You landed on a block page when trying to view the Edgar Poe: Hidden Objects Game achievements on XboxAchievements.com — the message reads “The owner of this website has banned your IP address (104.196.9.116)” — and this article unpacks exactly what that message means, what likely caused it, how to confirm the facts, safe troubleshooting steps you can take right now, alternatives for getting the achievement list, and the technical and policy risks to be aware of as you investigate.
XboxAchievements.com is a long‑running third‑party achievement database and community for Xbox titles; many players use it to view full lists, printable guides, and community walkthroughs. When you see a site block page that cites “the owner has banned your IP address,” the block is almost always produced by a website security tool (a Web Application Firewall, plugin, or a CDN like Cloudflare) that is enforcing rules chosen by the site owner.
Two technical realities matter immediately:
A concise checklist you can use when contacting the site owner:
If immediate access to the Edgar Poe achievements is essential, use the Xbox app or one of the reputable third‑party aggregator sites while you work with xboxachievements.com to resolve the block. The balance between protecting a community site from abuse and avoiding unintended collateral blocks is delicate — clear communication, measured evidence, and patience are the fastest route to restoring legitimate access.
Source: Xbox Achievements Edgar Poe: Hidden Objects Game Achievements
Background / Overview
XboxAchievements.com is a long‑running third‑party achievement database and community for Xbox titles; many players use it to view full lists, printable guides, and community walkthroughs. When you see a site block page that cites “the owner has banned your IP address,” the block is almost always produced by a website security tool (a Web Application Firewall, plugin, or a CDN like Cloudflare) that is enforcing rules chosen by the site owner.Two technical realities matter immediately:
- The IP shown in the block (104.196.9.116) belongs to a Google Cloud netblock (104.196.0.0/14) commonly used by Google Cloud Platform hosts and services. External WHOIS records and IP data services confirm the 104.196.0.0/14 allocation to Google Cloud / Google LLC.
- The visible block message is a gate: it tells you you are blocked, but it does not tell you precisely why without the site’s logs. The site operator or their security tools hold that detail. Guidance for how owners and visitors should proceed is documented by site‑security projects and WAF vendors.
What happened (concise summary)
You visited the XboxAchievements page for Edgar Poe: Hidden Objects and received a block message: “The owner of this website has banned your IP address (104.196.9.116).” That message is consistent with either:- A security rule on the site (for example, a WordPress firewall plugin like Wordfence or a Cloudflare access rule) that blocks specific IPs, ranges, or countries; or
- A proactive blacklist that blocks IPs observed performing malicious activity, or blocking entire cloud provider ranges to stop abuse.
Why sites block IPs: the short technical explanation
Websites use several layers of protection which can cause a visitor to be blocked:- Content Delivery Network / CDN rules (Cloudflare, Akamai, etc.) — CDNs provide configurable firewall rules, IP access lists, and “IP Access Rules.” If a Cloudflare customer adds an IP or an ASN or an entire country to a deny list, Cloudflare will return an access denied code like 1006/1007/1008 and show a block page. Cloudflare’s documentation explicitly states a customer controls these rules and Cloudflare cannot override them.
- Application firewall plugins (Wordfence for WordPress, ModSecurity, etc.) — Plugins like Wordfence can block individual IPs, ranges, hosts, or entire countries for many reasons (rate‑limit, suspicious POST requests, brute‑force attempts, etc.). Wordfence documentation shows how permanent or temporary blocks are issued and how block pages are generated.
- Automated blacklists / reputation feeds — Some sites subscribe to real‑time blacklists. If an IP is on one of those lists (for example, known bot networks, proxies, or repeat offenders), the site’s security stack may instantly block it.
- Manual admin action — Site staff can manually add a single IP or entire range to a block list.
Verify the core facts (how to confirm the IP owner and the nature of the block)
- Confirm the IP owner (WHOIS / netblock)
- Use a WHOIS lookup or a trusted IP information service to confirm the netblock. Public WHOIS data show 104.196.0.0/14 is assigned to Google Cloud / Google LLC and that addresses in that block are used by Google Cloud customers. Cross‑check at least two independent services (ARIN/WHOIS mirror and an IP data provider).
- Capture the block page details
- Save a screenshot of the block page, including any exact message, timestamps, and any RayID or error code you see on the block page. These identifiers are what site administrators use to find the corresponding security event in their Cloudflare or WAF logs. Cloudflare’s support docs specifically list using the RayID as the first troubleshooting step.
- Reproduce the problem from another network
- Attempt to open the same page using mobile data (tether), a different home/work network, or ask a friend to check the page for you. If the page loads elsewhere, the block is tied to your public IP (or your ISP range). If it fails everywhere, it may be a wider site outage or a global block.
- Note the time and the client details
- Record the exact timestamp (UTC), the public IP you were using, your browser, and whether you used any automated tool (scripts, crawlers) that might look like abusive traffic.
Practical troubleshooting steps for visitors (ordered, safe)
Follow these steps in order; each is low‑risk and legal:- Try a different network immediately (mobile tether or another Wi‑Fi).
- Use a different browser or an incognito / private window.
- Restart your router (if you’re on a residential ISP that uses dynamic IPs) — some ISPs reassign IPs on reconnect.
- Clear browser cookies and cache, then reload the page and capture a fresh screenshot.
- If the site provides a RayID or error code, copy it exactly — this is what the site admin needs. Cloudflare and many WAFs include these identifiers on their block pages.
- If you have access to a reputable paid VPN, try connecting via a different geographic endpoint to confirm whether access is IP‑specific. Use this only to read public content and not to evade enforcement for abusive behavior — misuse can worsen the situation. Many sites also proactively block major VPN providers.
- Avoid random free proxy services or shady circumvention tools; they may introduce security risks or violate terms of service.
A concise checklist you can use when contacting the site owner:
- Screenshot of the block page (with RayID/error code).
- Exact public IP you were using (the block page often shows it).
- UTC timestamp of the blocked request.
- Short description of what you were doing when blocked (browsing, running a script, etc.).
Practical troubleshooting steps for site owners / administrators
If you run a site and visitors report this type of block, these are the recommended actions:- Retrieve the RayID or block screenshot from the visitor and search your Cloudflare or WAF security events for that RayID or client IP. Cloudflare docs instruct owners to search Security > Events for the RayID.
- Check any plugin-based firewalls (e.g., Wordfence) live traffic logs to see why the IP was blocked — Wordfence shows block reasons and whether the block is temporary or permanent.
- If the IP belongs to a cloud provider ASN (e.g., Google Cloud), consider whether you genuinely need to block the whole range; blocking cloud provider ranges can cause collateral damage because legitimate services (search crawlers, bots used by partners) may use cloud IPs. Wordfence cautions about range and hostname blocks and shows how all the options work.
- If you rely on a real‑time blacklist, confirm whether a false positive produced the block; Wordfence’s real‑time blacklist process and appeal mechanisms are described in their documentation.
- If the block was unintended, whitelist the IP or remove the offending rule and communicate back to the reporter with the action taken.
Alternatives: how to get the Edgar Poe achievement list without xboxachievements.com
If xboxachievements.com is blocked to you or otherwise unavailable, you can still access official achievement information and reliable third‑party aggregates:- Xbox app (Windows / mobile) or Xbox.com — Microsoft documents how to view achievements via the Xbox Console Companion, Xbox app, and Xbox.com. The Xbox client shows game achievement lists, points, dates earned, and progress. This is the official source.
- TrueAchievements — A widely used community site and app offering full achievement lists, guides, and tracking; many Xbox achievements are listed there with guides and completion info.
- Exophase — A multi‑platform achievement tracker that aggregates Xbox achievements, trophies, and leaderboards; useful as a secondary reference.
Legal & policy considerations and risks to avoid
- Do not attempt to access an account or content for which you are not authorized. Reading a public achievements page is normally fine, but bypassing blocks to perform automated scraping or abusive requests could violate terms and may place you at legal risk.
- Avoid free proxies and untrusted VPNs for sensitive browsing; they often inject ads or log traffic.
- Do not repeatedly attempt to circumvent a block with different IPs if the site owner has expressly indicated the block is intentional.
- If you suspect your IP was associated with abusive traffic originating from your environment (for example, a compromised machine), scan your network and endpoints for malware and consider contacting your ISP to investigate.
If the block persists: reasonable escalation steps
- Contact the xboxachievements.com webmaster or support channels (forum post, site contact form, or social media).
- Provide the captured evidence (screenshot, RayID, timestamp, public IP).
- If the site does not respond and you believe the block is a false positive tied to a cloud provider IP you’re using, ask your cloud provider (or ISP) to open a support case with the site owner on your behalf — in some cases, cloud providers can facilitate communication channels.
- If the IP belongs to a cloud provider (e.g., Google Cloud), recognize that many site owners block whole cloud provider netblocks to stop abuse. You may need to run your requests from a different IP class (e.g., residential IP) if that is feasible.
Technical forensic hints (for power users)
- Use curl or HTTP headers inspection to capture server response headers. A Cloudflare block will often include headers like CF‑Ray or specific status codes. Example:
- curl -I Edgar Poe: Hidden Objects Game Achievements
- Inspect headers for CF‑Ray, Server, and the HTTP status code.
- If the server returns an HTML block page, the markup sometimes contains the blocking mechanism’s signature (e.g., “Generated by Wordfence” text). Wordfence block pages include identifying text that site owners and visitors should capture.
- Use ARIN/RDAP or whois to confirm netblock assignments (search results above show 104.196.0.0/14 → GOOGLE‑CLOUD). Use at least two independent WHOIS/lookup services to avoid relying on a single cache.
Critical analysis: strengths and weaknesses of common block practices
- Strengths
- Blocking suspicious IPs or ranges is an effective, immediate mitigation against automated scraping, credential stuffing, and volumetric abuse. It reduces resource consumption and protects user data.
- Tools like Cloudflare and Wordfence provide clear logging and event identifiers (RayID, block records) that can help administrators investigate and respond.
- Weaknesses / Risks
- Collateral damage: Blocking entire cloud provider ranges or ISPs can block legitimate traffic, automated partner services, or site users who happen to be on those networks (e.g., developers, researchers, or legitimate cloud‑hosted tools).
- False positives: Real‑time blacklists and automated heuristics can wrongly classify benign traffic as malicious.
- User friction: Blocking legitimate community members harms community trust and increases support overhead when blocks are not quickly investigated and resolved.
Quick reference: immediate checklist for a blocked visitor
- Capture screenshot and any RayID or error code.
- Note public IP and timestamp (UTC).
- Test the page from mobile tether or another network.
- Try a different browser or incognito mode.
- Use the Xbox app or alternate aggregators (TrueAchievements, Exophase) to view achievements in the meantime.
- Contact site admin with the captured evidence if the block persists.
Conclusion
A block page stating “The owner of this website has banned your IP address (104.196.9.116)” is not a mystery — it’s a security decision executed by the site’s firewall/CDN or a security plugin. Public records show the IP you were assigned lives in a Google Cloud netblock, which explains why some sites block that class of addresses outright. However, only the site’s security logs will reveal the exact rule that matched your request. The safest, most effective path is to verify the facts (screenshot, RayID, WHOIS), try benign checks (different network, browser), use official alternatives to view achievements (Xbox app, TrueAchievements, Exophase), and contact the site owner with the captured evidence so they can review and, if appropriate, whitelist your IP.If immediate access to the Edgar Poe achievements is essential, use the Xbox app or one of the reputable third‑party aggregator sites while you work with xboxachievements.com to resolve the block. The balance between protecting a community site from abuse and avoiding unintended collateral blocks is delicate — clear communication, measured evidence, and patience are the fastest route to restoring legitimate access.
Source: Xbox Achievements Edgar Poe: Hidden Objects Game Achievements
