How can PHP utilize the rcon protocol to send commands to a game server, and what are common pitfalls in implementing this method?

To utilize the rcon protocol in PHP to send commands to a game server, you can use the `fsockopen` function to establish a connection and send the necessary commands. Common pitfalls in implementing this method include not properly handling errors, not sanitizing user input, and not securely storing the rcon password.

<?php
$serverIP = '127.0.0.1';
$serverPort = 25575;
$rconPassword = 'your_rcon_password';

$socket = fsockopen('udp://' . $serverIP, $serverPort, $errno, $errstr, 5);
if (!$socket) {
    die("Error: $errstr ($errno)\n");
}

fwrite($socket, "\xFF\xFF\xFF\xFFrcon $rconPassword your_command_here\n");
$response = fread($socket, 4096);

fclose($socket);

echo $response;
?>