WordPress.org

What is this option about site connection and reverse proxy?

A reverse proxy is a server in between the site and the Internet (perhaps handling caching or load-balancing). This makes getting the correct client IP to block slightly more complicated.

The option default to NOT being behind a proxy -- which should be by far the common case.

How do I know if my site is behind a reverse proxy?

You probably are not or you would know. We show a pretty good guess on the option page. Set the option using this unless you are sure you know better.

I locked myself out testing this thing, what do I do?

Either wait, or:

If you have ftp / ssh access to the site rename the file "wp-content/plugins/limit-login-attempts/limit-login-attempts.php" to deactivate the plugin.

If you have access to the database (for example through phpMyAdmin) you can clear the limitloginlockouts option in the wordpress options table. In a default setup this would work: "UPDATE wpoptions SET optionvalue = '' WHERE optionname = 'limitlogin_lockouts'"