Staff Guidelines
Last Updated – September 25th, 2024
The below guidelines are to be respected and followed by the moderation team at all times. Some exceptions may apply depending on the situation. If you need help dealing with a more specific situation, please let us know through Discord DM or the staff private channel!
The Art of Punishing Rule Breakers
The below actions are offenses that we believe may ruin or have a negative impact on other players’ gameplay experience. We have regrouped said offenses as well as instructions on how to properly deal with each of them. If a player exceeds the number of offenses for a category, always repeat the last offense punishment guideline for that category if applicable.
Legend: Offense Warn/Kick/Ban Reason
Note: When we say to “verbally warn” a player, we are referring to the !vwarn staff command.
Physical Offenses
Category of offenses performed physically within the server.
Body/Prop Blocking Blocking
1st Offense ➠ Verbally warn the player. Teleport the blocking player out of the way.
If they continue within the same round, slay them.
2nd Offense ➠ Verbally warn and slay the blocking player.
3rd Offense ➠ Warn and slay the blocking player.
Teaming Teaming
1st Offense ➠ Verbally warn both teaming players. If they continue in the same round, slay the sheriff.
2nd Offense ➠ Verbally warn and slay both teaming players.
3rd Offense ➠ Warn and slay both teaming players.
Delaying Delaying
This rule applies in all circumstances with the exception of the specific scenario where no players are waiting for a new round to start (i.e. Map achievements).
1st Offense ➠ Verbally warn the player. If they continue in the same round, slap for 50, then slay them.
2nd Offense ➠ Verbally warn and slay the delaying player.
3rd Offense ➠ Warn and slay the delaying player.
Exploiting Exploiting
Players making use of map bugs or unintended gameplay mechanics to gain an unfair advantage.
1st Offense ➠ Verbally warn the player. If continued within the same round, slay them.
2nd Offense ➠ Verbally warn and slay the player.
3rd Offense ➠ Warn and slay the player.
Media Abuse Media Abuse
Hate speeches, racism or ear piercing songs are disallowed on any server feature that allows playing video or audio content, such as the TV.
1st Offense ➠ Verbally warn the player. If you can, stop the song and ban its media link.
2nd Offense ➠ Warn the player.
Spectator Abuse Spectator Abuse
Players who deliberately switch to Spectators to avoid the Murderer.
1st Offense ➠ Verbally warn the player.
2nd Offense ➠ Verbally warn the player.
3rd Offense ➠ Warn the player.
Communication Offenses
Category of offenses performed through our means of communication on the server. Either in chat or voice chat. Mutes and gags are the most common response for offenses in this category, and are all to be issued through the SAM menu. Their duration automatically escalates based on the player’s record. Select the specified reason and leave the duration blank.
Chat Spam Spam
1st Offense ➠ Verbally warn the player.
2nd Offense ➠ Mute the player. Leave the default value of 5.
Microphone Spam Spam
1st Offense ➠ Verbally warn the player.
2nd Offense ➠ Gag the player. Leave the default value of 5.
Racism Negative Behavior [R]
1st Offense ➠ Mute the player. Leave the default value of 5.
Disrespect Negative Behavior [D]
1st Offense ➠ Verbally warn the player.
2nd Offense ➠ Mute the player. Leave the default value of 5.
Inappropriate Negative Behavior [I]
Abusive language, inappropriate topics or jokes.
1st Offense ➠ Verbally warn the player.
2nd Offense ➠ Mute the player. Leave the default value of 5.
Advertising Advertising
1st Offense ➠ Verbally warn the player.
2nd Offense ➠ Mute the player. Leave the default value of 5.
Speaking Another Language Not Speaking English
1st Offense ➠ Verbally warn the player.
2nd Offense ➠ Mute the player. Leave the default value of 5.
Arguing Punishment Arguing
1st Offense ➠ Verbally warn the player.
2nd Offense ➠ Mute the player. Leave the default value of 5.
Impersonation Impersonation
Only applicable to those who are persistently tricking other players into believing they are a staff member.
1st Offense ➠ Kick the player.
2nd Offense ➠ Ban the player (5 days or 7200 minutes).
DDoS Threats DDoS Threats
1st Offense ➠ Ban the player for your maximum allowed length and notify an Administrator.
Inappropriate Name Bad Name
1st Offense ➠ Verbally warn the player.
2nd Offense ➠ Kick the player.
3rd Offense ➠ Ban the player for your maximum allowed length and notify an Administrator.
Other Offenses
Specific non-categorizable offenses. If you are unsure whether or not the following would apply to any situation, contact an administrator.
Trolling Negative Behavior [T]
Only applicable to groups of friends (2 or more players) who join in the sole purpose of breaking our server guidelines and rules. They can be recognized by their low level (5 or less) and by using the !friends command.
1st Offense ➠ Ban the entire group (7 days or 10080 minutes).
Promoting Rule Breaking Promoting Rule Breaking
Players promoting the use of breaking the server guidelines and rules. This includes telling players to say or do something that is against our rules.
1st Offense ➠ Verbally warn the player.
2nd Offense ➠ Warn the player.
Ban Evading Punishment Avoidance
Players who join the server using alternate accounts to circumvent a ban or punishment on their main account.
1st Offense ➠ Ban the alternate account for your maximum allowed length and notify an Administrator.
Mute Evading Punishment Avoidance
Players actively making use of customization elements out of our control (such as their Steam username) or using another account to circumvent a mute on our servers.
1st Offense ➠ Warn the player. If applicable, ban the alt account and notify an Administrator.
Player Safety & Privacy Violation Player Safety & Privacy Violation
1st Offense ➠ Ban the player (30 days or 43200 minutes).
2nd Offense ➠ Ban the player for your maximum allowed length and notify an Administrator.
Ban Requirements
If the player accumulates enough warnings, refer to the below chart to properly issue a ban for them.
No Ban on record
2 Active warnings = 3 days or 4320 minutes ban
4 Warnings over 14 days = 5 days or 7200 minutes ban
Ban on Record
This is only applicable if at least one of the player’s ban is due to this system.
2 Active warnings = 7 days or 10080 minutes ban
4 Warnings over 28 days = 14 days or 20160 minutes ban
Multiple Bans on Record
For each ban beyond the first two, the following formula is used to determine the player’s ban length.
Length = (Amount of Bans – 1) x (Ban on Record Usual Length)
Useful Commands
The following commands must be learned and actively used by all staff members. Some of them can be binded through your console, which greatly reduces the time it takes to deal with a rule breaker.
Chat Commands
• !vwarn username keyword
Verbally warns a player by sending a message in their chatbox.
Keywords are: blocking, micspam, chatspam, media, delaying, disrespect, racism, command, teaming, cheating, boosting, spectator, arguing, promoting and language.
• !vcheck username
Checks how many times target player was verbally warned for each offense.
• !mutecheck username
Checks the mute status of a player.
• !gagcheck username
Checks the gag status of a player.
• !warn username reason
Warns target player for the specified reason.
Console Commands (Can be binded)
• gex_warnings
Opens the warnings management menu.
• mu_adminpanel
Opens the bystander menu, which allows you to identify the Steam username of any bystander.
• sam menu
Opens your SAM menu, storing all your commands.
About Breaks & Resigning
As a staff member, it is required to be able to devote an appropriate amount of time to your position. If, for personal reasons (such as school, work, etc.), you were to be less active (or not at all) for a long period of time, you MUST inform the administration team of your absence as well as an approximative return date. You will below find information and requirements relative to staffing breaks.
Uptime
The uptime is a percentage value we use to evaluate a player’s overall activity on the server. It is calculated using the average of hours spent in the Players team within the last 5 weeks divided by 30. As such, spending 30 or more hours a week will result in a 100% uptime for the week, however staying around 25% uptime (7 hours to 8 hours a week) is typically more than enough.
Activity Guidelines
• Anything around 15% uptime (4 hours to 5 hours a week) is considered acceptable.
• Starting at Trialmod, we usually allow down to 10% uptime before raising concern (less than 3 hours a week).
• For any reason deemed appropriate it is possible to take a break, which will pause your uptime for its entire
duration. However, please make sure to let us know!
Retirement
If you wish to leave the staff team for any reason, please, once again, inform us as soon as possible so your roles and server rank can be updated.
Please Note
Any misuse of staff powers may result in a demotion or removal of rank.
If you are unsure on how to handle a specific situation, please let us know in the #staff channel.
We are all here to help you!