TCPShield, NeoProtect or MineGuard: which one to pick for protecting a Minecraft server from DDoS and bots
A clear, no fluff breakdown of the two best known Minecraft protection services, where each one shines, where it falls short, and which option actually fits a project with a Russian speaking audience.
Why a server needs external protection at all
Any Minecraft project that gets noticed will sooner or later catch an attack. It can be a classic DDoS that floods your link with junk packets, or a wave of bots that join in batches, take up slots and lag the core into the ground. Host side protection often is not enough here: it absorbs volumetric network attacks, but it does a poor job of telling a real player from a fake session at the level of the Minecraft protocol itself.
That is why server owners put a separate filtering layer in front of their IP. The two names that come up first are TCPShield and NeoProtect. Below is an honest comparison of what they do, plus a third option that English language roundups almost never mention, even though for an audience in Russia and the CIS it closes exactly the gaps the first two leave open.
How traffic filtering for Minecraft works
The idea behind every service like this is the same. You stop exposing the real server IP and point your domain at the protection addresses. Players connect to the filtering network instead of you directly, it checks every connection and only lets clean traffic through. It looks like this:
- You change the domain DNS record to the protection address, with nothing installed on the server
- A player connects to a filtering node instead of your IP
- The node strips out the attack, bots and fake sessions right at the edge
- Only real players reach your server
After that the differences begin: where those nodes physically sit, how smart the anti bot is, whether there is a captcha, what language support speaks and what currency you pay in. These are the points where the services part ways.
TCPShield
TCPShield has been running since 2015 and has gone through tens of thousands of networks in that time. It is a mature, proven service with a large anycast network, nodes in Europe, North America and Asia, peering with hundreds of networks and solid L7 protection. It can read Minecraft packets, catch handshake floods, query floods and fake sessions, it caches the MOTD to absorb ping floods, and it balances players across backends.
If you run an international project with players mostly in Europe or the US, there is little to complain about with TCPShield. The questions start when a sizable share of your audience sits in Russia and the CIS: the nearest filtering node is still in Europe, so a player traffic first travels abroad and only then comes back to the server.
Strong points
- Long track record and reputation, on the market since 2015
- Strong L7 filtering with real understanding of the Minecraft protocol
- Wide network with peering and low ping across the EU and the US
- MOTD cache against ping floods, load balancing
- Has a free tier to get started
Weak spots
- No filtering nodes in Russia, an extra ping detour for CIS players
- No ready made web captcha as a separate bot barrier
- Payment in foreign currency, Russian cards often fail
- Support and dashboard in English only
NeoProtect
NeoProtect is a younger but fast growing rival with its GameShield product. Its calling card is the anti bot: the system stays inline at all times, reacts to an attack with no warm up and adapts to different kinds of bot activity by watching player behavior, packet patterns and addresses. The advertised network capacity is large, there is a built in AntiVPN on the higher tier, a status cache, three balancing algorithms and flexible message customization.
In essence it is a strong technical tool tuned for fighting bot attacks. But NeoProtect nodes are again European, there is no separate web captcha as a barrier, and payment and support are aimed at a Western customer too. For a Russian speaking admin that means the same two annoyances: ping and payments.
Strong points
- Very strong adaptive anti bot tuned for mass bot joins
- Filter always inline, fast reaction to an attack
- Built in AntiVPN on the higher tier
- Status cache, three balancing modes, flexible messages
- Has a free tier
Weak spots
- Nodes in Europe, higher ping for CIS players than it could be
- No web captcha as a separate check
- Some features and the default Bedrock port are only on higher tiers
- Payment in foreign currency and support in English
The main catch for projects in Russia and the CIS
Both TCPShield and NeoProtect are excellent services, but both are built for the Western market. Their filtering nodes sit in Europe, the US and Asia. If your players are mostly from Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan and neighboring countries, then with this setup their traffic first goes to a Frankfurt or Amsterdam, gets filtered there and only then returns to the server. That is dozens of extra milliseconds of ping for nothing, and in fast paced modes like PvP, anarchy or minigames the difference is felt instantly.
Add to that billing in euros and dollars, which is awkward to pay with a Russian card, and support in English. So technically both services are good, but they fit a Russian speaking project with caveats. This is exactly the niche the third option fills.
The third option: MineGuard
MineGuard is a Minecraft DDoS and bot protection built from the start for a Russian speaking audience. It connects just as easily, by changing a DNS record, with nothing installed on the server, it supports Java and Bedrock, work behind BungeeCord and Velocity, and joining by domain without a port. But several things set it apart from TCPShield and NeoProtect, and for Russian speaking projects they are decisive.
Filtering servers in Moscow
This is the main trump card. MineGuard keeps a filtering node right in Moscow, next to players in Russia and the CIS, not only in Europe like the western services. Traffic from a player in Russia or the CIS is cleaned locally, without a detour through foreign data centers. In practice that means noticeably lower ping for your core audience at the same level of protection.
At the same time the MineGuard network is not limited to Moscow: there are also filtering nodes in Germany, the Czech Republic and Poland. Players from Europe land on a nearby point too, so a short route and low ping reach the whole audience, from the CIS to the EU. For PvP, anarchy, minigames and any project where every millisecond of response matters, local filtering is a direct advantage that the western services simply do not give CIS players.
The most flexible anti bot
The anti bot is where MineGuard goes all in. The system detects bots and fake joins on its own, and on the higher tier ML filtering kicks in to catch even smart bots that pass the usual checks. But the real point is the depth of settings: you tune the trigger threshold, the session and login limits per IP, the reconnect delay, the client type filter, nickname rules with whitelist, blacklist and regex, and you choose what happens to a suspicious connection, block it or send it to the captcha. Neither TCPShield nor NeoProtect gives you this many knobs to fine tune the anti bot.
Web captcha
When bots flood a server, an automatic filter alone is sometimes not enough, especially against smart bots that can pretend to be human. MineGuard adds a web captcha: a suspicious connection is sent to a verification page that only a person can pass. The captcha can be styled to your brand, your logo, background, colors and text. Bots are filtered out at this barrier while real players walk right in. Neither TCPShield nor NeoProtect has a ready web check like this.
What else MineGuard can do
- Filtering nodes in Moscow, Germany, the Czech Republic and Poland
- L3, L4 and L7 protection in real time
- Anti bot and smart bot detection, ML filtering on the higher tier
- IP, Country and ASN firewalls, VPN blocking
- Nickname rules: whitelist, blacklist and regex
- Bedrock support via tunnels, BungeeCord and Velocity
- MOTD cache, fake online count, favicon upload, PlasmoVoice
- Notifications by Email, Telegram, Discord and Webhook
- Payment in rubles by Visa, Mastercard, Mir and via SBP
- Analytics, attack history and logs in real time
- A free tier and setup in a couple of minutes
TCPShield, NeoProtect and MineGuard: comparison table
Short and to the point, no filler. Everything in one table so you can see who covers what.
| Criterion | TCPShield | NeoProtect | MineGuard |
|---|---|---|---|
| L3 and L4 protection | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| L7 protection for Minecraft | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Anti bot | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Anti bot customization | basic | advanced | maximum control |
| Web captcha | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ |
| Filtering nodes in Moscow | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ |
| Ping for CIS players | higher, EU nodes | higher, EU nodes | lower, Moscow |
| Bedrock support | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| BungeeCord and Velocity | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| DNS setup without a plugin | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Payment in rubles and via SBP | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ |
| Russian language support | no | no | ✓ |
| Free tier | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
Data on TCPShield and NeoProtect is taken from their official documentation as of June 2026. The feature set per tier changes over time for every service, so check the current details on their sites.
So what should you choose
There is no universal answer, it all depends on where your players come from and how you pay for the service. Roughly it breaks down like this:
If your core audience is Russian speaking, the choice is fairly obvious. Filtering servers in Moscow give lower ping, the web captcha adds bot protection, and payment in rubles plus support in your own language remove the everyday friction. You can try it for free, with no payment and nothing installed on the server.
Frequently asked questions
How is MineGuard different from TCPShield and NeoProtect?
There are two main differences. First, the filtering servers sit in Moscow, so for players in Russia and the CIS the ping is lower than with filtering through European nodes. Second, there is a web captcha as a separate bot barrier. On top of that, payment in rubles and via SBP and support in Russian.
Do I need to install anything on the server?
No. Setup is done by changing a domain DNS record, just like with TCPShield and NeoProtect. There are no plugins or agents to install, and the whole process takes a couple of minutes.
What is a web captcha and why is it needed?
It is a verification page that a suspicious connection is sent to. A person passes it in seconds, while bots that imitate players are filtered out. The captcha can be styled to your brand: logo, background, colors and text.
Why does it matter where the filtering servers are?
A player traffic goes through a filtering node. If the node is in Europe and the player is in Russia, their data first travels abroad and only then returns to the server, which adds ping. Nodes in Moscow clean the traffic next to the player, so the response is lower.
Are Bedrock and work behind BungeeCord or Velocity supported?
Yes. MineGuard supports Java and Bedrock, work behind BungeeCord and Velocity proxies, and joining by domain without a port. Bedrock connects through tunnels.
Can I try it for free?
Yes, MineGuard has a free tier with basic L3 and L4 protection. Paid tiers add anti bot, firewalls, web captcha, Bedrock, extended analytics and ML filtering.
Protect your server where your players actually are
Filtering in Moscow, a web captcha against bots, payment in rubles and setup in a couple of minutes. You can start on the free tier.