---
title: "306: Managing IP bans in Drupal 8"
description: "Site security is an important topic for everyone. Often, you will need to react to an abusive visitor to your sites. One common response is to block an IP address from accessing the site. This will..."
url: https://www.inmotionhosting.com/support/edu/drupal/manage-ip-bans/
date: 2013-12-13
modified: 2021-08-16
author: "Scott Mitchell"
categories: ["Drupal"]
type: post
lang: en
---

# 306: Managing IP bans in Drupal 8

Site security is an important topic for everyone. Often, you will need to react to an abusive visitor to your sites. One common response is to block an IP address from accessing the site. This will prevent anyone from that IP address from using the site and disrupting its normal flow. Below is quick guide on how to block and unblock IP addresses from accessing your Drupal 8 site.

Speed your website up immediately with our [Managed Drupal Hosting](https://www.inmotionhosting.com/drupal-hosting).

## In this tutorial:

[Enable Ban Module](#ban) [Block an IP](#block) [Unblock an IP](#unblock)

## How to block/unblock IP addresses in Drupal 8

### Enabling the Ban Module

Unlike Drupal 7, the ability to block IP addresses is not enabled by default. This ability has been moved from the *System* module into its own *Ban* module.

1. [Log into your Drupal 8 admin interface](https://www.inmotionhosting.com/support/edu/drupal/how-to-log-into-the-drupal-admin-dashboard/).  
2. [![](https://www.inmotionhosting.com/support/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/edu_Drupal-8__common-images_select-extend.png)](/support/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/edu_Drupal-8__common-images_select-extend.png)   From the top menu bar, click on the **menu** tab and then the **Extend** tab from the second menu bar.  
3. [![](https://www.inmotionhosting.com/support/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/edu_Drupal-8_306_1-click-ban-module.png)](/support/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/edu_Drupal-8_306_1-click-ban-module.png)   You are now on the modules list page. The *Ban* module is listed under the *Core* category. To enable it, simply click on the checkbox to the left of the module.  
4. Once selected, scroll to the bottom and click on the **Save Configuration** button to enable the module. Now that you have the *Ban* module enabled, you can now block IP addresses.  

### How to block an IP address

[![](https://www.inmotionhosting.com/support/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/edu_Drupal-8__common-images_select-configuration.png)](/support/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/edu_Drupal-8__common-images_select-configuration.png)

 
If your site is being abused by spammers or other online miscreants you may decide to block their IP address. You can do so by first logging into the Drupal 8 admin interface. From there, use the top menu bar and click **Menu >> Configuration**.

[![](https://www.inmotionhosting.com/support/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/edu_Drupal-8_306_3-enter-ip-address.png)](/support/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/edu_Drupal-8_306_3-enter-ip-address.png)

 
Once on the *Configuration* page, look under the *People* category and click on the **IP Address Bans** link. This brings you to a page named *IP Address Bans*. Enter the offending IP address in the **IP Address** field and then click on the **Add** button.

### How to unblock an IP

If you discover that a blocked IP address is no longer valid or the person blocked has apologized and reformed their bad behavior, you can remove the IP address from the list. Simply visit the list using the same method as above.

[![](https://www.inmotionhosting.com/support/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/edu_Drupal-8_306_5-delete-ip-address.png)](/support/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/edu_Drupal-8_306_5-delete-ip-address.png)

 
Once you get to the *IP Address Bans* page, find the specific IP address on the list and click the **Delete** button on the left side of the row. Simply click **Delete** once more on the confirmation popup and you are done!