Following these rules is a crucial element to keeping our server safe and fun for everyone, regardless of age. Chat rules relate to all available channels unless otherwise stated within the rule itself: from general chat, to /msg, to allied Towny chat, as well as town/nation names, signs, written books, item names, etc. 

C1: Avoid harassing other players or staff. This applies to all chats - whether it is general, towny, alliance chat, /message, or any other available channel.¹

C2: Spamming is prohibited in all available channels. This includes sending repeated messages, sending different messages with quick succession, character spam, sending repeated messages in all, or majority, caps, misusing /report, or misusing /gift.²

C3: Keep chat PG-13. This is primarily enforced in regards to Not Safe For Work (“NSFW”) content. However, excessive swearing or cursing is also prohibited.³ 

C4: Including any offensive content in conversation in any form is prohibited in all available channels. This includes topics such as politics, religion, acts of violence, sexual content, suicide/self-harm, and other serious topics. Hate speech, including racial slurs, sexist or homophobic statements, or derivatives thereof are not tolerated.

C5: Your Minecraft username and /nick if you have one must be compliant with all of our rules, as well as the following criteria:

• Easily readable and typable with a QWERTY keyboard (i.e. no fully “&k” nicknames)
• Does not imitate another user
• Does not attempt to falsely mark oneself as being part of the staff team
• Contains no inappropriate content

C6: All player-related drama is to be dealt with outside of public chat channels, as well as outside of our Discord server.

C7: Advertisement of other Minecraft servers, giveaways of non-Minecraft items, one’s own social media/content creation channels, or things of similar nature are prohibited without prior approval from leadership. This includes advertisements in all available channels, on signs or in written books. Advertising in-game trades or shops is allowed, but please refrain from reposting advertising messages too frequently.

C8: English is required in all public chat channels.

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¹ This includes gatekeeping.
² Weapon/tool names that are excessively long are not allowed, and will be punished as if the player had spammed the message.
³ Swearing in moderation is allowed, and will not be punished.

Note: Please claim any and all items. SMPEarth staff are not responsible for lost items due to stealing. If you have accidentally left on permissions we are not responsible for returning the lost items.

G1: Builds that display NSFW/offensive content are prohibited. This includes signs and books. 

G2: Your Minecraft skin must not be offensive, nor contain NSFW or PG-13 content. 

G3: Impersonating staff members, whether it be through skins or messages in chat, is prohibited. This includes mini-modding.

G4: Glitch abuse is a very serious offense. The decision of whether or not something is abuse of a glitch will be decided by the moderators. If you find a glitch, please report it immediately in the SMPearth Community Discord server. Do not share glitches with other people, and do not use it to your advantage. Any sort of glitching (including, but not limited to, enderpearl/vehicle/boat/ entity glitching) that allows you to get through a previously blocked wall will be counted as abusing a bug/glitch.

G5: Respect decisions made by all staff. If you have any concerns regarding staff and their decisions, please DM either an admin or a manager. Please do not argue with or harass staff members in public chats, preferably with someone other than the staff member who punished you. 

G6: We allow the usage of three accounts per IP address. If more are logged into the network at any time we may take action depending on severity. If you have siblings who also play on our server, and are inappropriately punished, please contact us via a ban appeal.

G7: Any use of lag machines/farms/builds that cause server/client lag will be punishable depending on the severity. 

G8: Players who are complicit in rule-breaking will be held as accountable for the rule being broken as the player violating the rule.

G9: Exploiting our rule system to benefit yourself in any way is a punishable offense. Any action that attempts to bypass a rule in some way, such that the action would not fit the definition of the rule that is being bypassed, is still punishable.

G10: The use of proxies or VPNs are strictly prohibited unless pre-authorized by the leadership team.

T1: Only players in nations at war are permitted to PvP in the wilderness. Any attempt to bypass anti-PvP may be punished. Claiming a chunk in wilderness with pvp on to kill a peaceful player is also not allowed. 

T2: Claimblocking is not allowed and will be reverted without warning or your money back.¹

T3: Griefing of any type in a claim is prohibited², and we will revert/punish depending on the situation. However, if your build is in an unclaimed area we are not responsible for any damage done to your property, including loss of mobs. Major griefing in the wilderness (Ex: Lavacasts) is also not allowed. Additionally, any overt act that prohibits the travel of others by any standard means (namely; boats and icerails) is not allowed.³

T4: Insiding is not allowed. Insiding is defined as stealing items maliciously  and/or betraying your town during times of war.

T5: Trapping of any kind is prohibited and is a bannable offense. (this includes spawn killing and tp-trapping). Trapping is defined as something that restrains the player’s movement and/or ability to fight Back. Having someone teleport to you and instantly killing them is also not allowed.

T6: Scamming other players is a serious offense. Make sure that you put precautions in place to make sure that you have evidence of all parts of a trade in-case a player is scamming you. Please note, however, that you trade with players at your own risk – we do not take the liability for it, and are not responsible for returning anything lost.

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¹ It is advised to keep evidence of an agreement between yourself and the mayor of another town when they let you place the claims of your town near theirs.
² This does not include town ruins.
³ Any bridge over any body of water must have at least 2 blocks of air between the water and the bottom of the bridge.
 

X1: Griefing of any type in a claim is prohibited, and we will revert/punish depending on the situation. However, if your build is in an unclaimed area, we are not responsible for any damage done to your property, including loss of mobs. Major griefing in the wilderness (Ex: lavacasts) is also not allowed.

X2: Insiding is not allowed. Insiding is defined as stealing items maliciously and/or betraying your town during times of war.

X3: Town/Outpost claims must not completely encircle another town unless the town in the inner circle is peaceful. This rule applies to towns in the same nation to prevent permanent siege immunity on the server. You can only encircle a peaceful town that belongs to your nation, encircling a town outside of your nation and without permission is claimblocking.

X4: Scamming other players is not allowed. Make sure that you put precautions in place to make sure that you have evidence of all parts of a trade in-case a player is scamming you. Please note, however, that you trade with players at your own risk – we do not take the liability for it and are not responsible for returning anything lost.

X5: These forms of trapping (foot grinders/ganks/spawn-killing) are allowed but teleportation trapping (tp trapping) is prohibited. Having someone teleport to you and instantly killing them is also not allowed.

X6: Any form of point feeding (purposely dying to the attacker/defender) is prohibited.

X7: Placing of a banner to initiate a siege in an area which has been intentionally made inaccessible by claims is not allowed. This includes placing of a banner inside a walled town or surrounding an area with outposts or claims and initiating a siege. The claiming of outposts when initiating a siege to give the siege initiator an unfair advantage is also against the rules.

X8: Gaining banner control during a siege with an alternate account is not allowed and will result in a punishment. 
 

S1: In the event that you are punished by server staff for breaking any rules, attempts to evade the punishment through the use of alternate accounts or commands will result in an extension of the existing punishment. 

S2: Client modifications that give any competitive advantage over players are strictly forbidden. There are a few exceptions to this rule, which you can find here.¹

S3: Chargebacks on store purchases are strictly prohibited. 

S4: Please do not share other people’s personal information such as real names, addresses, other social media accounts, etc. without their permission. Sharing this with malicious intent may be construed as doxxing, which will result in an instant ban. 

S5: Any scams that include real life objects, possessions, or money will be considered bannable and will come with a much heavier punishment. 

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¹ Macros, Autoclickers, and other programs that help you execute actions are not allowed under any circumstances. However, this does not prevent you from using real-life modifications (e.g. keyboard weights).

All terms listed below are terms used throughout this document. As such, reading and understanding these terms is essential to understanding the server rules. Please note that all rules listed below apply exclusively to the SMPEarth network of servers, and do not carry over onto the SMPEarth Discord network or the SMPEarth website, which have their own set of rules.

Chargeback: A refunded charge to a credit or debit card. Most popular banks will offer them in the case of having your card stolen, but they can occasionally be abused.

Claimblocking: A situation in which one town places claims near the claims of another town with malicious intent; to prevent the town from expanding in any direction or to claim any hollow chunks within the town without prior approval from the mayor of the blocked town.

DMs: Direct messages. These are private messages between you and another person that only you and that other person can see, typically on Discord.

Gatekeeping: The devaluement of other’s opinions on something by claiming they’re not entitled to the opinion because they’re not qualified, the rightful decision- maker, a part of a particular group, etc.

Griefing: A form of aggression in which a player destroys a structure (man-made or natural) beyond easy repair.

Harassment: Any repeated or continuing uninvited contact that serves no useful purpose beyond creating alarm, annoyance, or emotional distress.

NSFW: Not Safe for Work. This term refers to any content that you would not look at while you were at your job, or at school, or that you would not show to your grandmother, or whatever metric you use to determine that were you to look at it in the presence of some person, that other person would not like it.

Offensive Content: Any content that causes someone to feel deeply hurt, upset, or angry.

PG-13: Parental Guidance (under 13). This term refers to any content which may not fall into the strict category of NSFW content, but is still unpleasant or upsetting. This primarily includes swears, but may also include offensive content.