What griefing is
Griefing means deliberately destroying or stealing other players' things: breaking builds, looting chests, lava-flooding houses, setting traps.
Three approaches
- Survival — griefing is bannable; builds are protected by claims, logging and rollbacks.
- Grief servers — griefing is part of the mode: claims exist but can be raided, are size-limited, or don't cover everything.
- Anarchy — no protection at all.
How claims work
Most servers use WorldGuard or a claim plugin: select two corners, run a command like /rg claim name, add friends with /rg addmember. Commands differ per server, so check /help or the server FAQ. Claim the area around and below your house too. Survival servers often log blocks (e.g. CoreProtect) and can roll back damage; grief servers and anarchies usually don't.
Protecting your base
Build away from spawn, claim as much as allowed, use decoys and traps, keep valuables in an ender chest, never share coordinates, and join a clan.
Etiquette
Only grief where the rules explicitly allow it. Cheats, dupes and lag machines are banned almost everywhere, and so is harassment after a raid.