Types of Griefing for people with no common sence

Types of Griefing

Random Destruction

Random destruction is when a griefer destroys random blocks, putting holes in walls and other structures, making them look broken and messy. Griefers may also target a single structure, working to destroy it completely. If no Ops are present, one way to combat this type of destruction is to repair the damage by hand until the griefer gets bored and leaves. You can also try digging griefers into holes and seal them. Sometimes griefers will use the "Hit & Run" technique. For instance, a griefer will destroy blocks in something and then go away for a moment, then after the player has rebuilt some or all of it the griefer will come back and destroy it again. Sometimes the griefer will do more griefing while waiting, unlike normal griefers, griefers that use the "Hit & Run" technique will take advantage of the time it takes for an operator to get there.

Random Construction

The opposite of random destruction, random construction occurs when a griefer creates random blocks on constructions or anything else on a map, making it look messy. Sometimes they fill up other structures with material like cobblestone. The way to combat this is to remove the extra blocks. Again, continue this until the griefer gets bored and leaves. This type of griefing may not seem as bad as the first, but it can be just as annoying to builders, and as fun to the griefers. Often griefers both destroy and create blocks in their quest to gain enjoyment at the expense of others. Another type of random construction is adding to people's structures and claiming that they're "just making it better."

Treeing

Treeing is when a griefer rapidly plants trees in someone's house. It isn't that much of a problem, as trees can be destroyed quite quickly.

EXP Bombing

Since Beta 1.8 Pre-release, a player can collect a lot of EXP by killing many mobs and not dying then dying near a crowded area to drop a smokescreen of EXP orbs that cause severe lag and client or server crashing. These orbs must be removed with a map editing utility.

Tree/sapling Removing

This is the opposite of tree spamming; Griefers prevent people from getting the precious wood on a server. In a 1000 block region,griefers can remove trees, and steal all saplings around, from chests using their X-Ray mods. For "security" griefers can throw their stolen stuff in lava or jump in the void. Whether this is considered griefing or not depends on the server, but it can be hidering for people who just joined and need wood to get started.

Map Corrupting

A player can run so far away on the map that the server generates new map. This will lag the server a lot if it is not powerful, and the map file will eventually become so big that the server does not have enough RAM to load it without horrible lag. The best way to combat this is to install anti-cheat and map limiting plugins.

Creative Destruction

With Notch releasing 1.8 another type of destruction has arrived, with the addition of creative mode (gamemode [playername] [1 or 0]) griefers can enter creative mode by an op or themselves to start a lot of destruction. Creative allows you to destroy any block so a player can bedrock his building and griefers can still grief it. This is incredibly annoying as a griefer can ruin very large portions or destroy a very big structure in a very little amount of time when in creative mode. Many creative servers will force people to wait, sign up on a website, or pass a test before being given access to creative mode because of this.

Water Flood

A Water Flood is only applicable to Creative mode, as it uses infinite water. In Alpha and Beta, an attempted flood is very easy to fix. A water flood occurs when a Griefer causes water to spill onto the level, often flooding a good part of it. Normally floods can only occur under sea level as that is the highest water can go, but it is possible to have water higher up using Map Editing. A way to combat this is to make sure Ops safe guard any potentially dangerous bodies of water with Bedrock to prevent the water escaping. Floods can also be prevented by using Sponges, which do not allow water to flow 2 blocks in any direction from the sponge. Hiding sponges in corners of rooms and other structures can prevent the structure from being flooded at all, possibly. If a small and located flood happens, the quickest solution is to gather some helpers and use Sponges to completely remove any water, then remove the sponges. Make sure no water is left behind when removing the sponges however, because 1 block of water can restart the flood again. If the flood is more large scale, have the Admin remove all the water using a Map Editor such as Omen by replacing all the water blocks with air. Another danger of this kind of griefing is the massive lag that occurs on the server during a large water flood. If the flood is large enough, all players will be kicked out of the server due to the lag.

As of Beta, sponges can only be obtained through inventory editing, and will not soak up any water, however some mods replenish their ability to do so.


Lava Flood

Similar to a Water Flood, a Lava floods the area with lava instead of water. Lava spreads far slower than water does, so if the flood is caught quickly, it can be stopped before it causes real damage. If no lava has been placed through map editing, floods can only occur deep underground where lava is. However, like water, if lava has been placed high on the map, make sure any pools of lava are protected from flooding by Bedrock. Lava floods can be very dangerous in Alpha or Beta mode for lava will set certain blocks on fire, like Wood and Trees. Lava cannot be removed with Sponges like water can, so the only way to remove it on a Creative server is to either place a block in the lava block's space, or use a map editor.

Stoning
A "stoned" Place

Stoning is a method of griefing in which the griefer uses a bucket of water and a bucket of lava and pours it down a tall mountain or hill. This creates a lot of cobblestone and it is very difficult to remove it.

Repeated stoning and pillaring will form a huge volcano-like structure which not only is hard to clean up but also can infiltrate into areas protected by 3rd-party permission plugins, because they are based on authorization of block placing actions but volcano forming doesn't place blocks in protected areas.
A forming volcano

Offensive Constructions

Some griefers grief by writing rude words or drawing offensive symbols everywhere. It's often generally harmless fun, but if a player finds it offensive they may not destroy the work, lest they become a griefer themselves. This is far less of a problem than the others, for some servers are lenient and won't care about what the griefer writes or draws.

Flattening

A relatively rare form of griefing is called Flattening. Flattening happens when a griefer begins to completely level out a map, leaving it totally flat, destroying any structures along the way. Flattening is a rare practice because it takes a long time to accomplish and is usually only done while no Ops are on the server to stop them.

Sanding / Antiquing

Using a bot to spam sand from the highest level of the map will cause the sand to settle on top of the structures below. Doing this creates a very unappealing map for most users. It is difficult to clean up.

Block Edits

Very rare, when a griefer changes one specific block type to another, ruining large sections of people's projects. This is only achievable by players with Op status, and they will have had to prove themselves to be trustworthy in order to gain these powers.

Fires

When a griefer sets a tree on fire, it will spread quickly to all nearby trees, setting the entire forest on fire within a minute. This can be extremely annoying, especially if players were leaving the forest as a permanent logging resource or decoration on the map, or if there is any flammable construction in the way. One way to prevent this type of griefing is by disabling fire spread.

Sometimes griefers target wooden structures instead, setting them on fire. The fire spreads quickly and can destroy even a larger wooden structure within seconds.

However, ever since fire was limited in Beta 1.6 (meaning it can no longer spread infinitely), this has become less of a problem. A single fire probably won't destroy an entire forest, but may still greatly damage wooden structures.

TNT Abuse

Growingly popular amongst griefers. The griefer stocks up on TNT, then places the TNT beneath Shelters/Models of other players and sets it off, destroying everything in the process. This grief is very annoying as it leaves the land destroyed and unattractive. However, this grief is hard to perform as players would most likely notice the griefer placing TNT. This grief is currently only possible on Alpha or Beta.

"Classy" Griefing

Some people have opinions as to whether some types of griefing are more morally permissible than others. Simple TNT Abuse seems crude and doesn't have as much class as some other types of griefing such as breaking into a highly defended fortress and stealing the chests, but not their contents, undetected. Other, arguably, classy griefs include writing rude words at the height limit in 100 block tall letters; filling creations with Netherrack and lighting it; or wiring somebody else's door into the press of your own doorbell, to name a few.

Some people are happier to be griefed by classier griefs, as it has taken the griefer longer to succeed. For example, leveling out an entire continent takes more time and effort than just blowing it up with TNT. Therefore, the effort of the griefer is more appreciated, and sometimes more accepted as some players see this as a new opportunity to explore something that was generally avoided on due to the amount of work needed.

Others still take a zero-tolerance line on griefing, regardless of the amount of effort they put in, due to the fact that the griefer has still destroyed something that they took time to make themselves.

Creeping/Ghasting/Blazing

A common form of griefing in SMP is deliberately luring creepers or ghasts to people's creations and making them explode. This destroys people's creations and makes the landscape look unappealing.

With the introduction of the Blaze mob in 1.9, a new type of griefing called "Blazing" has been acknowledged, in which players lure Blazes into setting creations made in The Nether on fire.

Player Jailing

Some griefers do not target structures, but players instead. In this method the griefer will dig holes around the player and make them fall into a hole, and then cover the hole up. Sometimes the griefer will fill up the hole with lava or water. This is even easier when the player is inactive.

Snow Golem griefing (obiously not me as snowgolem1 the mob snowgolem)

Because of the trails of snow that they leave behind, Snow Golems may be a new tool for griefing in the 1.9 Beta and mass creation of such could lead to entire areas being covered in snow, spoiling the intended look of the area. In addition, their suicidal nature may quite easily lead to hostile mobs being lured towards other players. However they may not prove to be a threat, seeing as they melt in warmer biomes.

Nether Trapping

When Beta 1.6 came out with the Nether, a new method of trapping was introduced. First,the victim logs off, while in the Nether, then the griefer builds on top of where the victim was all the way up to the ceiling, so that when the player logs back on, he or she will be teleported to the first block they can stand at, which mean they will be teleported to the Nether's upper void. At this point, the victim can either be teleported out by an op or use a server plugin to teleport. Digging down is not an option since at the top of the Nether there is bedrock, an invulnerable block. If there is no way for you to teleport away, the only option available to you is the /kill command. Which means you lose any items you had on you until the 1.8 adventure update came out. If you are in creative mode you can dig through the bedrock and fall into lava or onto netherrack and keep all your items from being invincible in this mode.
[edit] Portal Trapping (Nether Side)

A second way of trapping in the Nether involves dismantling all the Nether side portals, thus ensuring players can't leave. The griefer then uses the stolen obsidian to make a second portal to escape (often hiding it so the victim can't follow). The only other way out is for the victim to die and respawn on the overworld. Re-entering the overworld end portal will re-construct its counterpart in the Nether. (If you become a victim of this, it is possible to drop all your items, throw yourself into lava and quickly run back into the Nether to re-collect your items.)

Portal Trapping (Overworld Side)

Whilst the victim is in the Nether, the griefer builds a trap around the portal- or encases both open sides with obsidian so the player is trapped within the portal frame. Trapping the player within the frame means that he/she can't re-enter the Nether and use a different portal to escape. The best thing to do is come prepared with a water bucket and a diamond pick.

Tree Bombs

Some griefers will use trees as a trap. They will make 5 wood block thick trees to lure the victim, after which the victim will step on a pressure plate or the griefer will pull a trigger, and the tree will blow up due to hidden TNT placed in it.

SMP Diamond Bomb

This type of griefing normally includes hacking, as diamond ore cannot be collected without the use of Enchanting and Pistons. First, the griefer places diamond ore near the bottom of the map, and wires pressure plates beneath the ore to a TNT bomb. The victim will try to mine the diamond and the TNT bomb will go off, generally either killing the player or letting loose some lava.

Massacre

Killing random players excessively for no reason. Even if PvP is set to false, they can still achieve this by using wolves, Flint and Steel, TNT, Lava or suffocating players with gravel or sand. Even aggressive mobs can be used, by bringing them towards the player.

Fencing

This type of griefing utilized a bug that when you place a fence under stairs or half steps, you are unable to walk on them (now patched). This type of griefing was more of an annoyance than anything else.

Chest Smashing

This type of griefing is common on survival servers. It is when a thief/griefer smashes a chest causing its items to spill on the floor; and with enough chests smashed, all the items on the ground will cause the server to lag horribly. Most griefers who do this are aided by an X-Ray mod. This can be prevented with chest-protection plugins.

DDoS Attack

The griefer(s) may use a program to perform a denial of service (DoS) attack on the server by flooding it with invalid UDP requests, making it lag horribly or even crash. Simple banning will not get rid of the griefers as the grief happens before they log in. The admin must ban the IP with a firewall. A firewall must be used because you must prevent the griefers packets from reaching your server. If the griefer can change their IP address, there is unfortunately nothing to do except close the server until the attacker is bored.

Tall Grass Spam

With Tall Grass introduced in 1.6, Bone Meal can be used to grow a patch of Tall Grass (and occasionally flowers). This offers a new way for griefers to ruin flat grass maps, yards, spawn points, etc. Although, this type of griefing is rather easy to undo with it being very easy to destroy using Water or Fire.

Stealing

This type of griefing is somewhat common on survival servers. Griefers will go into a house, usually when no one is around, and steal items from chests inside the house. To avoid this, players can hide chests under the floor or behind walls, but griefers can still see them if they have an X-ray mod.

Obsidian Abuse

A rare form of griefing which involves blocking off door and mines (and in some cases filling up buildings) with obsidian. This is particularly annoying as obsidian is difficult to remove. This is more common on servers which allow spawning, however a dedicated griefer can still obtain a lot of obsidian through mining.

Tree Spam

A rare form of griefing which involves planting saplings where they're not needed. The griefer will often use dirt blocks and bonemeal to grow trees on the side of buildings, in homes, or down mineshafts. A griefer will often place saplings next to walls and other structures higher than 2 blocks, to grow tall trees -which are harder to remove. Growing leaves also break glass and fences. However this grief also provides the victim with additional resources.

Noise

More irritating than damaging, a griefer wires multiple note blocks and doors into a redstone clock/pulser- so the notes constantly play and doors slam open and shut. A single noteblock and clock can be hidden underground, as sound can pass through any block.

Silverfish Swarming

With the introduction of silverfish, some people may place Block 97 near another stone-related blocks and destroy it causing a silverfish to pop out. The player will then attack it, causing a lot of silverfish to summon from nearby stone blocks which are then destroyed, which can cause damage to structures in a very short time. This type of griefing is uncommon due to the fact that Block 97 can only be placed by Ops, who have proven themselves to be trustworthy in order to gain their status as an Op.

Offensive/Rude

Sometimes a griefer can use a custom skin to cause offence; such as creating a fully nude skin and entering a family friendly server, or using racial stereotypes. Other behaviour can include using profanities in the text chat, or on signs (although both can be prevented with a plugins that either kick automatically or block such words outright). Sometimes a griefer will use signs to 'troll', leaving de-constructive comments about other players/creations. Luckily signs are easily removed, so this is rarely more than emotional hurt from a harsh critique.

Enderdragon Destruction

The Enderdragon is dangerous in the Overworld, as a single dragon can make a huge tunnel in seconds. Combine it with many Enderdragons, and it can annihilate a entire server. However Enderdragons can only be spawned with a mod which will not work on SMP.

Piston traps

Given time and skill, a pit can be fully hidden with pistons, and opened with redstone (often trigged via pressure plate, or wired into redstone door mechanism.) This kind of trap is nearly invisible, and ranges from annoying (water pit) to deadly (lava, long fall or TNT). A well constructed trap with an escape route is often considered a socially acceptable prank, while lava is frowned upon, as the player loses his/her items.

Vine Abuse
Griefing with Vines in the 1.8 Pre-release

With the 1.8 Adventure Update, griefers can obtain Vines and cover structures and landscapes with them. It can take a while for the Vines to spread, but the area can become very ugly if they are left untended. This is more common in Creative Mode, as Vines are only obtainable at the Swamp biome, and the players will notice the griefer collecting the Vines and the Vines being left to spread.

Torch theft

Increasingly popular, the griefer would go to a town/house and take out all the torches, turning the area into pitch black darkness, causing zero visibility, and thus players would be unable to find their way. Also, it would cause mobs to spawn, ruining the area.

if you see anybody performing any of these actions report it to a Moderator , Myself or Phased
Or to the admin Saxburger and if nobody is online put it on the forum!

Information from
GRIEFING INFO (Minecraft wiki)

Nice work SnowGolem1. Be sure to reference any/all that you may have quoted or borrowed from. Even perhaps a link to their site.

Very good, it covers most types of griefing. I have associates in the griefing world so I know alot of ways of griefing and this explains them quite well Although due to recent advancments in the griefers 'tool kit' flattening is now a lot less time consuming process now with the addition of a few tools they now can take out whole chunks of the map with a simple command although they are restricted to a certain size due to the server crashing if too much is taken away. But more protections against these are being made so not long till they have to find another way. Well anyway back to building!

taking revenge on the griefer, by griefing there land, is also not allowed, leave it up to a moderator + to deal with it.