Is It Safe To Host A Minecraft Server
Is it safe to host a minecraft server?
I am a bit anxious about the "Network Sharing" option, which you must enable to set up minecraft servers. Is it secure? Is my computer susceptible to viruses? Thanks!
If you don't want to enable "Network Sharing", it's not necessary.
Servers of any kind are always at risk. It's quite small and generally secure. There haven't been any exploits that allow the official Minecraft server to run random code to install a virus locally. This is not to say that there aren't any, but it's possible to find one if nobody knows about it.
It is easy to follow a few rules.
Don't run the server as administrator, or as any user with admin access
Don't run it as a user that has access to any documents or files you care about
Backups are important for everything, even if there is no server.
Keep your OS, Java, or server up-to date with the latest security patches
Don't give admin-level (OP, web administrator access, etc.) access to anyone you don’t trust with your personal details.
Install only trusted plugins.
You'll be fine as long as you adhere to these rules.
My understanding is that you plan to host your Minecraft server on your own home network. However, this could pose problems if the server is made public. This is because, unless you use a proxy to mask your IP, you may be subject to DoS and DDoS attacks.
Probably slim chance of that.. be careful with the ports you open up and who you give admin access to.. like follow the stuff /u/PhonicUK said and you should be fine. If you by the slim chance have an enemy out there that cares to hit you with DoS I'm confident you don't have a static IP so just a reset of your router should give you a new IP from your ISP and problem solved.
The server itself is safe to run (I've never heard of any security holes in it), but depending on how you set up your network to let people access your server, you could be giving them access to things that you didn't intend to.
Let's say you have a server running on your main computer. This will also share your printer to your home network. If you open up the router, people will be able dial in to your main machine on any port. They'll also be able access your server and possibly your printer to print stuff.
Also, ensure that you only forward the ports that are necessary or that you have passwords and other security measures to protect the services to which you allow access from the Internet.
PhonicUK said that I don't think there should be any "Network Sharing” option. Which tutorial are you following? 360 degrees all the way around
Just some food for thought - there are some dirt cheap minecraft hosts out there. When I first got into this, I went with a $3/mo host with just a simple Spigot server w/ 1GB of ram. It was worth it compared to having a computer at home 24/7 and paying the electric bills. My home internet connection is limited to 12mbps upload speeds. However, most hosts offer 100mbps upload rates (well, those that I've used). Since then, I have moved to an 8GB VPS setup because you can't help but get addicted. It costs $15/mo and I split it with 2 other players. I'd much rather deal with a server in the cloud than at home, but I know how to set one up at home if I need to.
