Security is one of the most critical aspects of online game server development.
Unlike traditional web apps, games face constant, active, hostile attacks from:

• Cheaters
• Botters
• Script injectors
• Packet editors
• Memory hackers
• Speed hackers
• DDoS attackers
• Economy exploiters
• Match manipulators
• Account thieves

Every online game—no matter how small—will be attacked.

This chapter introduces the foundations of game server security and modern anti-cheat strategies used across the industry.

1. Why Security Matters in Online Games

Online games must protect:

Cloudflare is not only a CDN and global network — it is also a modern security platform. Cloudflare Zero Trust provides access control, identity verification, secure tunnels, traffic filtering, and threat mitigation without relying on traditional VPNs or complex infrastructure.

In this tutorial, we walk through the essential concepts, tools, and practical workflows that help you secure your sites, APIs, dashboards, and internal tools.

1. The Philosophy of Cloudflare Zero Trust

Traditional security models rely on the idea of a “trusted network.”
Cloudflare replaces this with a simpler principle: