Announcement: Forum rules and information

Welcome to the Minecraft Forums! Enjoy yourself here, but please keep in mind these simple rules:

DO:

• Be Polite - If you can't be respectful of other members, at least be courteous. Two wrongs don't make a right.
  
• Be Nice - You may not see it, but a few nice words can make someone’s day better
  
• Use Search - It's your friend, and it's in the upper-right corner of the forum.
  
• Stay on Topic - Don't derail threads with your own conversation.
  
• Think Before you Post - Sensible, well-thought-out, legible posts in the right section are easier to understand.
  
• Use the Report Feature - If you see a rule violation, this lets the staff know to look at the thread/post and determine the best action.

DON'T:

• Bump Threads - Do not bump threads to get more replies or reply to older threads that have dropped off unless there is significant new information to add.
  
• Spam - TL;DR, +/-1, one word responses, memes, imageposts, doubleposts, large quotes, etc.
  
• Reply to Flames or Spam - Just report them
  
• Post in the Wrong Section - We have specific sections to make things easier to find
  
• Post server or player black lists - This has been used in the past to hurt innocent people
  
• Trade or sell Minecraft accounts, this is a forum not a market place. This goes for other digital or physical products too.
  
• Post Giveaways - User-run giveaways or contests for prizes with monetary value are not allowed
  
• Troll/Flame - See "Be Polite" above. Insulting and baiting will not be tolerated.
  
• Troll Call - Calling someone a troll is a form of insult and will be treated as such.
  
• Advertise - You can have a link to your personal (non-commercial) site in your signature. Any other links promoting outside websites or merchandise will be removed.
  
• Post Redundant Threads - Be aware of other threads in the forum, and don't duplicate (see "Use Search" above).
  
• Misuse Money Linking Sites - Don’t use sites such as adf.ly for anything other than downloads of your own content. You must also always abide by the services TOS.
  
• Post hoaxes - Deliberately posting false information. (For example, Herobrine sighting claims).
  
• Create Multiple Accounts - If you have a good reason for having a clone account, contact a staff member first.

Post Illegal Activity:

• Making available copies of the current or previous Minecraft files, minecraft.jar etc
  
• Anything referring to malicious game modifications or clients with the potential to harm other users or servers
  
• Any link or image that encourages users to perform a task so that the poster may be compensated financially.
  
• Any material that is the work of another individual but is being represented as original. Permission must be obtained from the original creator, and due credit must be given, before including any element of that creator's work.
  
• Posting ANY illegal content, this includes pirated copies of ANY GAME not just Minecraft!!!!

Abuse a Member's Personal Safety:

• Swearing at a member; while there is no rule against swearing here, use of it against another member is a different story;
  
• Any offensive, pornographic, or obscene material;
  
• Overt sexually loaded comments or content;
  
• Discrimination against the age, race, gender, religion, ethnicity, nationality, or sexual orientation of another member.
  
• Login to another users account without permission
  
• Spread malicious content such as viruses

Spread Hate Speech:

• The use of slurs of any kind;
  
• Derogatory statements about social groups, including but not limited to age, race, gender, religion, ethnicity, nationality, or sexuality;
  
• Promoting or expressing support for hate groups and terrorist organizations;
  
• Posting messages deliberately to offend or upset members of a social group

SECTION SPECIFIC RULES:

Each forum section may have its own set of rules that go along side these general forum rules outlined here. Before posting in a section please take note of the section rules and abide by them.

Game Modes
Minecraft General
Show your Creation
Servers
Mapping and Modding
Off Topic

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The following information is about what to do when you find people breaking the rules and what happens if you break the rules outlined above.

REPORTING A POST:

• If you see an infraction to the rules, report it. If you're not sure, report it anyway. There are no penalties if you're wrong
  
• Don't tell the offender you’re reporting them, it doesn't help the staff in any way and can only lead to problems.
  
• Don't respond to spam, flames, and trolls, much less flame them back. Ignore, report, move on
  
• If someone is breaking the rules in a post, report the post. Don’t report in their profile unless their profile itself is breaking the rules.
  
• When reporting a post please include a reason why you're reporting otherwise we can't deal with the report.

WARNING POINTS:
Warning points will be issued to offending post depending on severity of violation, when your warning points amass listed below the stated penalty will be imposed.

TOTAL WARNING POINT PENALTIES:
1 Point: No Posting Suspension
2 Points: 3 Day Posting Suspension
3-5 Points: 7 Day Posting Suspension
6-9 Points: 14 Day Posting Suspension
10 Points: 30 Day Posting Suspension

Each warning point is cleared 30 days after the last warning points were applied unless permanently banned.

If an account that you use is banned you are not permitted to use or create another account to bypass the ban.

PERMABANS:
The administration reserves the right to permanently ban any member whose overall behavior is detrimental to the community.

DISCLAIMER:
Staff - The administrators and moderators are responsible for the smooth and efficient running of the site. The staff reserves the right to take whatever action is deemed appropriate in any given situation, regardless of whether there is a specific rule covering that situation or not. If there is a misunderstanding or dispute, then please bring the issue up politely with that staff member in private. In all matters, the decision of the administration is final.

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HELP AND SUPPORT:

Sending private messages to staff members is not the correct way to get forum support. If you have a problem with the forum and need help you can post in the "Help -- contact the forum staff" section which is available under the "Forums" section. This section is monitored by all senior staff and will yield the fastest response to your issue. If you send a private message to a staff member there is a high chance it will be missed and not receive a reply.

Each forum section has an assigned administrator, they are as follows:

Game Modes and Show Your Creation:Hazali
Minecraft General: Neodymius, DanielleStarr
Servers: Piratebay
Mapping and Modding: Beltir, Ms_Britten
Off-Topic: The_Pastmaster

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POSTING RESTRICTIONS:

We currently have a set of posting restrictions in place for all new members that have been registered for less than 24 hours. These accounts are limited to 10 posts during those first 24 hours and can only create 1 topic every 5 minutes (up to the total of 10). We also have a filter in place that monitors posts for known scams and viruses. These restrictions are in place to help protect the forum and members from spam.

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MODERATOR APPLICATIONS:

If you are an active member who would like to help moderate the forum we welcome applications. You should post your application in the Moderator Applications section and it will be viewed as soon as possible by an administrator. Your application should follow the guidelines outlined in this thread. Due to a large volume of applications we cannot reply to every application, please do not contact administrators via Private Message or visitor messages if your application has not yet been replied to, this will only delay the process.

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BAN APPEALS:

Send an email to banappeal@minecraftforum.net including as much information as possible, username etc. and we will respond as soon as possible.