# Login protection

> Login protection puts a door in front of your Minecraft Java server. Players with a Microsoft login walk straight through it, the same as on any server in...

Source: https://fadehost.com/docs/login-protection/

Login protection puts a door in front of your Minecraft Java server. Players
with a Microsoft login walk straight through it, the same as on any server in
online mode. Players without one, for example friends on a launcher that is not
signed in, get a short registration on their first visit: they pick a password,
and from then on they log in with it. Nobody can take a name that someone else
registered, so the server keeps the protection of online mode without shutting
those friends out.

## How it looks to a player

- **First visit without a Microsoft login:** a form or a chat prompt asks for a
  password to register the name. After that the player is on the server.
- **Later visits:** the same name and password. On the same connection, logins
  are remembered for a while, so most days there is no prompt at all.
- **Two people behind one router:** the second name is asked to confirm before
  it goes in, so a shared address cannot be used to slip in under someone's
  name.
- **Players with a Microsoft login:** no change. They join as they always did.

## Turning it on

- In the creation wizard, pick the **Any launcher welcome** preset or switch on
  **Login protection** in the options step.
- On an existing server, open **Settings → Login protection**. A running server
  restarts to apply it.
- On the **Players could not log in** banner, press **Turn on login protection**.

Login protection is available on every plan, including free and trial servers,
and only for Minecraft Java Edition on FadeHost's own nodes. On a server you
host on your own hardware it runs on the FadeHost relay in front of it.

## Compared to offline mode

Offline mode switches the account check off for everyone, so anyone can join
under any name. That is fine for a whitelisted or private server, and paid
servers can choose it under **Settings → Game → Online mode**. Login protection
is the safer option when a server is open to more than a handful of people.