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- Apr 21, 2014
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Copied over from the Minecraft Forums, this is for those who don't know what has been happening recently.
Prodigious_Networks created it.
Mojang's authentication servers have been up and down all day today, and some other services have also been flaky such as the skin servers. If your skin is displaying as Steve or Alex, this is why!
So what is going on and what is causing this?
I am not completely positive, but according to Hypixel's website, they have been under multiple, strong DDoS attacks. This is most likely a targeted attack against Minecraft itself, Hypixel, and a few other large servers. I do not know who is behind it, but there are many posts about it on Hypixel forums, etc. I am not going to talk about that in this post, you're welcome to read up on it if you please. Please, do not start rumors about who did it or what not. That doesn't matter, and whoever is behind this really needs to find something better to do with their lives. Sadly, we have people like that in our world.
Hypixel Thread: https://hypixel.net/threads/network-issues.373768/
What is a DDoS attack?
A DDoS attack (Distribuited Denial of Service) is a very simple attack in which huge amounts of data are blasted at a server, thus taking it offline and causing it to be unable to respond to real requests. Note: I do not know if this is the reason that the authentication servers are offline, but it would make most sense from what I have read. We have to wait until we hear from Mojang. It is very early in the morning for them (they are based out of Sweden), so it might be a few hours before they jump on this issue.
These statuses were taken from the link below if you are interested in checking the progress.
http://help.mojang.com for system status.
This is the error that you will see in-game.
What do these "Authentication Servers" do?
The main purpose of the authentication service is to verify the players username and UUID with an actual Minecraft account to make sure that they are who they say they are. Without this service, people would be able to use fake usernames at their own disposal. That would not be good. For example, a player could simply change their username to the username of a staff member and destroy a server. Don't worry though, this isn't going to magically happen just because the servers are down. That is why it prevents you from logging in.
How the authentication process works.
1. Player and account information is sent to the server they are trying to join and to an authenitcaion server.
2. Authentication server checks databases and matches the username and UUID with a registered Minecraft/Mojang account.
3. Response is sent back to the client and the server they are trying to join with the players UUID, basically telling the server that the account is verified.
4. The user logs into the game and has fun playing!
(Well, that's how it works when the servers are up at least.
)
This is why you are unable to join any server, unless the server is running in offline mode, which bypasses the authentication servers.
You can't do anything about it in the time being (you just have to wait it out), but if you are just looking to play with a group of friends, in your server.properties file, change the line that says "online-mode=true" to "online-mode=false". Do not forget to turn this back to "true" once the auth servers are back online! If you do not do this, anybody can join using any username they want to, since they are not being authenticated with an actual account. Note: this only applies if you are running a server yourself, this is not a game setting.
What can I do in the meantime though?
Well, it's better than nothing.
For now, all you can do is wait. Just wanted to make this thread to let anybody know that is confused about what is going on. Don't start spreading false information or rumors, it doesn't help the situation at all.
If you have any questions, feel free to ask!
Hope this helps!
Helpful Links
Mojang Status Twitter: https://twitter.com/mojangstatus
Mojang Service Status: https://help.mojang.com/
Prodigious_Networks created it.
Mojang's authentication servers have been up and down all day today, and some other services have also been flaky such as the skin servers. If your skin is displaying as Steve or Alex, this is why!
So what is going on and what is causing this?
I am not completely positive, but according to Hypixel's website, they have been under multiple, strong DDoS attacks. This is most likely a targeted attack against Minecraft itself, Hypixel, and a few other large servers. I do not know who is behind it, but there are many posts about it on Hypixel forums, etc. I am not going to talk about that in this post, you're welcome to read up on it if you please. Please, do not start rumors about who did it or what not. That doesn't matter, and whoever is behind this really needs to find something better to do with their lives. Sadly, we have people like that in our world.
Hypixel Thread: https://hypixel.net/threads/network-issues.373768/
What is a DDoS attack?
A DDoS attack (Distribuited Denial of Service) is a very simple attack in which huge amounts of data are blasted at a server, thus taking it offline and causing it to be unable to respond to real requests. Note: I do not know if this is the reason that the authentication servers are offline, but it would make most sense from what I have read. We have to wait until we hear from Mojang. It is very early in the morning for them (they are based out of Sweden), so it might be a few hours before they jump on this issue.
These statuses were taken from the link below if you are interested in checking the progress.
http://help.mojang.com for system status.
This is the error that you will see in-game.
What do these "Authentication Servers" do?
The main purpose of the authentication service is to verify the players username and UUID with an actual Minecraft account to make sure that they are who they say they are. Without this service, people would be able to use fake usernames at their own disposal. That would not be good. For example, a player could simply change their username to the username of a staff member and destroy a server. Don't worry though, this isn't going to magically happen just because the servers are down. That is why it prevents you from logging in.
How the authentication process works.
1. Player and account information is sent to the server they are trying to join and to an authenitcaion server.
2. Authentication server checks databases and matches the username and UUID with a registered Minecraft/Mojang account.
3. Response is sent back to the client and the server they are trying to join with the players UUID, basically telling the server that the account is verified.
4. The user logs into the game and has fun playing!
(Well, that's how it works when the servers are up at least.
This is why you are unable to join any server, unless the server is running in offline mode, which bypasses the authentication servers.
You can't do anything about it in the time being (you just have to wait it out), but if you are just looking to play with a group of friends, in your server.properties file, change the line that says "online-mode=true" to "online-mode=false". Do not forget to turn this back to "true" once the auth servers are back online! If you do not do this, anybody can join using any username they want to, since they are not being authenticated with an actual account. Note: this only applies if you are running a server yourself, this is not a game setting.
What can I do in the meantime though?
Well, it's better than nothing.
For now, all you can do is wait. Just wanted to make this thread to let anybody know that is confused about what is going on. Don't start spreading false information or rumors, it doesn't help the situation at all.
If you have any questions, feel free to ask!
Hope this helps!
Helpful Links
Mojang Status Twitter: https://twitter.com/mojangstatus
Mojang Service Status: https://help.mojang.com/
