# Minecraft AntiVPN solutions compared: plugins, anti-bots and services

Search for "minecraft antivpn" and you get dozens of plugins and services that look alike. They fall into a few kinds that work very differently. Below is what each kind stops and what it lets through.

Updated: 2026-10-27

## In short

- Five common approaches: manual IP bans, free AntiVPN plugins with your own API keys, anti-bot plugins that test players in a limbo, network DDoS protection and hosted protection services.
- Only some of them recognise a real person on a VPN; others only stop floods of fake players.
- A small server can get by with a free plugin; a network that gets attacked usually needs an address check plus bot protection.
- Kordon is a hosted service. We make it, so this guide also says where it fits and where it does not.

## Five kinds of protection

### Manual IP bans

You ban addresses by hand or with a ban plugin. It is free and simple, but a VPN gives a new address on every reconnect, and a banned address may later belong to an innocent player.

### Free AntiVPN plugins

The plugin sends each new address to one or more detection services. You register with those services, put API keys into a config file and keep an eye on their daily request limits. Accuracy depends on the services you choose, and every server keeps its own results.

### Anti-bot plugins with a limbo

New players first land in a small virtual world where the plugin checks that they behave like a real client: gravity, collisions, network packets. This stops floods of fake players well, but it does not tell you whether a real person is using a VPN to get around a ban.

### Network DDoS protection

Your host or a proxy service filters traffic before it reaches the machine. It keeps the server online during a flood, but it knows nothing about Minecraft logins, nicknames or VPNs.

### Hosted protection services

A plugin on your proxy asks an external service about every login. The service collects shared data about addresses, notices attacks across many servers and is set up in a web panel. You rely on the service being available, and advanced features are usually paid.

## Side by side

|  | VPN and proxy users | Bot floods | Setup | Shared data | Cost |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Manual IP bans | Barely | No | None | No | Free |
| Free AntiVPN plugin | Yes, as good as the services you choose | Partly | API keys and a config file on every proxy | No | Free within the limits of the services |
| Anti-bot plugin with a limbo | No | Yes | Plugin plus tuning | No | Usually free |
| Network DDoS protection | No | Network floods only | At the host | No | Often included in hosting |
| Hosted service (Kordon) | Yes, online checks of new addresses from the Basic plan | Yes, through attack mode | One plugin, settings in a panel | Yes | Free plan for small servers, paid plans for more |

## How to choose

A small private server may need nothing more than a whitelist or online mode.

A public server where banned players come back needs an AntiVPN check. A free plugin works if you are ready to manage API keys and limits. A hosted service takes that work off your hands.

A server that gets bot attacks needs an address check together with bot protection. Address checks stop known proxy networks at once, and a limbo anti-bot catches bots that come from clean addresses.

A network with several proxies needs one place where settings and lists are shared by all of them.

## Where Kordon fits

Kordon is a hosted service with one plugin for BungeeCord, Waterfall and Velocity. It checks every login and switches to attack mode when a wave of bots arrives. Settings, lists and the login log live in a web panel, so there are no API keys to get.

What Kordon does not do: it does not test players in a limbo world and does not watch what they do in the game. If bots reach your server from clean home addresses, a limbo anti-bot next to Kordon covers that case.

Kordon needs an account: on the free plan Kordon checks addresses against what it already knows about them, and paid plans add an online check of every new address, higher limits and more filters. See the [pricing](https://kordonlabs.com/#pricing) and [how to set it up](https://kordonlabs.com/guides/block-vpn-minecraft-server).

## Try it on your server

Start in observe mode: Kordon shows who it would keep out, and you turn protection on when you are ready. [Create an account](https://panel.kordonlabs.com/register)

## More guides

- [How to block VPNs and proxies on a Minecraft server](https://kordonlabs.com/guides/block-vpn-minecraft-server): Why players join through VPNs and proxies, which ways to block them exist, and how to set up the Kordon AntiVPN plugin on BungeeCord or Velocity step by step.
- [How to protect a Minecraft server from bot attacks](https://kordonlabs.com/guides/minecraft-bot-attack-protection): What a bot attack on a Minecraft server looks like, why it comes through proxies, and how Kordon's attack mode closes the networks bots come from while real players keep joining.
- [Residential proxies: why they are hard to catch and what to do about them](https://kordonlabs.com/guides/residential-proxies-minecraft): What residential proxies are, why bots and rule breakers on them look like normal players, and how Kordon blocks them on Strict protection and during attacks.