# Mayflower Moderation Manual #

[TOC]

## Introduction

This manual has been produced as a guide to help new and existing members of the moderation team in the execution of their duties. The manual contains guidance on procedures and instructions on how to use the many tools available to moderate effectively.
>
## Moderator Rules

Moderators chosen by the development team and those allocated by departments are subject to the following rules:

* Keep to the very rules in the environment(s) under moderation, set a good example
* Moderation powers should not be abused or misused at any time, this includes for personal gain, such as using the watch command to pursue criminal suspects
* Act fairly and without bias in each action made
* Know when you should enlist the help of another moderator if your actions may contradict this
* Keep any discussion of any moderation action concerns in the private Moderator channels
* Ensure professionalism and maturity when dealing with moderation queries and actions
* Report any issues you may have with another moderator to a member of the administrative team

Breaking any of these rules may lead to loss of moderation powers. Moderation powers may also be removed for any reason by the administrative team.

## Discord

### Jurisdiction

The State of Mayflower Discord and all Discords for department purposes should follow the rules set forth in the `#discord-rules` channel in the State of Mayflower Discord.

The State of Mayflower Discord is the only Discord which should contain channels accessible to the general public/citizens of Mayflower. It is for this reason that moderators in this server are handpicked by the development team for their dedication and commitment to the community.

:::danger
Some particularly severe offences may require cross-Discord action and should be referred to the administrative team for further review and action.
:::

#### Department Discords

Servers that can be found in the `#help-and-links` channel are allocated moderators via their own department hierarchy. These servers should not contain channels that allow the unrestricted public/citizens to chat/speak in.

Other Mayflower-related Discords are to be moderated by the departments they represent. It is, therefore, the responsibility of department leaders to ensure these servers abide by the rules.

Those found in violation of Discord rules in these department Discords should be dealt with by their superiors. Any concerns regarding decisions should be DM’d to dataxry.

### Suggested Actions

#### 1. Content that is Not Safe For Work is completely forbidden

NSFW content includes nudity, intense sexuality, profanity, violence/gore or content others may find disturbing. Most violations of this will be deemed worthy of a permanent ban, discretion should be employed.

#### 2. Be respectful to each member of the server

This rule can often be covered by Rule 5 when language comes to that level, however, this is most often applied during arguments between users. It is important to grasp the context of the situation to ensure moderation is being fairly applied to all offenders and identify whether rules are actually being broken or it’s a joke both users understand. Offenders should be muted for an hour before being soft-banned and then permanently banned if they continue.

#### 3. Spamming of any kind is not acceptable in any channel

Spamming may include sending copy-pastas, repetitive messages, the same message over and over, large numbers of emoji, loud/obnoxious microphone noises, and mentioning a large number of users at a time. Users should be muted for an hour first before being permanently banned if they continue afterwards.

#### 4. No excessive amounts of swearing

Swearing is allowed within Mayflower Discords, but it should never reach obnoxious levels where a user appears to be using it in almost every message they send. Users should be muted for an hour first before being permanently banned if they continue following the ban.

#### 5. No derogatory terms or other inappropriate language

Derogatory terms are those which incite hate speech. Users using derogatory terms should first be muted for an hour with an attached reason, if they continue such language after they’re un-muted or the language used initially was severe (e.g., n word), a permanent ban should be used.

#### 6. No offensive Discord avatars or usernames

Any avatars or usernames that would ordinarily be removed if they were posted in a text channel would be classed as offensive under this rule. Users should be kicked with the reason and instruction to change their picture before being permanently banned if they rejoin with the same avatar/username.

#### 7. No advertising or Discord invites to other unrelated servers

It’s important that a Discord obtainable via the Roblox website only links to other “safe” and development-verified Discords. The Dyno bot automatically removes Discord invite links but users may still spread the individual codes. Users should be warned first via @ mentions before being soft-banned if they continue, further violations should be met with a permanent ban.

:::info
Invites and links that are found in linked websites sent on the Discord are allowed, this is most often used and sanctioned during the election campaigning process.
:::

#### 8. No publishing of personal information

Doxing is the public release of personal information against someone’s will. This can range from profile pictures to extremes such as address and telephone numbers. Violations of this warrant a permanent ban, you should also contact an administrator for further action.

#### 9. Use common sense

Just a statement to think before you post.

#### 10. Use the language we can moderate, English

Generally all other languages should be moderated under this rule, mainly with verbal warnings before escalating under the usual procedures. Common phrases found in other languages such as “Bonjour”, “Nein”, “Bon voyage” etc. are exempt from this rule. The rule mainly should be applied when full sentences are formed in other languages.

### Commands

| Command | Description | Usage | Example |
| -------- | -------- | -------- | -------- |
| Ban | Bans the chosen user either permanently or for a specific amount of time | `?ban [user] [limit] [reason]` | `?ban @danieI#5687 1h NSFW Content` Bans Noah permanently with reason `NSFW Content` |
| unban | Unbans the chosen user | `?unban [user] [reason]` | `?unban @danieI#5687 Ban appeal successful` Unbans Noah with reason `Ban appeal successful` |
| softban | Kicks the chosen user and deletes 24 hrs of past messages | `?softban [user] [reason]` | `?softban @danieI#5687 Spamming #general` Kicks Noah and deletes any messages sent 24 hours prior with reason `Spamming #general` |
| kick | Kicks the chosen user | `?kick [user] [reason]` | `?kick @danieI#5687 Spamming #general` Kicks Noah with reason `Spamming #general` |
| mute | Mutes the chosen user either permanently or for a specified amount of time | ?mute `[user] [minutes] [reason]` | `?mute @danieI#5687 1h Spam` Mutes Noah for 1 hour with reason `Spam` |
| unmute | Unmutes the chosen user | `?unmute [user] [reason]` | `?unmute @danieI#5687` Unmutes Noah |

### Common Issues

#### Invalid Discord invite

Some users may report that an invite for a specific server is invalid or not working for them. You should first of all check yourself if the invite they are trying works for you.

:::danger
If the invite doesn’t redirect you to the server it’s registered to, it is invalid and you should contact an administrator to remedy the situation.
:::

:::success
If the invite does redirect you to the respective server, then the user is either banned from the server, has hit the maximum number numbers of Discord servers they can be a member of (100), or they are banned on another Discord account they’re not telling you about (Discord bans by IP address too). See Rolypoly for identication assistance.
:::

#### Spoilers

Spoilers do not negate the moderation offences of their hidden contents. Implied content should also be moderated as if it is clearly stated, e.g. `you're such a n||ice person||` is read by other users as a certain other derogatory term and should be moderated as such.

#### Rules in Direct Messages

Some people may report that a user is sending them direct messages, via a Mayflower Discord server they are a member of, that are violating the Disord rules. In some circumstances, it may be valid for the offending user to have moderation action against them but it is important to identify the context of the situation before deciding on any action.

Illegal activity should be permanently banned regardless of its location, administrators should be notified if action is undertaken like this or you are suspicious over the legality of a topic.

#### Screenshots

Screenshots of Discord and Roblox are frequently shared in often to support someone’s claim of a rule violation against another user. It’s important to always take into account the ease of forgery, especially with Discord screenshots. If it’s possible to, try verifying the validity of images yourself if the claim is in a public channel e.g. Checking `#discord-logs` for a deleted message.

## New Haven County

The New Haven County game is to be bound by the rules found in the #experience-rules channel on the State of Mayflower Discord. Moderators are chosen by the development team and are also moderators of the State of Mayflower Discord.

### Cmdr

[Cmdr](https://github.com/evaera/Cmdr) is an open-source command console enabling an interface between moderators and the New Haven County moderation system.

The Cmdr interface is opened and closed by pressing the semi-colon `;` key.

Commands are entered and auto-completed as you type them by pressing TAB. Pressing enter will execute the command. Pressing the up and down arrow keys will also navigate through your command history and allow you to quickly repeat old commands.

:::info
You can run the `help` command to list all commands available to you.
:::

#### Argument Operators

You can substitute player names with the following:

| Operator | Meaning |
| -------- | -------- |
| `#USERID` | Player with the UserId USERID. |
| `.` | “me”, or the player who is running the command. |
| `?` | A random single player. |
| `*` | All players. |
| `**` | “others”, or all players who aren’t the player running the command. |
| `?N` | N random players. |
| `%TEAM` | All players on the `TEAM` team. |

#### Examples

* `ban #8166491 Exploiting` - Bans a user with UserId `8166491` for “Exploiting”
* `watch .` - Watch yourself
* `watch ?` - Watch a random player
* `notify * Hiya` - Notify all players with “Hiya”
* `notify ?4 Hiya` - Notify 4 random players with “Hiya”
* `notify %Citizen Hiya` - Notify all players on the Citizen team with “Hiya”

### Remote Commands

Commands may also be executed via the State of Mayflower Discord server through the use of the mayFLOW Discord bot. The following commands are available and function identically to their Cmdr counterparts as if executed in-game on your own account:

* `/gban [username] [reason]`
* `/gtban [username] [reason]`
* `/gunban [username] [reason]`
* `/gkick [username] [reason]`

The commands are all executed on the server the targeted player resides on as a priority, before being executed on a random server if sufficient time has passed looking for the target. Commands should take 10 seconds maximum if a player is already in-game. Otherwise, they make take up to 2 minutes.

#### Get Server

There’s a final command available called /gserver [username]. This command retrieves information about a player’s server and its server members. You can use this to join a server if you’re having trouble joining a server off of the original target player (their follow settings may be restricted).

:::success
This command provides you with a URL like this, `https://www.roblox.com/games/7276246955/New-Haven-County?jobId=d2a6cee9-e96e-4f23-af55-e18f59949933`.
:::

### Other Discord Commands

#### Rolypoly

Use the `/rolypoly` mayFLOW command to identify alternate accounts through common RoVer-verified accounts to Discord accounts. mayFLOW finds linkages through two or more Roblox accounts sharing a common Discord account.

#### Usage:

* `/rolypoly [ROBLOX_USERNAME/DISCORD_ID]` Find all linked Roblox accounts using a Roblox account or Discord account to search from.

#### Output:

After running the command, mayFLOW will reply with a list of linked accounts in the following format seen below. Discord accounts seen below a Roblox username are Discord accounts that have been used to verify as that above Roblox account.

Statuses next to Discord IDs declare the status of that account in the Discord server (`banned`, `present` or `left`). The number in square brackets links common Discord IDs together for ease of comprehension.

Some Roblox usernames will be appended with a set of numbers (`[0:0:0:0]`). These numbers refer to the number of bans, temp bans, kicks, and unbans respectively.

- ROBLOX_NAME1:ROBLOX_ID1 [banNum:tempBanNum:kickNum:unbanNum]
 - DISCORD_ID1 [1] [present]
 - DISCORD_ID2 [2] [left]

- ROBLOX_NAME2:ROBLOX_ID2
 - DISCORD_ID2 [2] [left]

##### Cross-referencing Discord IDs with other Roblox verification providers

If you’re investigating a Discord account, you can try throwing their Discord ID into an verification API lookup to see if they’re currently verified to an account that `/rolypoly` doesn’t already know about! Both examples below use Noah_McDoogIe’s Discord ID, simply swap it out for other users.

**RoVer** `https://verify.eryn.io/api/user/801078082835578880`
**Bloxlink:** `https://api.blox.link/v1/user/801078082835578880`

:::info
This isn’t integrated with `/rolypoly` at the moment as both APIs are rate-limited and can quickly become clogged up with requests for large `/rolypoly` results.
:::

#### Modlogs

Use the `/modlogs` mayFLOW command to identify any game moderation a Roblox account has received. This is useful when a user has many username changes to which Discord search becomes tedious.

#### Usage:

* `/modlogs ROBLOX_USERNAME` Find all moderation actions a Roblox account has received

### Suggested Actions

#### 1. Abide by the New Life Rule

Players who kill themselves during a pursuit are still subject to the crimes they committed and should be treated as such (in line with rule 3). If targets are killed by another player then their crimes shall be forgotten and pursuits shall be called off.

Officers, who to the best of their knowledge were aware of a “valid” death yet continued to pursue, should be treated by moderation with a temporary ban.

#### 2. Do not exploit, use lag switch, or glitch

Common exploits are detected automatically by the game and other more complicated ones are not. Anything exploit related (e.g., No-clipping, flying, and teleporting) should be dealt with via permanent bans. Lag switching, glitching vehicle and glitching through walls should be punished with temporary bans.

#### 3. Do not reset or disconnect while in action

Disconnecting while in handcuffs may also be referred to as Leaving to avoid arrest. If a user leaves while recently being under the custody of an officer, they will be presented with the option to arrest them post-leaving. This post-leaving option should be preferred to moderation action. Users who leave before such an option is available (e.g., before being placed into handcuffs) should be temporarily banned.

#### 4. Do not spawnkill

Spawnkilling is moderated when a player kills another player within a minute of them spawning. This should only be of concern, however, when the targeted player(s) are being prevented from moving away from the area. Temporary bans should be used in this situation.

#### 5. Using alts to cheat moderation

This rule states what it is. Due to the disposable nature of alternate accounts, it’s recommended that users are permanently banned on the alternate account. Be very careful on identifying firm links between accounts before enacting any action.

:::warning
See the section on Rolypoly for identification assistance.
:::

#### 6. Abusing the game mechanics

With alternate accounts, it’s possible for two accounts under one user’s ownership to be granted citizenship by the bot or by ICF. Therefore, it’s not always appropriate to ban on-sight when a user may not be aware of the fact. Priority should be on removing the offending account’s citizenship.

In the case of mass-dispensing, this rule should be considered in conjunction with the records available in `#dispenser-logs` to those who have access to it. If you’re in-game or have someone available in-game witnessing the dispensing take place. Take note of names of the names of any player’s interacting with the offender, especially if the players seem like new/alt accounts. Accounts that appear to be used only for the purpose of mass-dispensing should be permanently banned as well as the account itself that is mass-dispensing.

Discussion and action involving the selling and trading of accounts and items for cash, Robux or any other currency is permanently bannable.

#### 7. Playing in a fair and responsible manner

Barriers and other ploppables available to law enforcement should be used in a realistic manner that others expect them to be used in. They are not for boxing vehicles in and ending pursuits. They should also not be used for blocking pedestrian entranceways. Offenders of this rule should be temporarily banned. Due to ploppables being another in-game item, also remember that this rule may not necessarily be limited to those who can spawn the item themselves.

#### 8. Abide by the Roblox Community Rules

Any moderation action of this sort should be treated more passively. Users affected by any breaches of the community rules should be recommended to use the Roblox report feature. If a moderator happens to find any breaches of this in-game, a kick should be used first as a warning preceded by a temporary ban if the user continues. Obviously this depends on the severity.

### Commands

| Command | Description | Usage | Example |
| -------- | -------- | -------- | -------- |
| checkban | Gives information about a user’s active ban if they have one | `checkban [user]` | `checkban Noah_McDoogIe` Returns information about Noah_McDoogIe’s active ban if they have one |
| ban | Bans the chosen user permanently | `ban [user] [reason]` | `ban Noah_McDoogIe Exploiting` Bans Noah_McDoogIe permanently with reason `Exploiting` |
| tban | Bans the chosen user by a predetermined amount according to their moderation history | `tban [user] [reason]` | `tban Noah_McDoogIe Leaving to avoid arrest` Bans Noah_McDoogIe for a predetermined amount of time with reason `Leaving to avoid arrest` |
| kick | Kicks the chosen user | `kick [user] [reason]` | `kick Noah_McDoogIe New life rule violation` Kicks Noah_McDoogIe with reason `New life rule violation` |
| unban | Unbans the chosen user | `unban [user] reason` | `unban Noah_McDoogIe Appeal accepted` Unbans the user with Roblox user `Noah_McDoogIe` with reason `Appeal accepted` |
| watch | Watches the chosen user | `watch [user]` | `watch Noah_McDoogIe` Watches Noah_McDoogIe |
| notice | Displays a permanent message atop every user’s screen | `notice [message]` | `notice Game shutting down soon` Displays a message atop each user’s screen with message `Game shutting down soon`. Calling `notice` without a message will result in the notice being removed. |
| notify | Sends a notification to a chosen user in the game | `notify [user] [message]` | `notify Noah_McDoogIe No lollygagging, thanks` Sends a notification to Noah_McDoogIe with text `No lollygagging, thanks` |

### Common Issues

New Haven County is far from perfect and contains many bugs that are always yet to be resolved. Here are some known issues that may influence your moderator decisions.

#### Vehicle clipping

You may find that some users are able to have their character walk through vehicles with no collisions, it’s important to make the distinction between users affected by this bug and genuine exploiters. Users affected by this bug will only be able to clip through vehicles, whereas, exploiters will clip through any surface. Those affected by this glitch should be kicked from the game as a maximum.

#### Money farming

Users often try to avoid the Roblox idle detection by moving their character every few minutes/seconds to stay in-game and continue to accumulate more money into their accounts. This is a consequence of the current design of the game and should be lessened in the future through game updates. Users should not be banned under any circumstances and should merely be kicked if the server also happens to be full.

#### Alternate Accounts

If there is sufficient evidence to link an account playing New Haven County to another under the same owner, it is suitable for the alternate account to be permanently banned **if the main account is also currently banned.**

#### Search Warrants

Due to lack of a reasonable, fair, and technically-achievable game mechanic to solve the issue, search warrants are to be dealt with by moderation in the case where a player is not willing to comply with a search warrant issued to them. In the case of this, players should be banned with a temporary ban (issued under rule 7) at most. With the search warrant to be executed as soon as their ban is over. **Do not permanently ban

Temporary bans may be repeated if the player still refuses to comply after already serving a similar ban. The punishments stack up anyway.

Search warrants should also be executed with minimum disruption to other players to the game (i.e., car dealerships should not be blocked off using ploppables). Law enforcement officers are not exempt from the rules during this process.

#### Full servers

If a server is full and an event has been organised by a State of Mayflower department (including legislature sessions), it may be tempting to kick Tourists to make room for attendees currently queuing. This is highly discouraged as it results in a bad experience for users, especially new ones in the case of Tourists. It also often requires more than one kick for every user intending to join.

:::info
It is recommended that organisers establish the event in the smallest server possible and only when essential attendees are all ready.
:::

## Procedure

When performing moderation action, it’s important to ensure you remain clear and professional in what your intentions are behind any action.

If moderating on New Haven County, you should also be careful in how you phrase moderation reasons as your input will be filtered by Roblox and may become unreadable to a user who has had moderation action. Also be aware that these reasons are broadcast to the game server and its players a user is kicked or banned.

### Correct Usage

> tban Noah_McDoogIe LTAA [color=#FF0000]

> tban Noah_McDoogIe Leaving to avoid arrest [color=#008000]

> tban Noah_McDoogIe ToS Violation [color=#FF0000]

> tban Noah_McDoogIe Violating Roblox rules [color=#008000]

Do not abbreviate moderation offences. Users may be new to the community and may not be aware of these shortened forms.

---

> tban Noah_McDoogIe Violating Roblox rules, using the n word [color=#FF0000]

> tban Noah_McDoogIe Violating Roblox rules, derogatory language [color=#008000]

> ?mute @Noah_McDoogIe 1h Stop [color=#FF0000]

> ?mute @Noah_McDoogIe 1h Stop spamming the same message [color=#008000]

You have to find the balance between being too vague and too specific in your moderation reasoning. In the first example, stating what word triggered moderation action is too explicit in the context of Roblox, so it may be more appropriate to abstract it into derogatory language which can appear without issue on Roblox.

---

> ?mute @Noah_McDoogIe Spamming the same message [color=#FF0000]

> ?mute @Noah_McDoogIe 1h Spamming the same message [color=#008000]

Always include a time duration when muting a user, else another moderator may have to spend time seeking context before un-muting.

---

> ban Noah_McDoogIe Excessive leaving to avoid arrest [color=#FF0000]

> tban Noah_McDoogIe Leaving to avoid arrest [color=#008000]

Bans which are ordinarily temporary shouldn’t become permanent just because a moderator wasn’t there in the first instance of a rule violation.

### Moderation Evidence

On the State of Mayflower Discord, the channel, `#mods-evidence`, is available for the purpose of Discord moderation actions and game actions. Pasting evidence of wrongdoings into this channel is not mandatory but it certainly helps other moderators when investigating appeals for your bans. Evidence should be posted in the format `USERNAME / REASON / (LINK TO) EVIDENCE` ASAP after moderation action has taken place.

Moderation evidence is not expected on accounts that appear “new” and “alty” (look at citizenship, clothing, join date, badges, etc.) as it’s often obvious that the account was a “throwaway” used just for rule violation.

## Appeals

Unless a moderator immediately recognises their own mistake, all moderation action should be appealed using the [appeals form](https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdhpxpqYOcaqoP7Xgs4b3XWeddGjGyvD8j5LBs_gPpwmFmDRg/viewform) before repealing a moderation decision. All users should be directed to this form upon requesting an appeal.

The appeal form prevents someone from submitting more than one appeal per Google account per day. This resets at 00:40 GMT every day.

Appeals on bans made by cityWARE should be accepted only if they are the user’s first exploiting-related ban and they provide admission and appear remorseful. cityWARE bans are designed to ban only when false positives are impossible, there is no way someone would receive a ban unless they were tampering with the game.

Appeals should be responded to within 48 hours of their submission. It is not necessary to contact individuals following an appeal decision being reached as appeal decisions are reflected in `#appeal-logs`. You may discuss or question a user directly regarding their appeal if you wish or require additional information to aid the appeal process.

:::danger
If you were involved in moderating the appealing user, **avoid** the appeal and allow another moderator to make the decision.
:::

### Appeals Completion Process

These steps must be followed while processing any appeals.

* Investigate the appeal and look at the user’s moderation history using commands such as `/rolypoly` and `/modlogs`, as well as `?modlogs` for Discord moderation history
* **If the user is accepting responsibility**, take into account the context surrounding their ban and how old any moderation is and if you believe enough time has passed and lessons learnt to warrant an unban
* **If the user is not accepting responsibility**, look at the context surrounding the ban and any evidence that was provided at the time. Use Discord search to try to find the original command that issued the ban. Identify if there was any mistake or ambiguity off of the evidence provided at the time.
* **If in doubt, ask other moderators for their opinion!**

---

* Press `Accept`, `Decline` or `Invalid Username` if the username is invalid in the `#experience-appeals` channel.
* Run the `/gunban` command, or `unban` with the cmdr system in-game.
* **Example**: `/gunban Noah_McDoogIe Appeal accepted`, `unban Noah_McDoogIe appeal accepted`

## Useful Links
* Grab a user’s Roblox profile directly from their username:
`https://www.roblox.com/users/profile?username=AlaaXxide`

## Questions or Concerns?

This document is intended to evolve over time, DM 925xry on Discord with any queries relating to this document, its usage, and if you weren’t able to be helped. DM the same account if you also are having issues with an existing moderator’s conduct.