In a discussion titled “Last IP vs. Registration and Posting IP” under the Feature category, users debate the utility of tracking both Registration IP and Last IP for spam control and account moderation. Mittineague highlights how Registration IP has been instrumental in identifying abusive accounts—over 180K linked to banned users—and suggests that using both IPs improves moderation accuracy. TechnoBear clarifies that Discourse currently uses Last IP for moderation unless no posts exist, in which case Registration IP is used. neil confirms a recent update: when an admin deletes a user and blocks their email/IP, the Registration IP is also blocked if different from the Last IP, enhancing anti-spam measures. codinghorror supports having both IPs for better moderation, while cpradio adds that Registration IP helps detect multi-account abuse and setup posts. Mittineague expresses gratitude for the update, noting that other moderators will appreciate the improvement. The consensus is that combining both IPs provides a more robust system for identifying and preventing spam and abuse, especially when spammers register multiple accounts from the same IP before switching to proxies for posting.
I have reservations about outright blocking by IP. But …
Even though the number of IPs that can be abused is effectively infinite. I have found it extremely helpful using Registration IP to identify possible and probable problem accounts. - I currently have over 180K associated with Banned accounts.
Most often the IP used to register is not the same IP used to post.
Unless I’m wrong, it seems that Discourse uses the Last IP. i.e.
if no posts == registration IP
else == posting IP
I strongly believe that having both would be of great benefit for moderating.
Any chance of getting this worked into the Core?
My thinking is we’ll be writing custom code to enhance moderation anyway, but we can only work with what information is available.
[quote=“Mittineague, post:1, topic:14884”]
Unless I’m wrong, it seems that Discourse uses the Last IP.
i.e.if no posts == registration IP
else == posting IP
[/quote]Not necessarily post IP; it seems to record last log-in IP, whether a post was made or not.
I added this today. It shows in admin below the last ip address:
Also, when an admin deletes a user and chooses to block their email and ip address from signing up again, it will also block the registration ip address if it’s different than the last ip address.
I’m certain that some of the other Mods eg. @TechnoBear and @cpradio will be as pleased as I
I’m not a SPAMmer so I don’t know for sure, but it seems like often someone or something Registers a mess of accounts using the same IP, then sells the accounts to others that use a lot of different proxy IPs to make posts.
There are an awful lot of common IPs abused for making posts, true, but I have found that Reg IPs are more accurate for spotting and identifying problem accounts so this is indeed great news.
It also usually helps identify someone using multiple accounts, or setup posts. It just gives us another tool to take into account when investigating suspicious topics.
