Wiki / Staff & moderation

Staff & moderation

The public handbook for Helpers, Moderators, Owners, and the players they serve.

This page is the same standard staff work under and players can refer to. Staff are community hosts first and rule enforcers when necessary. They may enjoy the server and make their own progress, but when someone needs help, the responsibility attached to the staff rank comes first.

Community first

Welcome people, answer questions, notice problems, and make the server easier to join.

Fair process

Check facts, use the public rules, act proportionately, and keep personal relationships out of decisions.

Public accountability

Staff powers are held in trust. Neglect, unfairness, and abuse can cost the role.

The standard at a glance

When this happens	What staff should do
A new player joins	Welcome them promptly, offer help, and make sure they know how to begin.
Someone asks a question	Answer clearly, check before guessing, or find someone who knows.
A report or conflict appears	Acknowledge it, stop immediate harm, gather facts, and handle or escalate it.
A serious violation is active	Protect players and the world first, then preserve evidence and document the action.
Nothing needs attention	Play normally. Staff are players too.
Help is needed during personal gameplay	Pause when reasonably possible. Staff responsibility takes priority over personal progress.

Roles and responsibility

Helpers and Moderators are both staff. The difference is the scope of the role, not whether community care matters.

Role	Primary responsibility	Escalates to
Helper	Welcome and onboard players, answer questions, resolve simple problems, notice developing issues, and pass on anything serious or uncertain.	Moderator or Owner
Moderator	Everything a Helper does, plus investigate reports, enforce the rules, document significant actions, manage conflict, and guide Helpers.	Owner
Owner / Admin	Set policy, review appeals, handle severe or unusual cases, resolve technical issues, and hold the staff team accountable.	Final decision

Welcoming newcomers

Welcoming is a staff duty, not an optional extra. A newcomer should not feel invisible while staff are present. Staff do not need to overwhelm them with a speech; a genuine hello and a useful offer of help are enough to begin.

Step	Good staff practice
Welcome	Greet the player by name as soon as reasonably possible after noticing their first join.
Offer	Ask whether they need help getting started instead of waiting for them to know what to ask.
Orient	Point them to the getting-started guide, resource pack, claims, two-chunk spacing, map, rules, and Discord as relevant.
Answer	Explain clearly and in small pieces. If unsure, check rather than invent an answer.
Follow up	If they still appear lost, check in again after they have had time to look around.

Helping means making players confident and independent. It does not mean giving valuable items, completing progression for them, teleporting them past normal gameplay, or granting special treatment.

Priority while online

Staff cannot watch every message every second. When several things need attention, use this order:

Priority	Work	Examples
1	Immediate safety and serious active harm	Threats, hate, NSFW content, active grief, cheats, dupes, or exploits
2	Reports and conflict	Harassment, theft, scams, PvP abuse, or a dispute getting worse
3	Newcomer care	First joins, confusion at spawn, claims, rules, or getting established
4	General support	Commands, recipes, server systems, or routine questions
5	Personal gameplay	Building, mining, trading, team activity, and personal progression

Playing the game is not a failure. Continuing to prioritise personal progress while players are being ignored is.

How moderation should work

Acknowledge. Let the player know the report or problem has been seen.
Stabilise. Stop immediate harm, separate a public argument, or protect affected players and builds.
Establish facts. Check chat, logs, screenshots, locations, inventories, and relevant accounts. Do not decide from popularity or one loud message.
Check policy. Use the public rules and punishment grid. Do not invent a private rule or punishment ladder.
Explain. State what needs to stop and cite the rule or named world offence where practical.
Act proportionately. Use the least severe action that reasonably stops the problem and protects the community. Severe or deliberate harm may skip polite steps.
Record. Document significant warnings, mutes, bans, evidence, and unusual decisions.
Escalate. Ask a higher role when the facts, authority, or correct action are uncertain.

Education and de-escalation come before punishment for ordinary mistakes. Immediate action is appropriate for severe harassment, hate, NSFW content, threats, exploits, x-ray, deliberate grief, ban evasion, or other active harm.

Evidence, privacy, and conflicts of interest

Use evidence and observed behaviour, not rumours, friendships, rank, donations, playtime, or personal dislike.
Hear relevant sides where practical, but do not force an affected player into a public argument.
Keep private reports, personal information, staff logs, and sensitive evidence private. Transparency about the process does not mean publishing somebody’s case file.
If a staff member is personally involved in a dispute, another staff member should handle it whenever possible.
Do not investigate while angry. Secure the situation, step back, and escalate.

Staff powers and limits

Permissions exist to serve the community. They are never a gameplay advantage or a personal weapon.

Staff must	Staff must not
Use powers only for a clear staff purpose	Use teleport, inspection, bypasses, or private information for personal progression
Apply the same standard to friends, teammates, donors, and strangers	Protect friends or punish rivals differently
Stay calm, factual, and respectful	Provoke, humiliate, threaten, or argue a case in public chat
Point to published policy and escalate uncertainty	Invent rules, promise an outcome, or claim authority they do not have
Protect reports and sensitive information	Leak evidence, private conversations, staff discussions, or personal data
Correct mistakes and report misuse	Retaliate against criticism, a report, or an appeal

What players can expect

Players can expect	This does not guarantee
Acknowledgement when staff see a genuine request	An instant response while a higher-priority incident is active
A neutral review based on evidence and public policy	The exact outcome or punishment they requested
A clear reason for formal staff action	Access to private evidence, logs, or another player’s history
Respectful treatment and reasonable privacy	Secrecy when action must be recorded or reviewed
A private route to challenge a decision	A public debate while the incident is being handled

What staff need from players

Report the facts: who, what, where, when, and any screenshots or clips you have.
Do not retaliate, grief back, organise chat pressure, or repeatedly confront the accused.
Give staff time to check evidence. A visible delay does not necessarily mean nothing is happening.
Follow immediate safety instructions. Challenge the decision privately afterward if necessary.
Use /report responsibly and read how community reports work on the rules page.

Appeals and disagreements

A staff instruction stands in the moment so an incident can end. If a player believes a decision was unfair, they should calmly contact an Owner through Discord DM or a ticket. Include the decision, approximate time, relevant staff member, and evidence.

The review may uphold, reduce, remove, or increase an action. Staff must not retaliate against a good-faith appeal. Public arguments, harassment, or repeated attempts to bypass the review are separate conduct problems.

Accountability

A staff rank is a responsibility, not a permanent reward. Staff are expected to accept feedback, acknowledge mistakes, correct records where necessary, and ask for guidance instead of guessing.

Repeatedly neglecting newcomers or requests for help, enforcing rules unfairly, misusing permissions, leaking private information, or failing to perform the role may lead to guidance, a warning, reduced permissions, or removal from staff. If someone no longer wants the responsibility, stepping down is preferable to keeping the title without doing the work.

The short version

Being staff means being present for the community.

Staff may build, mine, trade, and progress like everyone else. When a newcomer needs guidance, a player asks for help, or an incident needs moderation, the community comes first.

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