Configuration
Bad Behaviour 3.0 — Configuration Reference
Quick Start: Safe Defaults
; config/bb_settings.conf (or settings.ini)
[core]
logging = true
verbose = false
strict = false
offsite_forms = false
; New 3.0 features (opt-in)
enable_fingerprinting = false
inspect_json_body = false
inspect_multipart_body = false
enable_behavioral_analysis = true
enable_ai_crawler_control = true
[ai_crawlers]
allowed[] = "GPTBot"
allowed[] = "ClaudeBot"
allowed[] = "Google-Extended"
block_unverified_ai = true
strict_ai = false
[rate_limits]
enabled = true
global_requests = 1000
global_window = 3600
per_minute_requests = 60
per_minute_window = 60
post_requests = 30
post_window = 3600
login_requests = 10
login_window = 900
Complete Settings Reference
[core] — Core Behaviour
| Setting | Type | Default | Risk | When to Enable |
|---|---|---|---|---|
logging |
bool | true |
NONE | Always — required for audit trail |
verbose |
bool | false |
LOW — log volume | Debugging only; logs every request |
strict |
bool | false |
HIGH — breaks valid traffic | Only if you control all clients (API-only, internal) |
offsite_forms |
bool | false |
MEDIUM — blocks external POSTs | If you have zero legitimate external form posts |
enable_fingerprinting |
bool | false |
MEDIUM — FP on old browsers/proxies | After 2+ weeks monitoring logs |
inspect_json_body |
bool | false |
HIGH — blocks wiki markup, code | Never for AJAX/JSON apps |
inspect_multipart_body |
bool | false |
HIGH — blocks file uploads | Never for upload endpoints |
enable_behavioral_analysis |
bool | true |
LOW — rate/rotating UA | Keep enabled (safe) |
enable_ai_crawler_control |
bool | true |
LOW — verified AI allowed | Keep enabled |
[reverse_proxy] — Proxy / Load Balancer
| Setting | Type | Default | Risk | When to Configure |
|---|---|---|---|---|
enabled |
bool | false |
MEDIUM — wrong IP if misconfigured | Required if behind Cloudflare, nginx, ALB, etc. |
header |
string | X-Forwarded-For |
— | Match your proxy's header |
addresses[] |
CIDR[] | [] |
HIGH — spoofing if wrong | Must list all proxy IP ranges (Cloudflare, AWS ALB, etc.) |
⚠️ Never enableenabled=truewithoutaddresses[]— allows IP spoofing.
[ai_crawlers] — AI Crawler Management
| Setting | Type | Default | Risk | When to Change |
|---|---|---|---|---|
allowed[] |
string[] | GPTBot, ClaudeBot, Google-Extended |
LOW | Add/remove based on your robots.txt policy |
block_unverified_ai |
bool | true |
LOW | Keep true — blocks spoofed AI bots |
strict_ai |
bool | false |
MEDIUM — blocks even verified unallowed AI | Only if you want zero AI crawlers |
Verified AI Crawlers (IP + DNS verified):
| Token | Robots.txt | Owner | Verification |
|---|---|---|---|
GPTBot |
GPTBot |
OpenAI | DNS openai.com |
ClaudeBot |
ClaudeBot |
Anthropic | DNS anthropic.com |
Google-Extended |
Google-Extended |
DNS googlebot.com |
|
PerplexityBot |
PerplexityBot |
Perplexity | IP ranges only |
Meta-ExternalAgent |
Meta-ExternalAgent |
Meta | DNS facebook.com |
Applebot-Extended |
Applebot-Extended |
Apple | DNS applebot.apple.com |
CCBot |
CCBot |
Common Crawl | IP ranges only |
ia_archiver |
ia_archiver |
Internet Archive | IP ranges only |
[bot_categories] — Category Blocking
| Setting | Type | Default | Risk | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
blocked[] |
string[] | ["malicious"] |
MEDIUM | Categories: search_engine, ai_crawler, social_crawler, seo_crawler, archive_crawler, monitoring, malicious, unknown |
Onlymaliciousblocked by default. Addingseo_crawlerblocks Ahrefs, Semrush, MJ12bot, etc.
[rate_limits] — Rate Limiting
| Setting | Type | Default | Risk | Tuning |
|---|---|---|---|---|
enabled |
bool | true |
LOW | Keep enabled |
global_requests |
int | 1000 |
LOW | Per IP per global_window |
global_window |
int | 3600 |
— | Seconds (1 hour) |
per_minute_requests |
int | 60 |
LOW | Burst protection |
per_minute_window |
int | 60 |
— | Seconds |
post_requests |
int | 30 |
LOW | Form spam protection |
post_window |
int | 3600 |
— | Seconds (1 hour) |
login_requests |
int | 10 |
LOW | Brute force protection |
login_window |
int | 900 |
— | Seconds (15 min) |
Login endpoint detection: Automatically triggers on URLs matching
/(login|signin|auth|password)/i. [challenge] — Challenge System
| Setting | Type | Default | Risk | Providers |
|---|---|---|---|---|
enabled |
bool | false |
MEDIUM — UX friction | builtin, hcaptcha, recaptcha, turnstile |
provider |
string | builtin |
— | builtin = PoW (no external deps) |
site_key |
string | ## | — | Required for hCaptcha/reCAPTCHA/Turnstile || |
— | Required for hCaptcha/reCAPTCHA/Turnstile |
recaptcha_min_score |
float | 0.5 |
— | reCAPTCHA v3 only (0.0–1.0) |
Builtin PoW works everywhere, no keys needed. Use for internal/admin areas.
[performance] — Static Asset Skipping
| Setting | Type | Default | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
skip_extensions[] |
string[] | css, js, png, jpg, jpeg, gif, ico, svg, woff, woff2, ttf, eot, webp, avif, map, txt |
Never inspect these |
skip_paths[] |
string[] | /static/, /assets/, /media/, /images/, /css/, /js/, /fonts/, /dist/, /build/, /vendor/, /node_modules/ |
Prefix match |
Whitelist (whitelist.ini)
[ip]
internal = "10.0.0.0/8"
office = "203.0.113.0/24"
cloudflare = "173.245.48.0/20"
[useragent]
monitoring = "InternalMonitor/1.0"
api_client = "MyApp/2.0 (Internal)"
[url]
health = "/health"
webhook = "/webhook/"
api = "/api/v1/status"
[asn]
google = "AS15169"
cloudflare = "AS13335"
[country]
us = "US"
de = "DE"
Risk Matrix Summary
| Setting | Risk | Safe Default | Enable After |
|---|---|---|---|
strict |
🔴 HIGH | false |
Never (or internal only) |
offsite_forms |
🟡 MEDIUM | false |
No external forms |
enable_fingerprinting |
🟡 MEDIUM | false |
2+ weeks logs clean |
inspect_json_body |
🔴 HIGH | false |
Never (AJAX apps) |
inspect_multipart_body |
🔴 HIGH | false |
Never (uploads) |
block_unverified_ai |
🟢 LOW | true |
Keep enabled |
strict_ai |
🟡 MEDIUM | false |
Zero AI policy |
enable_behavioral_analysis |
🟢 LOW | true |
Keep enabled |
enable_ai_crawler_control |
🟢 LOW | true |
Keep enabled |
reverse_proxy.enabled |
🟡 MEDIUM | false |
Behind proxy + addresses[] |
Migration from 2.x
| 2.x Setting | 3.0 Equivalent |
|---|---|
strict |
strict |
verbose |
verbose |
logging |
logging |
offsite_forms |
offsite_forms |
httpbl_key |
httpbl_key (in [core]) |
httpbl_threat |
httpbl_threat |
httpbl_maxage |
httpbl_maxage |
reverse_proxy |
[reverse_proxy] enabled |
reverse_proxy_header |
[reverse_proxy] header |
reverse_proxy_addresses |
[reverse_proxy] addresses[] |
display_stats |
Admin panel (TBD) |
Example: Production Wiki (Your Case)
[core]
logging = true
verbose = false
strict = false
offsite_forms = false
enable_fingerprinting = false
inspect_json_body = false
inspect_multipart_body = false
enable_behavioral_analysis = true
enable_ai_crawler_control = true
[reverse_proxy]
enabled = true
header = "CF-Connecting-IP"
addresses[] = "173.245.48.0/20"
addresses[] = "103.21.244.0/22"
; ... all Cloudflare ranges
[ai_crawlers]
allowed[] = "GPTBot"
allowed[] = "ClaudeBot"
allowed[] = "Google-Extended"
block_unverified_ai = true
strict_ai = false
[rate_limits]
enabled = true
global_requests = 1000
per_minute_requests = 60
post_requests = 30
login_requests = 10
[performance]
skip_extensions[] = "css"
skip_extensions[] = "js"
; ... (defaults fine)
Testing Configuration Changes
# 1. Validate INI syntax
php -r "var_dump(parse_ini_file('config/bb_settings.conf', true));"
# 2. Test specific endpoint
curl -X POST https://yourwiki/src/AddComment \
-H "Content-Type: application/json" \
-d '{"ajax_preview":"1","body":"test"}'
# 3. Check logs
tail -f data/bad_behaviour.log # or your DB table
# 4. Verify rate limits
for i in {1..65}; do curl -s -o /dev/null -w "%{http_code}\n" /; done | sort | uniq -c
# Should see 429 after 60/min
Files to Distribute
| File | Purpose |
|---|---|
settings.ini.example |
Full commented example |
whitelist.ini.example |
Whitelist template |
CONFIGURATION.md |
This document |
MIGRATION.md |
2.x → 3.0 guide |
This reference gives admins exactly what they need: risk level, when to enable, and what breaks if misconfigured.