Thank you Max, I just installed your mod. In the last 10 minutes since activating it, I have received 23 emails for blocked registrations attempts

Seriously. my board isn't big at all. in fact, spambots have killed it off nearly completely (I want to try bumping it back up).

What may have started this off. My board wasn't huge, it wasn't heavily spidered. it doesn't appear at the top of any search engine for typical keywords. But the spambots do not end.

Is there a tip or key to get them to leave you alone? other than just these passive means to prevent their registration?

They flock where the botnet admins have found weakness. Over time, they will become a sparse phenomenon as you become Fort Knox..

"Ban Spiders By User Agent" is another good Mod. First custom entry on that should be, "Baidu."

You have to win that spam fight because it will definitely kill a board.

also, is there away to stop the emails? (don't want to screw with the code yet and break it now that it's working). cause i've received over 100 since installing!

Yes in the thread where that mod was downloaded from, they explain how to turn the emails off. But what I did was just send them to a email acct I don't use for anything else.

I think you want the emails for two things - to collect statistics and, to be able to make sure this Mod is still working.

try vB Badbahvior
them will help you to reduce your spam bot :D
i have tested it on my forum