WP-Mix

Here are a couple of quick snippets to get the visitor’s actual IP address via PHP.

Method 1

This is the method that I use in my projects to get the actual IP address:

// get real ip address
function shapeSpace_get_real_ip() {
	
	$ip = 'undefined';
	
	if (isset($_SERVER)) {
		
		$ip = $_SERVER['REMOTE_ADDR'];
		
		if (isset($_SERVER['HTTP_X_FORWARDED_FOR'])) {
			
			$ip = $_SERVER['HTTP_X_FORWARDED_FOR'];
			
		} elseif (isset($_SERVER['HTTP_CLIENT_IP'])) {
			
			$ip = $_SERVER['HTTP_CLIENT_IP'];
		}
		
	} else {
		
		$ip = getenv('REMOTE_ADDR');
		
		if (getenv('HTTP_X_FORWARDED_FOR')) {
			
			$ip = getenv('HTTP_X_FORWARDED_FOR');
			
		} elseif (getenv('HTTP_CLIENT_IP')) {
			
			$ip = getenv('HTTP_CLIENT_IP');
		}
	}
	
	$ip = htmlspecialchars($ip, ENT_QUOTES, 'UTF-8');
	return $ip;
}

This is a plug-n-play snippet with no modification necessary. Just include in your script and call/use $address as needed. Covers just about every possible IP-address scenario.

Update! Here is a minimized version of the previous get-IP function:

function shapeSpace_get_real_ip() {
	$ip = 'undefined';
	if (isset($_SERVER)) {
		$ip = $_SERVER['REMOTE_ADDR'];
		if (isset($_SERVER['HTTP_X_FORWARDED_FOR'])) $ip = $_SERVER['HTTP_X_FORWARDED_FOR'];
		elseif (isset($_SERVER['HTTP_CLIENT_IP'])) $ip = $_SERVER['HTTP_CLIENT_IP'];
	} else {
		$ip = getenv('REMOTE_ADDR');
		if (getenv('HTTP_X_FORWARDED_FOR')) $ip = getenv('HTTP_X_FORWARDED_FOR');
		elseif (getenv('HTTP_CLIENT_IP')) $ip = getenv('HTTP_CLIENT_IP');
	}
	$ip = htmlspecialchars($ip, ENT_QUOTES, 'UTF-8');
	return $ip;
}

That’s a bit nicer for copy/paste and quick-use scenarios.

Method 2

Here is another snippet found lurking in the archives. It’s a bit more comprehensive in that it returns not just a single IP address, but an entire array of all possible IP addresses. Great for serious IP analysis..

$ips = array();
$vars = array(
	'REMOTE_ADDR',
	'HTTP_X_FORWARDED',
	'HTTP_X_FORWARDED_FOR',
	'HTTP_FORWARDED',
	'HTTP_FORWARDED_FOR'
);
foreach ($vars as $key) {
	if (!empty($_SERVER[$key])) {
		$ips[] = $_SERVER[$key];
	}
}
$ips = array_unique($ips);
$ips = array_map('trim', $ips);
$ips = array_map('strip_tags', $ips);
$ips = array_map('htmlentities', $ips);

return $ips;

Again, this snippet is plug-n-play with no modification required. Just plop it in and call the $ip array as needed. The future is yours!

Method 3

Here is an updated/improved version of the technique provided in “Method 1”, above. This is the new preferred method that I use in my own projects.

function shapeSpace_get_ip() {
	
	$address = $_SERVER['REMOTE_ADDR'];
	
	if (array_key_exists('HTTP_X_FORWARDED_FOR', $_SERVER) && !empty($_SERVER['HTTP_X_FORWARDED_FOR'])) {
		
		$address = $_SERVER['HTTP_X_FORWARDED_FOR'];
		
	} elseif (array_key_exists('HTTP_CLIENT_IP', $_SERVER) && !empty($_SERVER['HTTP_CLIENT_IP'])) {
		
		$address = $_SERVER['HTTP_CLIENT_IP'];
		
	}
	
	if (strpos($address, ",") > 0) {
		
		$ips = explode(",", $address);
		
		$address = trim($ips[0]);
		
	}
	
	return $address;
	
}

This technique is more robust than the other methods, in that it returns only one IP address in the case that more than one is reported by any of the server variables. Savvy :)