01 · Operator
Who operates Plesk Screenshot Bot
- Company
- Plesk International GmbH
- Type
- Other bot
- Official docs
- support.plesk.com
02 · Behavior
What Plesk Screenshot Bot does
The service takes screenshots of hosted websites to show previews in the Plesk control panel. It has no fixed IPs and runs on AWS eu-west-1 instances. Administrators can disable it in panel.ini.
03 · Impact
Why Plesk Screenshot Bot matters for your site
If you allow it
- Provides site previews in your Plesk panel
- Blocking it breaks the screenshot feature
If you block it
- No benefit if you do not use Plesk
- Traffic comes from rotating AWS IPs
04 · Allow
How to allow Plesk Screenshot Bot
robots.txt
# Plesk Screenshot Bot has no documented robots.txt token and does not read robots.txt.
# Use a Cloudflare, nginx or Apache rule instead.Cloudflare
# Security › WAF › Custom rules › Create rule
Expression: (http.user_agent contains "Plesk Screenshot Bot")
Action: Skip › All Super Bot Fight Mode rules
# Also check Security › Bots: "Block AI bots" can block it regardless of robots.txt.WordPress
# Plesk Screenshot Bot has no documented robots.txt token and does not read robots.txt.
# Use a Cloudflare, nginx or Apache rule instead.nginx
# nginx serves every user agent by default.
# Make sure no rule like this blocks it:
# if ($http_user_agent ~* "Plesk Screenshot Bot") { return 403; }Apache
# Apache serves every user agent by default.
# Make sure .htaccess has no rule like this:
# RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} Plesk Screenshot Bot [NC]
# RewriteRule .* - [F,L]05 · Block
How to block Plesk Screenshot Bot
Start with robots.txt. If Plesk Screenshot Bot keeps showing up in your logs, block it at your CDN or web server.
robots.txt
# Plesk Screenshot Bot has no documented robots.txt token and does not read robots.txt.
# Use a Cloudflare, nginx or Apache rule instead.Cloudflare
# Security › WAF › Custom rules › Create rule
Expression: (http.user_agent contains "Plesk Screenshot Bot")
Action: BlockWordPress
# Plesk Screenshot Bot has no documented robots.txt token and does not read robots.txt.
# Use a Cloudflare, nginx or Apache rule instead.nginx
# In your server { } block:
if ($http_user_agent ~* "Plesk Screenshot Bot") {
return 403;
}Apache
# .htaccess
<IfModule mod_rewrite.c>
RewriteEngine On
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} Plesk Screenshot Bot [NC]
RewriteRule .* - [F,L]
</IfModule>06 · User agents
User agents we see for Plesk Screenshot Bot
| User agent | Share | Last active | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
Plesk screenshot bot https://support.plesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/10301006946066 |
100% | 28 days ago | Unverified |
07 · Verification
Is it really Plesk Screenshot Bot?
Plesk Screenshot Bot’s operator publishes no IP ranges or hostnames, so requests cannot be verified. Treat the user agent as a claim, and watch your logs for unusual request rates.
FAQ
Questions about Plesk Screenshot Bot
What is the Plesk screenshot bot?
It is the Plesk Screenshot Service. It captures website images for previews in the Plesk interface.
How do I disable the Plesk screenshot bot?
Set "url = ''" under the [screenshotService] section in panel.ini. Plesk documents this setting.
Which IPs does the Plesk screenshot bot use?
Plesk says it has no fixed IPs and uses AWS eu-west-1 instances.
Last updated Oct 14, 2026