A powerful, lightweight solution that uses "checks" to see if a player is human.

: Monitors join rates (e.g., if 10 players join in 2 seconds) and triggers a temporary "lockdown" mode or presents a Captcha. AuthMeReloaded

: This is a powerful, free plugin for Velocity and BungeeCord. It uses a "challenge" system (like a simple movement test or a custom UI) that humans can easily pass but automated scripts cannot.

: Recommended for its configurable settings, such as "reconnect-check" and "server-list-check," which help stop simple join spam [13].

: A highly customizable defense tool that forces suspicious IPs to click an interface to verify they are human. 3. Use Cloudflare Spectrum (Free Tier)

: A lightweight defense that uses multi-layered checks to block sophisticated attacks without hurting the experience for real players [12].