ActionLimiter
Every server owner knows the feeling. Chat fills with the same message twenty times in a row, someone is clicking a chest like a machine gun, and your tick rate starts to wobble. ActionLimiter is a lightweight plugin built to put a stop to exactly that kind of abuse. It rate-limits what players can do, so spammers, auto-clickers and lag machine builders simply cannot overload your server.
What ActionLimiter Does
The idea behind ActionLimiter is simple: normal players never notice it, but abusers hit a wall almost immediately. Each action type has its own limit, measured in actions per time window. Short bursts are still allowed thanks to a token bucket system, which means a player can quickly place a few blocks or send a couple of messages without being punished. Sustained spam, however, gets blocked.
Blocked actions are quietly cancelled. There is no rubber-banding, no weird teleporting, no intrusive behaviour. If you want, you can enable a warning message that tells the player they are going too fast, complete with a cooldown so the warning itself does not become spam. For repeat offenders there is an optional kick feature, disabled by default and never applied to chat.
Supported Versions and Loaders
ActionLimiter targets modern server software. It supports Paper, Spigot and Folia on Minecraft 1.21 and newer, and it requires Java 21 or newer, with Java 25 needed on Minecraft 26.x. Folia support is a nice touch, since regionised threading is becoming more common on larger networks.
If you run a mixed setup, you will be glad to hear the plugin plays nicely across all three loaders without extra configuration. When you download ActionLimiter, grab the build that matches your server version and drop it straight into the plugins folder.
Limits You Can Expect Out of the Box
The default configuration already covers the most common exploit vectors. Each category can be toggled on or off, and every limit is fully adjustable.
- chat - 5 messages per 5 seconds
- commands - 8 commands per 5 seconds
- interact - 25 clicks on blocks or air per second
- interact-entity - 25 entity interactions per second
- block-place - 30 blocks placed per second
- block-break - 40 blocks broken per second
- inventory-click - 40 inventory clicks per second
- drop-item - 15 item drops per second
- swing - 30 arm swings per second
- hotbar - 30 hotbar switches per second
- movement - 120 movement actions per second
These numbers are generous for legitimate play. A builder placing thirty blocks a second is already moving faster than any human hand, so the limits only catch the automated stuff.
Commands and Permissions
Administration is handled through two commands. /actionlimiter reload reloads the configuration without a restart, and /actionlimiter stats shows how many actions were blocked per category, which is genuinely useful when you want to know whether a limit is too tight. The alias /alimit saves some typing.
Permissions are minimal by design. actionlimiter.admin grants access to the commands and defaults to OP, while actionlimiter.bypass exempts a player from all limits and defaults to nobody. That second permission is perfect for staff and trusted builders who might occasionally work with WorldEdit or similar tools.
How to Install ActionLimiter
Installation takes about a minute. Stop your server, place the jar file in the plugins folder, and start it back up. ActionLimiter generates a config file on first run, where you can edit the limits section. Each entry follows the same pattern, for example chat with enabled set to true, max set to 5 and seconds set to 5. The settings section lets you customise the warning message, the message cooldown and the optional kick behaviour.
If you would rather skip the manual steps entirely, the foxygame.net launcher handles ActionLimiter through its built-in add-on catalogue, so a single click installs the plugin and keeps it updated whenever a new build lands. That is a convenient route for owners who manage several servers at once and do not want to babysit jar files.
What ActionLimiter Is Not
It is worth being clear about the scope here. ActionLimiter works through Bukkit events, so it limits player actions at the game level. It is not a network-level packet filter and will not protect you against raw connection floods or bot attacks. For those, you need a firewall or proxy-level protection. Think of ActionLimiter as the layer that keeps your in-game economy, chat and world safe from the players who already got through the door.
Final Thoughts
ActionLimiter for Minecraft fills a gap that many anti-cheat and anti-spam tools leave open. It is lightweight, has no database and no external dependencies, and it quietly cancels the behaviour that ruins servers. Whether you run a small survival world or a busy Folia network, the combination of per-player limits, burst tolerance and a bypass permission makes it an easy recommendation. Set your limits, watch the stats, and let the plugin handle the rest.
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