Author Topic: Port Forwarding Safety  (Read 956 times)

I'm trying to prove to someone that port forwarding is safe so that I can host servers. Multiple sources would be nice and one example of a BAD SOURCE would be from Badspot's Port Forwarding Tutorial. Sure, it says port forwarding "will not open you up to being hacked," but it also says "Kids: Don't ask your parents, just try it when they're not home." Thankyou for reading.

As of I think v12 Port Forwarding is no longer required for hosting Blockland servers, just enable UPnP(Universal Plug and Play) On BL and your Router settings and your ready to host.

However port forwarding is safe, and no they can't "Hack" you.

But Honestly enabling UPnP would save you more time, its easier and is more secure.

I made sure that UPnP was enabled on my router and in BL and I still can't host.

Port forwarding for BL servers is perfectly safe.

Source: All the people that do it and don't get hacked.

I've had my ports open for blockland and many other games for almost 5 years now. Some people just as long if not longer. If it were unsafe I think all the people who've done it this far would have sad something.

Also tell the person that many HUGE game companies sometimes have you open your ports for their games.

AND, if it were unsafe to do at all why would they have the settings in just about every router available.

Port Forwarding just opens connections so people can talk to your computer and recieve information. It's a bit of both the ports you forward and the program. Ex, you forward the port 28000 all that does is allow Blockland to send/talk information to other computers, nobody is uploading to you, just downloading information from you. Blockland also handles everything Server Sided (like almost every game) so meaning people can't attempt to put stuff on the server or your computer because it just won't work.

The only way port forwarding could allow you to get hacked is if you have an FTP. FTP is a file transferring protocol where you can send and download files from a computer anywhere (you set up which files and the computer etc) FTP sends files over in the clear without any encryption (encryption can be added but by default it's not). The default port for FTP is 21 but you can change that, if someone with a lot hacking knowledge knows the port and how to hack into it they can potentionally get that information your sending over, that's basically the only thing they can "hack" at least at my understanding

You won't be using FTP for BL obviously, that was just an off topic example of how someone could use ports to "hack" files, not your computer but just files.

Your computer automatically forwards port 80 for internet browsing.

Ok thanks for the help. I have another question though. I was able to host about a week ago using the UPnP thing but now that isn't working. Is it possible that resetting the router could fix this problem?

Yes, simply unplug your router, wait 10 seconds, and plug it back in. This normally resolves UPnP issues.

but it also says "Kids: Don't ask your parents, just try it when they're not home."
That's to prevent cases like this - http://forum.blockland.us/index.php?topic=75203.msg1280524#msg1280524

Your computer automatically forwards port 80 for internet browsing.
No it doesn't, half the time you need to call your ISP to forward Port 80. I had to call mine twice to forward Port 80. Samething with Port 21 (mostly used for FTP), many ISPs block that port.

No it doesn't, half the time you need to call your ISP to forward Port 80. I had to call mine twice to forward Port 80. Samething with Port 21 (mostly used for FTP), many ISPs block that port.
What the hell does your ISP have to do with port forwarding?

What the hell does your ISP have to do with port forwarding?

Everything...

The ISP can also block ports directly on their side.
Its common that they block port 80 (Http) port 22 (FTP) and port 25 (SMTP).

They say they do it for your security, but they just dint want homeusers to provide webservices with a home connection.


Often its enough to kindly ask if they could open these ports. My ISP did that for me.