For Server Owners — Using Your Firewall
This guide is for you, the server owner. No networking knowledge needed. Your host has already done the hard part — you just turn it on.
What does this thing actually do?
Firewall-Plus puts a bouncer in front of your game server. It watches the traffic coming into your server's ports (and only yours) and can:
- Slow down or block floods — when someone tries to knock your server offline with junk traffic (a "DDoS attack"), it limits how fast packets can arrive
- Block troublemakers — ban specific IP addresses from connecting (blacklist)
- Roll out the red carpet — always allow your own IP or your friends' IPs (whitelist)
- Protect you automatically — with SMART mode, it notices an attack by itself and starts blocking it, then emails you about it
Good to know
Your firewall cannot break anything outside your server. It only touches your assigned game port(s) — never the host's SSH, panel, or other customers' servers.
First-time setup (about 2 minutes)
You only do this once.
1. Open the Firewall tab
Open your server in the panel and click Firewall in the menu.
2. Turn it on
Go to the Settings tab (the sliders icon) and switch on "Enable Firewall-Plus for this server".
If you see a Terms of Service box, read it and click I accept — your host requires this before you can change anything.
3. Pick your game (the easy button)
Open the Rules tab and click Presets. Choose the preset for your game (Minecraft, Rust, CS2, ARK, Palworld, Valheim…) and apply it. The preset adds a sensible set of protections tuned for that game — you're done configuring.
TIP
Not sure which rules you need? Just use the preset. You can always tweak individual rules later.
4. Apply
Click Apply firewall. The rules are sent to the machine your server runs on and start working within seconds. The status line in Settings will show "In sync with node" when it's live.
Everyday things you'll want to do
Block someone (blacklist)
Rules → Blacklist → Add entry, paste their IP address (e.g. 203.0.113.50), save. They can no longer reach your server. You can also block a whole range like 203.0.113.0/24.
You can set an expiry so the ban lifts itself automatically.
Always allow yourself or a friend (whitelist)
Rules → Whitelist → Add entry, add the IP. Whitelisted IPs skip the rate limits — useful for your own connection so you never get caught by your own protections.
WARNING
Whitelist only IPs you trust. A whitelisted IP bypasses your flood protections (on your ports only).
Slow down connection spam
The preset already includes these, but the useful ones in plain terms:
| Rule | What it does in plain English |
|---|---|
| SYN limit | Stops "fake connection" floods — the most common attack on game servers |
| Connection limit | One IP can't hold more than X connections to your server at once |
| New connection rate | Limits how fast new players (or bots) can connect per second |
| UDP limit | Slows UDP floods — important for games that use UDP (Minecraft Bedrock, Rust, Source games) |
Check what's happening
The Dashboard tab shows live graphs: packets per second, bandwidth, top talking IPs, and which rules are blocking the most traffic. During an attack you'll see the spike here.
Look at the logs
The Logs tab shows what the firewall did and when — rules applied, attacks detected, bans added.
When you get attacked
If SMART protection is on (your host may need to enable it for your server):
- It handles the attack automatically — traffic gets throttled or dropped in escalating steps until the flood stops
- You get an email — "attack detected" when it starts and "all clear" when it's over (one email per 5 minutes max, so no spam)
- You see a red banner on your Firewall dashboard — click Ack all to mark events as seen
Get alerts in Discord too
In the SMART tab you can paste a Discord webhook URL and pick which events you want posted to your Discord. If SMART is on and you haven't set this up, the panel will nudge you with a "Get attack alerts" hint.
Common questions
Will this increase my ping? No measurable difference. The rules run inside the host's network card path and are designed for game traffic.
Can I lock myself out of my server? No. The firewall only watches your game port — it can't touch the panel, console, or SFTP. If you misconfigure something, just disable the rule (or the whole firewall) from the same tab.
Do I need to re-apply after changing rules? The panel queues changes automatically in most cases. If you see "Out of sync with node", just click Apply firewall.
My rules disappeared after my server moved to another node. That's normal — the firewall detects the move, cleans up the old machine, and re-applies your rules to the new one automatically.
What can't it do? It protects the network path to your server. It can't fix a laggy plugin, a full CPU, or an attacker who knows your players' passwords — keep your server software updated too.
Quick reference
| You want to… | Go to |
|---|---|
| Turn the firewall on/off | Settings tab |
| Add or edit protections | Rules tab (or Presets) |
| Ban an IP | Rules → Blacklist |
| Always allow an IP | Rules → Whitelist |
| See live traffic graphs | Dashboard tab |
| See what happened earlier | Logs tab |
| Set up Discord attack alerts | Rules → SMART |
| Save/restore your config | Settings (import/export) |