The problem with "DDoS protected" hosting plans
Most hosting companies' "DDoS protection" is generic Layer-4 filtering from their upstream provider. It stops crude floods and does nothing about the attacks that actually take Minecraft servers down: join floods and bot attacks speaking valid Minecraft protocol. When one lands, the common outcome is a null-route — your host takes your server offline to protect their other customers, which finishes the attacker's job for them.
You pay a premium for that. The same money buys more protection when hosting and mitigation are separate purchases.
The two-purchase setup
- Buy hosting for the hardware — CPU, RAM, disk, location, support quality, price. Ignore the DDoS marketing entirely; any host works.
- Buy (or start free with) protection for the network — Arvoris puts Cloudflare Spectrum's 500+ Tbps anycast edge and Cryo, a Minecraft-protocol-aware Layer-7 filter, in front of whatever host you chose.
- Connect them with one DNS record — your play domain points at your Arvoris endpoint, your Arvoris network points at your host's IP and port. Five-minute setup, no plugin, no migration.
- Keep real player IPs — PROXY protocol delivers the true client address to your backend on every plan, so bans and plugins keep working.
Why this beats built-in protection
| Attack surface | Your host's IP stays unpublished — attacks hit the anycast edge, not your node |
| Minecraft-aware filtering | Join floods, ping spam and bot attacks are parsed at the protocol level, not just rate-limited |
| Antibot included | Verification gauntlet, AntiVPN and stolen-account detection — things no host bundles |
| Portability | Change hosts anytime; protection, domain and player experience stay identical |
| Price | From $0. Paid tiers $10–40/mo — typically less than the hosting markup for 'protected' plans |
Setting it up on a typical host
Create a free network in the panel, add your host's address (for example `node4.yourhost.com:25565`) as the backend, verify your domain, and point `play.yourdomain.com` at your assigned edge endpoint via CNAME — or keep a custom port with an SRV record. If you run a proxy like Velocity or BungeeCord on the host, enable PROXY protocol (Velocity guide, BungeeCord guide). Running a Pterodactyl-based host? There's a dedicated walkthrough.
Common questions
Do I need a host that advertises DDoS protection?+
No. With proxy-based protection like Arvoris, players connect to the protection network's anycast edge, not to your host — so the host's own filtering barely matters. Pick the host with the best hardware, support and price; the protection layer is a separate, portable decision.
What happens if my host null-routes my server during an attack?+
Once Arvoris is in front and your server IP isn't public, attacks target the edge instead of your node, so null-route situations mostly stop happening. Attacks are absorbed by 500+ Tbps of anycast capacity before your host sees a single hostile packet.
Does this work with shared hosting, VPS and dedicated servers?+
Yes — anything with an IP and port works as a backend. Shared Minecraft hosting, a VPS you manage yourself, a dedicated box, or a Pterodactyl node: you point your network's backend at host:port and your DNS at the Arvoris edge.
Will switching hosts later break my protection?+
No — that's one of the biggest advantages. Your players connect to your domain, which points at Arvoris. Move hosts, change the backend address in the panel, and players never notice. Your protection and your hosting are decoupled.
How much does the full setup cost?+
A solid budget host plus Arvoris Free ($0, up to 15 players) or Budget ($10/mo, 60 players) usually lands well under what hosts charge for 'premium DDoS protection' plans alone. Essential is $25/mo and Value $40/mo as you grow.
Start with the free plan — protect the server you already have, on the host you already pay for, in about five minutes.