$_SERVER["REMOTE_ADDR"] gives server IP rather than visitor IP

I'm trying to track IP addresses of visitors. When using $_SERVER["REMOTE_ADDR"], I get the server's IP address rather than the visitor's. I tried this on multiple machines at multiple locations and they all resulted in the exact same IP. Is there some PHP/server settings that could be affecting this?

When using $_SERVER["REMOTE_ADDR"], I get the server's IP address rather than the visitor's.

Then something is wrong, or odd, with your configuration.

• Are you using some sort of reverse proxy? In that case, @simshaun's suggestion may work.

• Do you have anything else out of the ordinary in your web server config?

• Can you show the PHP code you are using?

• Can you show what the address looks like. Is it a local one, or a Internet address?

$_SERVER['REMOTE_ADDR'] gives the IP address from which the request was sent to the web server. This is typically the visitor's address, but in your case, it sounds like there is some kind of proxy sitting right before the web server that intercepts the requests, hence to the web server it appears as though the requests are originating from there.

Look no more for IP addresses not being set in the expected header. Just do the following to inspect the whole server variables and figure out which one is suitable for your case:

print_r($_SERVER);

Replacing:

$_SERVER["REMOTE_ADDR"];

With:

$_SERVER["HTTP_X_REAL_IP"];

Worked for me.

If you are using Cloudflare then this is always the Cloudflare IP address from the node which is serving you.

In this case you get the real IP address from the $_SERVER['HTTP_FORWARDED_FOR'] entry as described in the the other answers.