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My son has recently created a Minecraft server in our home using a leftover PC.

He is using a whitelist to allow only his friends' legitimate accounts to join the game.

However, I have discovered that one of the friends is connecting with MineChat client.

I have read their site, and they seem like a legitimate app, but I don't want to allow any clients except the official Mojang(microsoft) clients.

Is there a way to prevent other clients like MineChat from connecting to my son's server?

This is a vanilla 1.8 server running on Debian behind my firewall, using NAT and a non-standard Minecraft port. Further, I have the domain running through the CloudFlare DNS, and I have not used their protections service yet, as I had to disable it for the friends to connect via Minecraft client.

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    I've been reading around on the net and it seems that MineChat is using the same protocol and behaving the same as the Minecraft client proper, so it seems it's hard to tell who is using MineChat and who isn't. Most solutions seem to be achieved by using Bukkit to mod a listener that can detect MineChat behavior and then act on those detections. – qxotk Jan 18 '15 at 23:12
  • I have nothing against MineChat - seems their business model is freemium on the client side, and has an advertising side of the business that will promote servers on the MineChat clients. – qxotk Jan 19 '15 at 20:06
  • My issue with non-mojang clients is that I am afraid of them capturing credentials in clear text and increasing the vulnerability of my son's server - as in if MineChat is hacked, so is my son, effectively. – qxotk Jan 19 '15 at 20:08
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    There's no way to distinguish Minecraft and MineChat clients. Just make sure server admins don't use MineChat in case someone is monitoring their packets for passwords sent in clear text. You can AFK kick people too, so minechat users can't stay logged in and eventually just stop using it. @Virusboy, one port open to software with one vulnerable line of code is all it takes to get hacked... – user90998 Jan 19 '15 at 20:30
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    The only fix that I can think of is to make or find a plugin for Bukkit that automatically kicks the player if they say the join message ("Joined with MineChat"). But this would only work if they connect using the free version of MineChat. – MorbidEntree Jan 21 '15 at 3:57
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There is no possible way to distinguish MineChat from a standard client. It's the same with many hacked clients, cracked clients, or similar. From the sound of it, neither of those are a problem, though. A thing that you could do is, if you would be willing to run a Bukkit or similar plugin-supporting server, is have a plugin that isolates players from everything until they move. This would deter anybody with MineChat. I could try and show you how to make it with command blocks, but I doubt you want me on your server, as I am a stranger. I hope that I helped in some way. Have good luck.

EDIT: I may have worded my answer in a confusing way; I'm sorry for that. There would be a way to prevent people with MineChat from doing anything on the server, but there is no way to prevent somebody with a cracked client from doing anything. If you wish me to, I could set up an anti-MineChat thing with command blocks, and I could send the MCEdit schematic for you to put it in your world. That's the best that I can do without just building it on your server.

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  • Better I concern myself with all/any cracked client I suppose - very good point. Could you write the Command Block solution into this answer as an update? – qxotk Feb 5 '15 at 23:21
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    There would be no command block solution for cracked clients. There would be one for MineChat, but it would be extensive and complicated. You should probably find someone you trust to get on the server and do it for you. I'm a stranger, and while I can say that I wouldn't do anything unethical, you don't know if I'm telling the truth. – Caty Lawren Feb 8 '15 at 17:28

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