It would be security theatre if it was done for security. I’m not doing it for security, though - it’s for my sanity when checking the logs. Unrestricted SSH simply attracts too many bots and the failed logins make it impossible to quickly grasp a picture of what’s happening.

In regards to limits - this is my rule file for iptables on my lemmy instance:

*filter
:INPUT DROP [0:0]
:FORWARD ACCEPT [0:0]
:OUTPUT ACCEPT [0:0]
:LOG_DROP [0:0]
:LOG_ACCEPT [0:0]

-A INPUT -p tcp -m tcp --dport 22 -m state --state NEW -m recent --set --name DEFAULT --mask 255.255.255.255 --rsource
-A INPUT -p tcp -m tcp --dport 22 -m state --state NEW -m recent --update --seconds 600 --hitcount 20 --name DEFAULT --mask 255.255.255.255 --rsource -j LOG_DROP
-A INPUT -p tcp -m tcp --dport 22 -j ACCEPT
-A INPUT -i lo -j ACCEPT
-A INPUT -p tcp -m tcp --dport 443 -m state --state NEW -m recent --set --name HTTPS --mask 255.255.255.255 --rsource
#-A INPUT -p tcp -m tcp --dport 443 -m state --state NEW -m recent --update --seconds 600 --hitcount 600 --name HTTPS --mask 255.255.255.255 --rsource -j LOG_DROP
-A INPUT -p tcp -m tcp --dport 443 -m conntrack --ctstate NEW,ESTABLISHED -j ACCEPT
-A INPUT -p tcp -m tcp --dport 80 -m conntrack --ctstate NEW,ESTABLISHED -j ACCEPT
-A INPUT -m conntrack --ctstate RELATED,ESTABLISHED -j ACCEPT
-A INPUT -j LOG_DROP

-A LOG_ACCEPT -j LOG --log-prefix "[ACCEPTv4]: " --log-level 7
-A LOG_DROP -j LOG --log-prefix "[DENYv4]: " --log-level 7
-A LOG_ACCEPT -j ACCEPT
-A LOG_DROP -j DROP
COMMIT

This is very much a WIP, I’m going to implement some ddos protection as soon as I get some spare time.