In a game of few chances, Daryl Murphy went closest after seeing his header superbly saved by David Marshall while Cardiff winger Sammy Ameobi saw a smart volley well held by Dean Gerken at this near post.
Both sides were industrious but offered little threat in the final third with a point apiece a fair result.
Cardiff started brighter on the ball though Ipswich fans had a half-hearted appeal for a penalty waved away on 10 minutes when Kevin Bru's volley rebounded off both Matthew Connolly and Fabio.
And it was the home side who fashioned the best chance of the opening goal 15 minutes in, when Murphy met Bru's corner, but his fierce header was brilliantly tipped onto the crossbar by Marshall with Freddie Sears flashing the rebound from the angle well over.
Minutes later, Cardiff went close themselves after Aron Gunnarsson's snap shot from the edge of the area was pushed around the post by Gerken.
In the 27th minute, Ipswich almost broke the deadlock when great work by Luke Chambers and Sears down the right saw the striker's low cross turned goalwards by Cardiff's Sean Morrison. To the centre back's relief, it rebounded off Marshall and away from danger.
It was tight and tense with little in the way of fluid football, David McGoldrick curling a 36th minute free-kick wide before Joe Ralls' low cross was well held by Gerken.
The second half continued in the same vein with plenty of endeavour but little in the way of attacking flair.
Cardiff sub Scott Malone's teasing low cross evaded everyone inside the six-yard box before, on the hour mark, the visitors almost broke the deadlock when Ralls released Malone and his cross was met by Sammy Ameobi whose volley was well held by Gerken at his near post.
At the other end, Murphy floated a header from Luke Chambers' cross onto the roof of the net before the striker ended a decent move involving McGoldrick and Sears by crossing for the stretching Ainsley Maitland-Niles to volley over.
With 17 minutes left, Gunnarsson fired a half-chance well wide from a deep corner while Craig Noone found himself unmarked in the Ipswich penalty but Malone's cross was too powerful for him to direct goalwards.
Noone, a second-half sub, volleyed over after finding himself unmarked from Peter Whittingham's deep free kick in what proved to be the final chance in a gritty encounter where neither side gave an inch.