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  1. Products
  2. DDoS Protection
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  4. Network-layer DDoS Attack Protection
  5. Parameters

Ruleset parameters

Define overrides for the Network-layer DDoS Attack Protection managed ruleset to change the action applied to a given attack or modify the sensitivity level of the detection mechanism. You can define overrides in the Cloudflare dashboard or define overrides via Rulesets API.

The available parameters are the following:

  • Action
  • Sensitivity Level

​​ Action

API property name: "action".

The action performed for packets that match specific rules of Cloudflare’s DDoS mitigation services. The available actions are:

  • Log

    • API value: "log".
    • Only available on Enterprise plans. Logs requests that match the expression of a rule detecting network layer DDoS attacks. Recommended for validating a rule before committing to a more severe action.

  • Block

    • API value: "block".
    • Blocks IP packets that match the rule expression given the sensitivity levels.

  • DDoS Dynamic

    • API value: N/A (internal rule action that you cannot use in overrides).
    • Performs a specific action according to a set of internal guidelines defined by Cloudflare. The executed action can be Block or an undisclosed mitigation action.

​​ Sensitivity Level

API property name: "sensitivity_level".

Defines how sensitive a rule is. Affects the thresholds used to determine if an attack should be mitigated. A higher sensitivity level means having a lower threshold, while a lower sensitivity level means having a higher threshold.

The available sensitivity levels are:

UI valueAPI value
High"default"
Medium"medium"
Low"low"
Essentially Off"eoff"

The default sensitivity level is High.

In most cases, when you select the Essentially Off sensitivity level the rule will not trigger for any of the selected actions, including Log. However, if the attack is extremely large, Cloudflare’s protection systems will still trigger the rule’s mitigation action to protect Cloudflare’s network.