Remove & Disable XML-RPC Pingback
Prevent pingback, XML-RPC and denial of service DDOS attacks by disabling the XML-RPC pingback functionality.
3(6 reviews)
·9.0K+ active installs·Updated 2 years agoAs of April 2026, Remove & Disable XML-RPC Pingback is a WordPress ping plugin with 9.0K+ active installations and a 3/5 rating from 6 reviews. It has been downloaded 94K+ times in total. Requires WordPress 5.2+ and PHP 5.6+. Available on WordPress.org since 2014. Last updated 2 years ago — may have compatibility concerns. Downloads are up 48% this week. Top alternative: No Self Ping.
3/56 reviews
9.0K+active installs
94K+total downloads
12 yearssince 2014
Overview
Prevent your WordPress site from participating and being a victim of pingback denial of service attacks. After activation the plugin automatically disables XML-RPC. There’s no need to configure anything.
By disabling the XML-RPC pingback you’ll:
* lower your server CPU usage
* prevent malicious scripts from using your site to run pingback denial of service attacks
* prevent malicious scripts to run denial of service attacks on your site via pingback
From sucuri.net:
Any WordPress site with Pingback enabled (which is on by default) can be used in DDOS attacks against other sites.
Learn More
Screenshots
Ratings & Reviews
36 reviews
5 ★
3
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3 ★
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2 ★
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1 ★
3
Recent Reviews
So many annoying admin notices …
by mklusak·4 years ago·1 reply
I am removing this plugin from my sites, because WP admin is constantly full of huge “join our newsletter” (…) admin notices. Yeah, no, thank you …
Just what I needed
by Ben Roberts·5 years ago
Great plugin, super easy to install and just sits there doing it’s job. Very light as well, so has no effects that I could see, on site speed or memory usage. Can’t think of a reason why you wouldn’t be using this to be honest. Thanks for developing it!
Not working
by Kekeli·5 years ago·1 reply
Still getting a ton of login attempts
Great plugin
by kayasch·6 years ago
It was beneficial, helped me a lot!
No longer effective
by skyhound·9 years ago
Unfortunately, it looks like this plugin is not effective anymore as I’ve had a few sites attacked with this plugin installed.
Trying to manage though .htaccess now. Wish someone would write something new to fix this.
Download Trends
Today: 14Yesterday: 16This week: 111Period total: 4K
Compatibility
| WordPress | 5.2+ requiredTested up to 6.3.8 |
| PHP | 5.6+ required |
Version Adoption
v1.6
67.2%
v1.0
15.2%
Other
11.0%
v1.5
6.6%
Top Alternatives to Remove & Disable XML-RPC Pingback
Frequently Asked Questions
Changelog
1.6
- 2023/07/24
- Added filter to check for and remove ‘X-Pingback’ header if necessary.
- Added settings page
- Tested up to WP 6.2
Contributors
Plugin data sourced from WordPress.org. Analysis and metrics by PluginSift.