What Is A DDoS Attack?

If you run a game server, you have probably heard the term DDoS. It is one of the most common reasons a server suddenly goes offline. This article explains in plain language what a DDoS attack is, how the main types work, why game servers are targeted and what the warning signs are.

The Simple Explanation

DDoS stands for distributed denial of service. Imagine a shop with one door. Normally customers come in one by one. In a DDoS attack, a huge crowd rushes to the door at the same time with no intention of buying anything. Real customers cannot get in, and the shop is effectively closed.

For a game server, the "crowd" is network traffic sent from a large number of computers at once, often infected devices controlled by the attacker. Because the traffic comes from so many places, you cannot stop it by blocking a single address.

The Main Types Of DDoS Attacks

Volumetric Attacks

These try to fill up the connection to your server with so much data that nothing else can get through. Examples include UDP floods and amplification attacks, where small requests are sent to third-party servers that reply with much larger responses aimed at the victim. These are the biggest attacks by raw size.

Protocol Attacks

These exploit how network connections work. A SYN flood, for example, starts huge numbers of connections without finishing them, so the server runs out of capacity to accept real ones. They do not need as much bandwidth as volumetric attacks.

Application Layer Attacks (Layer 7)

These look like real use of your service. They send requests that appear to be genuine game or web traffic, for example fake connection attempts or queries to the game server. They are smaller but harder to tell apart from real players, so they need filters that understand the game's traffic.

Why Game Servers Are Targeted

• Rivalries. Competing communities, banned players or angry users sometimes try to take a server down.
• Visible IP addresses. Players must connect, so the server address is easy to find.
• Impact. Even a few minutes offline can frustrate players, and a repeated attack can destroy a community.
• Cheap tools. Attack services exist for sale, so someone with a grudge does not need technical skill.
• Extortion. Some attackers demand payment to stop. Paying is not a safe solution, because it only encourages more attacks.

Signs Your Server Is Under Attack

• Many players disconnect at the same moment.
• Everyone gets high ping at the same time, not just a few players.
• The server cannot be reached from the outside even though the machine is running.
• Your network graph shows a sharp spike of incoming traffic.
• The problem starts and stops suddenly, sometimes in waves.

Do not assume every outage is an attack. A script bug, a full disk or an overloaded database can look similar. Check your logs and resource usage first.

What Does And Does Not Work

What does not work well: trying to stop a large attack on the server itself. By the time the traffic reaches your machine, the network link is already full. Blocking IP addresses one by one does not help when thousands of addresses are involved.

What works: filtering the traffic before it reaches your server, in the network in front of it. Attack traffic is identified and dropped, and clean traffic continues to your server. This is exactly what DDoS protection services do. Read how in How DDoS Protection Works for Game Servers.

Reduce Your Risk

1. Choose a host with always-on, network-level DDoS protection.
2. Keep admin tools such as RCON, txAdmin and databases private behind a firewall.
3. Use a domain name for players and avoid posting the raw IP everywhere.
4. Keep your server software and scripts updated.
5. Have a plan for how to talk to your players if an outage happens.

Protection At Linceris.com

Linceris.com virtual private servers are protected by DataForest.net, a German network that specializes in repelling large and complex DDoS attacks. See our DDoS protection page for how traffic is filtered. If you run FiveM, our guide How to Protect a FiveM Server from DDoS Attacks has more practical steps.