting as a normal player or creating a situation where the legitimate players need to trust them. A common trick that griefers use is pretending to be from PlanetMinecraft.com and asking for OP status in order to "review" the server. This is not a typical form of destruction griefing, however this is a strategy employed by many griefers to gain trust and cause rage, or it may be done to get Op status, and cause great destruction.
 * Be very careful who gets administrator tools, make sure that you know them well enough to trust them with power.
 * Trolling
 * Trolls like to annoy people, rather than grief. There are several ways to troll, such as killing a person and them watching while you throw their diamond pickaxe into lava, spamming, and promising to give them stuff, giving them the stuff, then killing them the moment they go out of a safe zone.
 * Most of these cannot be blocked, though they are usually easy to notice. A troll always wants you to see what he or she has done so he or she could annoy you more. A good temp ban will solve things. Most times, you only need to ban the person for a day.
 * Map Corrupting
 * A relatively rare form of griefing, map corrupting is simply making the map file as big as possible, usually by running as far as they can. This can lead to a lot of lag in the server, and can make the map size so big that it cannot be loaded. If a backup is not available, then the map may need to be deleted and all structures will be lost. This was a large issue before the Beta switch to a new chunk managing method.
 * Most of these cannot be blocked, though they are usually easy to notice. A troll always wants you to see what he or she has done so he or she could annoy you more. A good temp ban will solve things. Most times, you only need to ban the person for a day.
 * Map Corrupting
 * A relatively rare form of griefing, map corrupting is simply making the map file as big as possible, usually by running as far as they can. This can lead to a lot of lag in the server, and can make the map size so big that it cannot be loaded. If a backup is not available, then the map may need to be deleted and all structures will be lost. This was a large issue before the Beta switch to a new chunk managing method.
 * A relatively rare form of griefing, map corrupting is simply making the map file as big as possible, usually by running as far as they can. This can lead to a lot of lag in the server, and can make the map size so big that it cannot be loaded. If a backup is not available, then the map may need to be deleted and all structures will be lost. This was a large issue before the Beta switch to a new chunk managing method.

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:


 * Aura or Forcefield: This automatically attacks anything from players to mobs within striking range.
 * Build: Build hacks are simply modifications that instantly place blocks in a predetermined pattern. Common builds include cubes, pillars, swastikas, and platforms.
 * Dupe: Duplicates items. Multiple tools with the same durability and/or enchantments can be evidence of this, and dangerous amounts of TNT can be created. This is usually patched, but some versions of Bukkit require an anti-duplication plugin in order to prevent this.
 * Fast Place: This modification eliminates the normal delay when placing blocks.
 * Flying: Not necessarily used just for griefing, this hack gives the user the ability to fly similar to as if he or she was in Creative mode at adjustable speed levels. However, it can be used to easily find a place to vandalize.
 * Freecam: This mod allows the user to separate him or herself from his or her body and fly around to scout out areas. Since infinite reach was patched, the user of this mod cannot affect any blocks outside his or her reach radius.
 * Fullbright or Night-Vision: This hack lights up all blocks as if they were in direct sunlight, even in pitch blackness.
 * God: This makes the user invincible. Almost all versions of this hack have been patched.
 * Jump Height: This allows the player to jump higher than normal. This is usually used if servers disable flying.
 * No-fall: This hack prevents damage from being taken when falling from high areas.
 * Nuker: This destroys all blocks within reach radius automatically.
 * 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.
 * Spam or Flood: This allows the client to send a huge number of chat messages to the server.
 * Speed Breaking or Instant Mine: This allows for griefers to break blocks at a much greater speed than normal.
 * 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.
 * 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. It can be partially prevented using server plugins that disguise ores and chests that are not adjacent to transparent blocks.

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:

For a much more in-depth (and anti-grief biased) analysis, see Crayboff's thread on the topic.
 * 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.
 * Change servers so that only friends (or owner) can do things big and even grief if they want to.
 * Use a "public whitelist"; that is, add anyone to the whitelist who sends an email to the administrator requesting admission. Griefers are usually too impatient to send an email, but legitimate players will take the 30 seconds to send the email. Griefers' email addresses can also be submitted to spamming websites if caught.

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.