The full ruleset for Steve's Network — general conduct, gameplay, building, vehicles, the safezone, server events, Altar War, official factions, and raiding. Jump to a section or read straight through.
These rules apply to any/all Steve's Network game server(s).
Be respectful to other members, including staff in the community.
NO racial slurs, sexual, or other degrading comments to other members of the community. Likewise, there is an absolute zero tolerance for extreme racism, nazism and/or bigotry. It doesn't matter if you aren't offended by certain words, but it doesn't mean that others aren't going to be offended by them. So, please don't use any words or images that fall into this category.
Publicly causing drama or gossip that is degrading, establishing false accusations/information, lying, slandering, or damaging towards a player/staff's reputation will NOT be tolerated. No toxicity, flaming, or hostility towards others.
Anyone who creates/distributes an A.I. or photoshopped image showing staff impersonation will result in a permanent ban with no chance for a ban appeal.
You can swear as long as you don't swear directly at someone. Usage of an excessive amount of swearing will result in mutes.
No text/mic spamming, CAPS, or generally annoying repetitive messages.
Do not threaten the safety of others with the use of physical violence, DDoS, or Doxxing.
Any threats or attempts of DDoS within the server will result in an immediate permanent ban without a chance to appeal. We do not have jurisdiction in DMs except illegal threats.
Hate speech in any form is NOT free speech; it is hate. There is zero tolerance for hate speech.
Taking responsibility for wrong doing as opposed to trying to hide things often goes a long way in reducing punishments. In contrast, staff piecing things together later, when players attempt to hide wrongdoing, will often make punishments worse.
When interacting with other players, be respectful. This includes interactions with staff members and serious threats towards other players. DDoS and Doxxing are especially prohibited, and threats of such actions are taken very seriously and will be punished severely — do not joke about them.
Server staff are at liberty to kick, or in extreme cases ban players who are being disrespectful to server staff. Please do your best to be courteous. We understand some situations are frustrating, but we do ask that players remain calm and composed, rather than lashing out at staff. We will do our best to accommodate you.
Verbal abuse or profanity directed towards other players may result in the offending player receiving an in-game mute or other form of punishment. For more information on our policies on profanity, please see Section 3, Article 2.
Exploitation of bugs or glitches (aspects of the game that do not work as intended, including but not limited to: areas on the map, NPCs, and modded content) in-game is strictly prohibited.
Admins may decide what is deemed a glitch or exploit.
Reporting of bugs, glitches, loopholes in rules, and other exploits may be rewarded.
If a player is banned for what an admin deems to be exploitation of a glitch they may make an appeal on the server's Discord via communicating with the server Director or Owner.
Player names may not include the following: insults, slurs or racist themes, excessive profanity, or links.
Names also may not be used to impersonate other players or server staff. Attempts to do so can result in serious punishment. (Under the circumstance that players coincidentally have the same name, staff will decide if there was an attempt at impersonation.)
Loopholes are defined as exploitation of existing rules, or recent/new additions to rules in order to circumvent the intent of the rules for personal gain.
The staff team will decide whether or not a player wittingly attempted to exploit a loophole in situations when it is unclear.
Loopholes in the rules should be reported to server staff, as opposed to abused. If you are unsure about a rule, ask before acting on it. Ignorance of the rules is not a viable excuse.
Some rules apply differently to Official Factions. For a comprehensive list of rules, as they apply to factions, please refer to Official Faction Rules (Section 9).
Official Factions are still subject to all rules, unless specifically modified in Official Faction Rules (Section 9) of this rules guide.
Using /warp, /tpa, or disconnecting to the main menu to escape combat situations with community members is prohibited. This rule does not apply to creatures.
Using wooden/metal plates to block loot spawns is prohibited. This includes entrances, stairs, ladders, etc.
Do not place buildable objects outside of your general base location. Using wooden/metal plates for ease of access does not apply to this rule. However, please refer to the previous rule regarding wooden/metal plates before placing them.
Interfering with staff during player investigations is strictly prohibited. This will result in immediate punishment.
Player bases may be utilized as player shops. Keep in mind that any shop outside of the safezone can be raided.
The use of alternate accounts for the purposes of obtaining additional storage, avoiding server bans, or evading any form of disciplinary action is strictly prohibited. Any alternate account found to violate this policy will be permanently banned without eligibility for appeal.
Excessive use of caps while talking in world chat is prohibited.
Swearing is allowed under the pretense that you do not swear AT other players. Excessive profanity is also prohibited.
There is an absolute zero tolerance policy for racism, nazism and/or bigotry. It doesn't matter if you aren't offended by certain words; it doesn't mean that others aren't going to be offended by them. So please, don't use any words that fall into these categories.
Links are prohibited in chat.
Posting advertisements that are unrelated to Steve's Network server(s) is prohibited.
Base size is determined by number of claimed beds. Standard base size for one player (or claimed bed) is 2x2x2 or any configuration of 8 blocks. (1 block equals 1 square foundation/room including walls, pillars, roofs, etc.)
With each additional bed, bases may increase by 2x1x2, or any configuration of 4 blocks.
Triangular rooms/foundations still count as 1 block, or are equal to that of a square room/foundation. Modded content: circular rooms also count as 1 block.
Bases larger than the size allowed by the number of beds stated in this rule are subject to either forceful downsizing by server staff, or complete destruction. You will be notified by server staff via a sign on or at your base if you are over the size limit, and given time to downsize.
Players may only claim pre-built structures under limited circumstances: the structure may not contain any loot, ore/metal nodes, NPCs or zombie spawns, and it may not be in a "Nav-Zone" or an area where zombies spawn/can move around in. Ask server staff if you are unsure.
Failure to abide by the guidelines may result in immediate removal of a base, without warning.
Bases must include a sign stating who lives there, or who owns the building. Official Factions are exempt from this rule. Base signs may not lie about who lives in a building or structure.
Your group is only allowed to have one base at a time. Groups caught with more than one base have 24 hours to remove one of the bases — if it isn't removed in time, it will be forcibly removed by admins with no warning. There are no exceptions. Your group name and members must be on a sign/placard on the front of the base.
Bases not sanctioned by the rules — i.e. in glitched locations, blocking loot spawns, roadways or train tracks, ore nodes, or zombie spawns — are not allowed.
Skybases, underwater bases, and outposts are also not allowed under any circumstances.
Glitched locations: any location not meant to be inhabited by players, such as under the map. Other locations may be determined by server staff. Skybases: any base not physically attached to the ground by a support larger than a pillar (a base built on top of a lighthouse or windmill is allowed).
Illegal bases may be removed without warning by server staff.
Excessive use of vanity objects — rifle racks, trophy cases, plaques, mannequins, and possibly other modded content — is prohibited. If found in excess, you'll be warned via a sign on your base to remove them by a certain date; if not removed, the objects may be removed and discarded.
Claimflags are strictly prohibited and will be immediately destroyed on sight. If you find a claimed area, inform server staff ASAP.
Randomly placed objects may be eliminated without warning.
Excessive barricades are not allowed, including surrounding your base with traps/plates/walls, or excessive use of campfires or other light-emitting objects.
Griefing is the act of placing objects on, or near, another player's base outside the context of a raid. Griefing is strictly prohibited.
Vehicles left unprotected (not inside of a base) can be destroyed at any time without declaration of a raid.
Vehicles may be stolen from a base, or destroyed without calling raid, so long as no illegal methods are used to obtain them — e.g. breaking into a base to steal a vehicle without calling raid, or glitching a vehicle out of a base.
Park vehicles inside the safezone at your own risk. Vehicles parked inside the safezone automatically unlock after 30 minutes of inactivity.
You may place up to 4 barricades on vehicles, and up to 2 storage containers (counted in the 4 total barricades). Vehicles used/spawned by server staff during events are exempt from the barricade limitation.
The safezone is run directly by staff members. Community members are allowed to run for Mayor; however, this is the only safezone-related position available for non-staff members. The mayor receives free access to the mayor's office located in the safezone.
Safezone shops cannot be raided. You may bargain with shop owners to purchase their shop locations — this event must be hosted by the Mayor or any available Administrator to transfer ownership.
The primary purpose of the safezone is to buy/run your own shop. Players can purchase a shop location from any available Administrator+.
Official factions are granted one free "official faction" shop location in the safezone, larger than regular player shops and fully operated by the residing faction. These shops must be used for shop (roleplay) purposes only — they are not protected storage or a place to transfer items during raids (though factions may store items there for the sole purpose of selling them).
Factions can lose access to this freely given shop if these standards aren't followed. Official faction members are prohibited from owning a personal shop while affiliated with an official faction.
Server events are events periodically run by Admins on the server. Interrupting or intentionally ruining these events — such as killing players who are participating — is punishable, at the full discretion of the Admin(s) running the event if you continually and intentionally interrupt or ruin it.
Twice each month, official and unofficial factions can compete in the server-wide PVP event known as the Altar War. To win, groups must control the Main Altar location for the longest total duration throughout the event.
A secondary Altar location called the "Loot Zone" is also active, continuously spawning large quantities of rare loot every 5 minutes while also contributing toward a faction's overall altar capture time — control of the Loot Zone grants capture progress equal to half of the time held at the Main Altar. (E.g. 20 minutes at the Main Altar + 30 minutes at the Loot Zone = 35 minutes total capture score.)
The victors of the Altar War receive generous rewards and earn a permanent place in the Historium as a tribute to their achievement.
Solo players are prohibited from participating in Altar Wars. Altar Wars use a custom plugin that requires players to be part of a registered Steam group to track zone capture duration, meaning solo players are incapable of capturing Altar zones. Steam groups are registered via Administrators+ through our custom Altar War plugin.
Players may utilize beds outside of Altar locations. Any beds found inside Altar locations will be destroyed immediately, and the faction the player is aligned with will lose 10 minutes of capture time toward their overall capture duration as punishment.
Players must be wearing faction armor during Altar Wars.
Altar War length may be extended, but this has to be formally requested and agreed upon by participating faction leaders.
All participating factions must adhere to staff instructions. Staff intervention is not common during Altar Wars, but if necessary, all parties must cooperate with staff.
The following rules apply to Official Factions — those that have kits, chat tags, and chat colors in-game.
Official factions receive: a uniform kit; faction chat tag, color, and icon in front of names; a free official faction safezone shop; access to official faction events; and the faction leader gains exclusive permission to add new members to the in-game permission group to access these benefits.
Official Faction members must wear their uniform at all times. Night vision, gasmasks and backpacks are not bound to the uniform rule — members may change these with any others of their choice.
You may not sell, trade, or give away pieces (or all) of your faction uniform to other players.
Players given kit access and tags ("permissions") under the direction of faction members are considered official members of the group, regardless of whether they're in the official Steam group. It is not recommended to grant perms to "recruits" or those in a trial period.
If a faction incorporates a garage into their base, they're allowed an extra 20 blocks for building. Garages may only be used to store vehicles — any bedrolls or lockers found may be destroyed without warning (unless lockers/storage containers are attached to vehicles).
Factions may not build near each other. Faction bases are bound by the same building limitations as other players (see Section 4, Article 1).
You may only be a member of one official faction at a time.
A "Raid" consists of 2 components: preparation and combat. A 10-minute preparation timer is given to the defending faction — attackers may not begin breaking structures before this timer is up (players may PVP or kill each other during this time). Once a raid begins, attackers have 50 minutes to complete it. In total, raids last up to 1 hour (50 minutes of combat + 10 minutes of prep).
Transferring items to a separate location during/before a raid is strictly prohibited. Attackers may not build up to or near bases and then call a raid, and may not call a raid from inside or on top of the base they intend to raid.
Building on/in another player's (or faction's) base is only permitted during an active raid — doing so before a raid begins or after it ends is considered griefing and punished accordingly.
Anything that damages structures is considered raiding gear, even if it does a little bit of damage. If you're PVPing and throwing nades inside a base, you'll get one warning to stop because it damages structures and barricades. After that warning, if the damage continues it will be recognized as a raid.
Damaging a base before the raid cooldown is complete cancels the raid, and the raiders receive a 24-hour raid ban. You must wait the entire duration of the raid cooldown before actually starting to raid.
Offline raiding — raiding a group when no one living in the base is on the server — is strictly prohibited (an "illegal" raid).
If a raid is legally called and the defending party logs off while it's in progress, the raid continues with normal procedure and is not considered an offline raid.
A single base may only be raided once every 2 days (48 hours), valid for any raid, legal or illegal. Failure to abide by a cooldown may result in the raid being called off, or punishment if further attempted — the offending party immediately forfeits the remaining time of their cooldown.
Groups defending a raid that was called off by staff may or may not be granted a cooldown depending on the level of damage done, at staff discretion.
Official factions must appoint representatives to call raids and inform admins of who these representatives are (and any changes). Only the Representative can declare or call off a raid.
Raids may not be called on a faction if the only member online at the time is an admin or other staff member, since staff are staff first and players second (this doesn't apply if multiple staff in the same faction are the only members online, or prevent that lone staff member from calling a raid on someone else).
All raids must be announced on the official Discord, in the designated raid-announcements channel. Failure to announce a raid may result in harsh punishment, and raids not following the listed format/procedure may be called off by staff.
Proper procedure: post the names of all players attacking (and @ them), post the names of all players/groups you intend to attack (and @ them), post a picture of the base, and post a picture of the player online to prove a member is present.
Raiding parties may consist of up to three groups — Attackers, Defenders, and Supporters. Attackers create the raid announcement, Defenders are called upon by it, and Supporters are anyone who helps either side.
Players may call off raids of their own volition, but forfeit any existing timers by doing so. Raids may only be called off by the player who originally posted the announcement.
Any supporters on the attackers' side after a raid has been called off may not continue raiding — they must announce their own raid and try again.
Raid stacking — calling a raid on a faction that is already being raided by another group, extending the time the defending group must remain on the defensive — is strictly prohibited. (This does not include assisting other groups during a raid.)
If you're unsure about a rule, ask staff before acting on it — ignorance of the rules isn't a viable excuse.