2022-08-01 22:25:46 +05:30
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---
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title: "Configuring Difficulty Factor"
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description: "mCaptcha has options to configure its proof of work engine
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behavior, this page explains how to determine difficulty facotrs that
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work best for your website!"
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lead: ""
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date: 2022-06-22
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lastmod: 2021-06-22 20:17
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draft: false
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images: []
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menu:
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docs:
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2023-10-27 21:39:40 +05:30
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parent: "Webmasters"
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2022-08-01 22:25:46 +05:30
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weight: 512
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toc: true
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---
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mCaptcha is highly responsive to detecting DDoS attacks. Admins are
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advised to take advantage of it by setting low [difficulty
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2022-08-01 23:03:44 +05:30
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factors](/docs/terminology/difficulty-factor/) for normal traffic levels
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for their website.
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**Lowest advisable difficulty factor is 5000.**
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For instance, if it is normal for my website to get 2000 requests for
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every 30 seconds, I will set a [cool
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down](/docs/terminology/cooldown-period) period of 30 seconds and the
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first level of difficulty configuration will have a [visitor threshold](/docs/terminology/visitor-threshold) of 2000 with a
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difficulty factor of 5000.
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There are two modes to setting difficulty factor for your website on
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mCaptcha:
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### Easy option
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Easy mode asks a few basic statistics about your website and generates a
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configuration that should work for your website. Currently, easy mode is
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guided by assumptions on suitable difficulty factors to protect a
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website but it will be fine-tuned as mCaptcha sees more deployment.
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Configuration generated by easy mode can be tweaked later using the
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advance mode, as you become more familiar with how mCaptcha works.
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{{% img src="new-sitekey-easy-mode.png" alt="new sitekey form in easy mode" %}}
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### Advance option
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Advance mode gives the admin granular control over how mCaptcha behaves
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on their website. It has options to set the difficulty factor for each
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level of traffic(or visitor threshold, in mCaptcha speak), fully taking
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advantage of mCaptcha's variable difficulty factor feature.
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For instance, if it is normal for a website to get 200 requests over 30
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seconds, then setting a very low difficulty factor for a visitor
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threshold of 200 and a cool down period of 30 seconds will allow the
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users to pass through without waiting on the CAPTCHA. But if 1000
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requests over 30 seconds will bring down the service, then the admin can
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configure increasing levels of difficulty factor of increasing traffic
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levels, effectively rate limiting its users and protecting the
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underlying website.
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{{% img src="new-sitekey-adv-mode.png" alt="new sitekey form in advance mode" %}}
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