Behavior Rules

The Behavior Rules apply to all servers, chats, and other services provided by Akenland, at all times.

Players who break these rules will receive, at the discretion of Admins:

• Warning and/or temporary mute for first offense
• Temporary ban for second offense
• Permanent ban for third offense

We try to be as lenient as possible without hurting the experience for other players. However, we will not tolerate players who deliberately take advantage of this, or otherwise try to skirt the rules.

Be respectful to others

You must be respectful to everyone on Akenland. We will not tolerate harassment (of any kind), posting personal information about others (doxing), insults, excessive gloating, or other similar actions.

We are proud to have a diverse community. We have members worldwide, even crossing language boundaries, our members span a wide age range, and we pride ourselves on being an LGBTA+ friendly community. We will not tolerate hate speech, slurs, explicit content, disrespectful or insensitive jokes, or other content that is disrespectful to particular groups. Please be respectful of everyone.

This rule applies not only to chat messages, but any other area you may enter text. This includes, but is not limited to, signs, books, item names, and mob names.

PvP

Sometimes, PvP interactions can get heated. Remember, it is just a game, and there are real people on the other side of it. Please do not take out your frustration by harassing or insulting others.

All players are welcome to build and play in Peaceful Zones, where you don’t have to deal with PvP whatsoever. You may use this zone to cool down after a heated PvP interaction, or to take a break from PvP.

Appropriate conversation topics

We have a diverse, yet tight-knit community, and our chats reflect this. However, if you are uncomfortable with a particular conversation, please tell an Admin. We want everyone to feel safe and welcome in Akenland.

Likewise, if an Admin tells you to drop a particular conversation topic, please do so immediately.

No spamming or advertising

Chat spam, especially inappropriate content, is not allowed. Messages may be removed by Admins. Spam is a Stupid, Pointless, Annoying Message.

You may not advertise other services, Minecraft servers, Discord servers, or products, without permission from Admins.

Respect actions of Server Admins

Server Admins keep the server running smoothly and without problems. You must follow the instructions of an Admin. Please do not harass Admins over their decisions.

To keep our server safe for everyone, Admins may ask you to drop a particular topic or stop doing something, even if it’s not explicitly listed in the rules.

Do not attempt to deceive Admins

Attempting to bypass restrictions or punishments is strictly forbidden. If you would like to appeal an Admin’s decision, contact us via Discord or email (admins@akenland.com).

Using alternate accounts will be seen as an attempt to deceive Admins and make our job more difficult, and will be handled accordingly.

No cheating

Using hacks, mods, or exploits to gain an unfair advantage is not permitted.

The following are not allowed:

• X-ray, or anything that lets you see the location of other players, mobs, chests, ores, or other blocks/items
• Fly/movement mods/wall hacks
• Anything else that gives an unfair advantage

The following are allowed:

• Graphics/performance mods such as OptiFine, Shaders, Sodium, Lithium, and Better Foliage
• Resource Packs
• Mods that disable telemetry and/or chat reporting
• Minimaps (assuming they do not reveal anything, as stated above)
• Mods that only function in single-player or compatible servers (such as most Forge mods)
• Any mods included in the Fabulously Optimized modpack, which we recommend

Utilizing glitches/exploits/loopholes in Minecraft (including anything confirmed as a bug), any of our plugins, or Discord, is not permitted. Please report these to Admins.

Suspicious behavior, or attempts to interfere with the server, any players, or any Akenland service or website (including DoS attacks), will typically result in a permanent ban, at the discretion of Admins.

Peaceful Zone Rules

The following rules apply in the main continent (Akenland), consisting of Waramon and Eborin.

No griefing or stealing

You may not damage, steal, raid, break, destroy, or otherwise do anything harmful to another player’s builds, chests/containers, items, or pets.

Items in a Peaceful Zone may not be stolen - even if they were originally stolen from a PvP Zone.

We do not protect individual player builds/chunks, nor use a land claim system. Instead, Admins will revert the actions of players who violate this rule.

Do not hurt players or pets

PvP combat is not allowed in this zone. Do not attack other players or pets.

Do not build on land that is already in-use

Do not build in any area that is fenced or marked off by another player. Please seek the permission of this player, or an Admin.

Do not build too close to other players. Your builds should not be touching another player’s builds. Please keep a distance of at least 3-5 blocks, unless you have their permission.

Follow all posted town/city laws

Many smaller areas have their own specific laws, which may be posted on signs around the world, or at a town hall/city hall. Please be mindful of these laws. Ask an Admin if you are unsure.

PvP Zone Rules

The following rules apply in the six outer continents - three in Sholkingham and three in Runnach - and their surrounding oceans.

Stealing/raiding and PvP combat is allowed

Stealing/raiding, PvP combat, and attacking other players and pets, is all allowed in PvP Zones. Please be aware of this when entering this zone.

Strategic griefing only

You may damage, but not outright destroy builds in a PvP Zone. As a general rule, you may only cause damage in order to gain a strategic advantage.

You may:

• Break through walls, or into buildings
• Steal valuable blocks
• Use reasonable amounts of TNT and fire, in line with the conditions below

You may not:

• Tear down, or significantly damage an entire build or town
• Destroy large amounts of terrain
• Destroy items/chests without stealing them
• Any sort of “destruction for the sake of destruction”

Please ask an Admin to be sure, or visit your Farthing Hub.

How we enforce this

This rule is enforced on a case-by-case basis, and decisions will be made at your Farthing Hub.

If you believe someone has griefed your builds in a way that is not allowed, contact an Admin or send mail to your Farthing Hub as soon as possible. The damage will be investigated by an Admin, and the attacker(s) may be required to attend a meeting at the Farthing Hub. In this event, the attacker must be able to explain how they intended to gain a strategic advantage, as this is the primary criteria we will use to determine whether this rule has been broken.

If it is determined that the griefing was not allowed, we may revert some or all of the damage. For example, we may repair damage to a structure, but not return stolen items, depending on the specific situation.

Exception: Wars

Realms in PvP Zones may agree to a War. This may be done at a Farthing Hub, with an Admin present.

A war grants an exception to this rule, allowing the included realms to grief each other without consequences. Other rules still apply. Any realm that is not involved in the war may not be griefed.

To end a war, both realms must once again meet at a Farthing Hub, and come to an agreement. This may involve one realm surrendering, and being disbanded as a result.

Damage caused during a war will not be reverted or repaired by Admins.

No pillaring/bridging to gain PvP advantages

You may not create pillars of blocks (noob tubes) to climb over walls and other obstacles. You must find another way over walls, dig underneath, or fight through the entrance. Scaffolding can also be used instead.

You may not create long bridges of blocks to cross large gaps or water. You must find another way across.

We use an automated monitoring system to detect and warn players who attempt to break this rule. After a warning has been given, the system may prevent placement of blocks in certain patterns, so proceed with caution.

Realm laws

Individual realms may create and enforce their own laws in the PvP Zones, but the enforcement of these laws will be left up to the realm (and their allies). Admins will not enforce laws created by players/realms.

We describe our style of PvP as “political PvP” due to the focus on diplomacy and relationships between realms and their players. This means that while Admins won’t enforce laws created by realms, breaking such a law will typically result in retaliation. If you’re going to try anything, be prepared to face the consequences, and remember that teamwork is the strongest weapon.

Creative Mode Rules

These rules apply to all players who are using Creative Mode or other builder permissions (such as WorldEdit or VoxelSniper), regardless of whether they have been given temporary or long-term access to these abilities.

General rules

The following is not allowed under any circumstances, when using Creative Mode or builder permissions:

• Destroying any structures or terrain without explicit approval from an Admin
• Spawning in or duplicating items for other players, or leaving items in a place where they are accessible to other players
• Spawning in or duplicating items for survival play or other personal uses
• Placing or breaking bedrock without explicit approval from an Admin
• Participating in any form of PvP, griefing, or raiding
• Participating in dungeons, quests, or any similar activity
• Using Creative Mode or builder permissions to gain an unfair advantage, such as scouting out other realms, dungeons, or hidden areas
• Placing or using TNT, fire, spawn eggs, or End portals
• Spawning or fighting bosses such as Ender Dragons and Withers
• Using Creative Mode or builder permissions while in the Nether or End without explicit approval from an Admin

Avoid overusing rare blocks

Please do not overuse rare blocks, such as the following:

• Hard-to-acquire blocks, such as beacons, shulker boxes, mob heads, dragon eggs, ancient debris, etc…
• Obsidian, diamond, and emerald blocks - use in moderation
• Blocks not available in survival, such as player heads
• Rare or biome-specific blocks
• Bedrock - always ask an Admin before placing or breaking bedrock!

Builds must be gameplay-friendly

All builds and terraforming should be somewhat survival-friendly and believable.

• Removing ores/natural terrain should be avoided as much as possible.
  • Custom biomes should be enjoyable and practical to play in survival mode.
• Use of locally-available materials is preferred. For example, a town in a taiga should use spruce wood, as opposed to other non-local woods.
  • If you can think of a clever reason for non-local materials, that is great! For example, maybe your town is a trading partner with another town. Don’t be afraid to come up with creative solutions!
• If you want to make a dungeon, discuss it with the Admins. We can be more lenient with dungeons, but there are also certain other gameplay guidelines to follow.

Notices

Admins may switch you to survival mode, or revoke/reduce builder permissions, if you fail to follow these rules.

Annoying admins by constantly requesting access to creative or builder permissions may reduce your chance of getting access.

Remember that this is a survival server, and you should be in survival mode when you are not building.

Remember that creative mode and builder permissions are a privilege, and must be used responsibly.