How to Retrieve Real Visitor IP Addresses When Using CloudFlare in PHP?

Retrieving Visitor IP Addresses with CloudFlare in PHP

When tracking website visitors with PHP, using $_SERVER['REMOTE_ADDR'] typically retrieves CloudFlare's IP addresses. To obtain the actual visitor IP address while using CloudFlare, consider the following approach:

CloudFlare provides additional server variables, including:

• $_SERVER["HTTP_CF_CONNECTING_IP"]: The actual visitor IP address
• $_SERVER["HTTP_CF_IPCOUNTRY"]: Visitor's country code
• $_SERVER["HTTP_CF_RAY"]: Unique identifier for the request
• $_SERVER["HTTP_CF_VISITOR"]: Indicates if the request is over HTTP or HTTPS

To utilize these variables, modify your code as follows:

<code class="php">if (isset($_SERVER["HTTP_CF_CONNECTING_IP"])) {
  $_SERVER['REMOTE_ADDR'] = $_SERVER["HTTP_CF_CONNECTING_IP"];
}</code>

By assigning the genuine visitor IP address to $_SERVER['REMOTE_ADDR'], you can accurately log and track website visitors even when CloudFlare is enabled.

Note: To ensure IP address validity, verify that $_SERVER['REMOTE_ADDR'] contains a legitimate CloudFlare IP address, as anyone can potentially spoof the header and connect directly to your server's IP.

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