How to block Server Density Service Monitoring
Operated by StackPath. Server Density Service Monitoring is an uptime and performance monitoring service operated by StackPath that checks websites and servers for availability and response times.
How it identifies itself
Server Density Service Monitoring v2Server Density Agent
nginx
In the server block, then reload.
# In the server block. 403 rather than 444: a closed connection tells the
# operator nothing, and an agent that gets a status code can log it.
if ($http_user_agent ~* "(Server Density Service Monitoring)") {
return 403;
}
Apache
In .htaccess or the vhost.
BrowserMatchNoCase "Server Density Service Monitoring" bad_bot
<RequireAll>
Require all granted
Require not env bad_bot
</RequireAll>
Cloudflare
Security → WAF → Custom rules.
# Security → WAF → Custom rules, action: Block (http.user_agent contains "Server Density Service Monitoring")
WordPress
A child theme's functions.php, or a small plugin.
// functions.php of a child theme, or a small plugin. Runs before WordPress
// builds the page, so a blocked agent costs one PHP process and no queries.
add_action('init', function () {
$agent = $_SERVER['HTTP_USER_AGENT'] ?? '';
foreach (['Server Density Service Monitoring'] as $needle) {
if (stripos($agent, $needle) !== false) {
status_header(403);
exit('Blocked: Server Density Service Monitoring');
}
}
});
A rule on the user agent is a rule on a string it chose
The server rules match on a header the requester sets, which stops the agent that says who it is and not the one that copies somebody else's name. Botscope verifies identity against DNS and published address ranges, records which check decided each request, and shows you the ones that lied.