# ProxyTracer: VPN & Proxy Blocker

**URL:** https://meta.discourse.org/t/proxytracer-vpn-proxy-blocker/399958
**Category:** Plugin
**Created:** [April 4, 2026, 7:56pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/proxytracer-vpn-proxy-blocker/399958 "2026-04-04T19:56:00Z")
**Posts on this page:** 1
**Showing post:** 7

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### Author: ![ProxyTracer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/meta/user_avatar/meta.discourse.org/proxytracer/32/549480_2.png) [@ProxyTracer](https://meta.discourse.org/u/ProxyTracer)
#### Post date: [April 5, 2026, 2:19pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/proxytracer-vpn-proxy-blocker/399958/7 "2026-04-05T14:19:04Z")

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> [@Moin](#):
>
> For this plugin, I doubt [safe mode](https://meta.discourse.org/t/53504?silent=true) helps

You are completely right on this, I can confirm this through my own testing with a freshly spun up Discourse instance. I went ahead and updated the documentation with instructions that actually work which consist of logging into the server and manually disabling the addon:

```bash
cd /var/discourse
./launcher enter app
rails c
SiteSetting.proxytracer_enabled = false
exit
exit

```

> [@darkpixlz](#):
>
> Does this not defeat the entire point of the plugin? Anybody can use [safe mode](https://meta.discourse.org/t/53504?silent=true).

I can confirm that **[safe mode](https://meta.discourse.org/t/53504?silent=true) is inaccessible when the “Enabled for All Visitors” setting is enabled and someone tries to access [safe mode](https://meta.discourse.org/t/53504?silent=true) while connecting using a VPN/proxy**.

> [@Moin](#):
>
> it includes an `about.json` file as if it were a theme component.

Indeed, an `about.json` is redundant for standard plugins, I went ahead and removed it from the repo.

Thanks for all of your feedback @Moin. If you have any other remarks or suggestions feel free to leave them here. The code is fully open source and any contribution is welcome: [GitHub - ProxyTracer/discourse-proxytracer](https://github.com/proxytracer/discourse-proxytracer/).

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