• Don't be a dick. We're all here to have fun, not fight and argue with assholes. Don't ruin the game for everyone else, and use common sense. This includes anything from attacking other people, starting arguments over nothing, etcetera. Note that this rule applies primarily to OOC, LOOC, AHELP, and DEADSAY.
• This is an English-speaking server. Being able to understand and communicate in English is required for playing here. Speaking other languages to a minor degree in character is permitted, though please use the Latin alphabet.
• Violence is expected in-game; this is SS13. However, avoid bringing up hateful or overly sexual topics in OOC channels.
• No advertisement of other SS13 servers on this server. Please also remain respectful towards other servers when discussing them: outright bashing or trash-talking of other servers is not allowed.
• No IC in OOC Avoid discussing events of the current round in OOC. Exceptions might apply for minor, funny events, but use common sense. Note that IC in OOC is permitted after the transfer/emergency shuttle has left the station.
• No OOC in IC You're an employee on a space station: avoid breaking character. This includes smileys and internet slang/textspeak (such as "lol", "kk", etc.) in verbal communication, including radio channels (textspeak is fine if your character is texting, such as through PDA or written notes). As necessary, use Local OOC (LOOC) or, if very critical, you can use OOC text in IC by separating it with double parenthesis, like this: ((OOC remark in IC chat)).
• No powergaming. Roleplay takes precedence over objectives - do not engage in behavior which would be unrealistic for your character in an attempt to win the round. For example: building weaponry, such as stungloves, without any IC reason for them. (Building something ‘pre-emptively’ is not a valid IC reason.) See the glossary for further explanation.
• No metagaming. This could mean using any knowledge external to your character (knowledge of antag types/items as a non-traitor, or knowledge of who is the traitor from OOC information) to give yourself an unfair advantage. See the glossary for further explanation.
• Multikeying with intent to bypass punishment, such as warnings, bans; to deceive server administration in general; or to bypass ingame mechanics, such as respawn timers, is a punishable offence. Using two or more BYOND accounts for playing when you don’t have active punishments to dodge is permitted. Should you have active punishments, but wish to swap BYOND accounts, please contact staff about it. Failure to do so may result in further punishment.
• Please use cryogenic sleep whenever possible: it’ll free up the job slot for others. And please remember to store your gear in your office/work area before going to cryogenic sleep.
• Regarding End of Round Grief:
• Attacking people on Central Command, the escape shuttle, the escape pods, or the escape pod ship, without legitimate roleplay and IC reason is not allowed. If you have questions about this clause, please contact a member of staff via adminhelp!
• Security is allowed to conduct legitimate arrests during End of Round procedures. This includes performing arrests on the escape shuttle.
• Conflict is permitted to continue elsewhere on the station, and in the escape-arm/shuttle if there's prior roleplay involved.
• If at the end of round a member of staff requests that all attacks be stopped, please do so. Our goal at the end of each round is to tidy up any staff business as soon as possible, so the round may restart, and being flooded with attack-logs will make this more difficult, thus creating longer delays.
• Abuse of bugs, regardless of intent, is a punishable offence. All bugs should be reported on GitHub. If they are immediately gamebreaking, please contact server staff via adminhelp, in an attempt to find a temporary resolution.
• Use of proxy-servers can result in a ban or may not be supported. Due to the amount of griefers that use proxy servers in an attempt to bypass punishment, connecting via a dedicated proxy server, VPNs, or routing your connection through a dedicated server host, can result in an immediate permanent ban.

• Characters must be believable, and well-rounded. No insane or psychotic characters. No Mary Sues. (Over the top characters, characters who know too much, have no weaknesses, etcetera.)
• Characters must be named following a Firstname Lastname model (e.g. "John Smith"). No honorifics, nicknames or middle names (with exceptions for compound names such as Van/Von/Bin X). Think of your in-game name as the name printed on your work ID. Exceptions are made to alien races with alternate naming mechanics, such as the Diona or IPCs, please consult their specific wiki pages for exact details. In general, avoid reference/famous/joke names, please.
• Cross-departmental knowledge is possible, however, it should be done in a believable fashion. Things to take into consideration: the amount of time it would take to learn what is required, the amount of time and effort it would take to gain the qualifications/certifications required, and most importantly, the closeness of the different sets of knowledge. For example: a roboticist knowing electrical engineering is believable, as the two fields overlap to a large degree. A security officer moonlighting as a PhD xenobiologist is not believable, and as such, the server administration may ask the character to be reworked.
• Characters may be played in more than one role in the same department under very strict restrictions. They must have the qualifications for that role, and it must be a believable time investment - a character would not have two different degrees for two different jobs. The role must also not be on a lower pay bracket (generally indicated by whether or not a job requires a degree, or by it being an internship) or require less qualifications than what the character has. Additionally, a character may only play a maximum of one other role.
• A bartender character, for example, would also be able to play a chef or a hydroponicist.
• An investigator would not be able to go down to a security officer, as the investigator job requires a degree and as such is in a different pay bracket. The same goes for warden, which is also a job with a degree requirement or with a lot more experience required behind it.
• A pharmacist would not be able to also be a surgeon due to the jobs being specializations and requiring a decade of study.
• It is not possible to hop down to an internship.
• While this guide is no longer maintained, please do look over it to gain an understanding of what each position or qualification requires, and how it could be attained by your character.
• Criminal characters are allowed, if they are done in a believable fashion whilst non-antagonists.
• For characters whose criminal background isn’t known to local authorities, this would mean trying to keep their criminal involvement low-key. Try to find subtle ways to further your characters goals when not an antagonist, and to avoid the ire of security and the duty officers through blatant actions (such as a large scale breakin, murder, etcetera).
• For characters whose criminal background is known to local authorities (they have been arrested for crimes in the past), it is recommended that you look for ways to incorporate the punishment given into the character’s roleplay and posting/activity on the station. A person convicted of murder, for example, would probably not even be hired, a character with a background of theft convictions would probably not be entrusted with higher positions, and so on.
• Your flavour text represents what can be visually observed observed by looking at your character, and nothing else. Ridiculous flavour texts (such as "She is a 7'4'' amazon with rainbow hair, color-changing eyes, and sexy buttcheeks") will be asked to be curbed/reworked. Flavour text is also not a place to dump backstory elements. An official guide to flavourtext can be found here.
• In regards to the renaming feature in the custom loadout: do not add your character's name or surname when renaming items. You can change the description to have an in character indication of who might be the owner of the item. Do not rename any regular clothing item after department uniforms.

If you have never played on a Heavy-Roleplay server before, it is highly recommended you read A Crash Course In Roleplaying to understand what is expected of you in terms of roleplay.

• You must maintain character at ALL TIMES. No suiciding to leave the round (ghost or use cryogenic storage), and no random grief at round end. Avoid chucklefucking. (Check the glossary for a definition.)
• Do not break the atmosphere of the game. Also known as "breaking immersion". For example, using slang terms for antagonists IC "traitor", "rev", "syndie", "wizard", "changeling", etc. Use of OOC game slang IC, "robust", "shitcurity", "emag", "esword".
• Attempt to maintain a basic level of literacy when speaking in-character. Proper punctuation and capitalization is also heavily recommended. (Exceptions can obviously be made for written messages IC, such as on PDAs).
• Restrict yourself to your character's knowledge. You, as a player, might have the knowledge of how to hack airlocks, but your average doctor likely doesn't. Reference the glossary for definitions of powergaming and metagaming. This rule is further explained in the character creation section, as well.
• Additionally, keep your character's goals in mind. For example, as security, during a traitor round, your goal is not to catch traitors, but ensure the safety of the station and provide assistance as needed.
• Avoid pain. A sane, well-rounded character would not engage in actions that are overly painful, or put themselves in harm's way without consideration (e.g. going EVA without a suit, stabbing themselves repeatedly, or continue to run at someone after being shot multiple times.) Suicide is generally a NO, unless you have believable reason for it and do it in a realistic way (ODin on chemicals as a chemist is realistic, but cutting off your head isn't), you can contact the admins to clear situations like that.
• Ask questions/ask for help - if you wish to learn a new job, join as a character who is an intern/trainee, and ask to learn the job IC. If your character does not know how to perform a job, don't go and do it yourself anyway! Instead, request the assistance of a character who does.
• Take into account your character's comfort. Wearing hardsuits or internals for a prolonged period of time would be very tiring or uncomfortable. Do not wear these items without good reason.
• Try to perform your job to a satisfactory standard, especially in positions of power (security, head roles.) Minor failures at doing so will result in IC consequences, but constant, repeated failures without sense or reason can result in jobbans (NT would probably not hire your character if they were completely unable to do their job). Note that you are not expected to be a role model employee, but are asked to not use your job to grief and to also have an OOC understanding of what’s going on.
• ERP, also known as Erotic RolePlay, is not allowed on the server. While displays of romantic affection and romantic scenes are acceptable, scenes of a clearly sexual intent will be broken up. (Again, use common sense for this. Sexual tension up to a point is acceptable - sexual acts in themselves are not.)
• Do not rules-lawyer your laws as an AI or any law-bound synthetic. If the laws look solid and lack glaring mistakes, then please go along with them. It’s a form of validhunting/powergaming.

• Conflict is acceptable, even if you are not an antag, but it needs to be believable, and meet roleplay standards. The average Joe will not simply decide to blow up their workplace one day. Keep in mind, the more drastic the action, the more motivated your character has to be to commit to it, and the consequences it brings. Unless you’re an antagonist, this motivation has to be developed through roleplay on the server: backstory cannot legitimize drastic things, such as trying to assault security staff because of a bad childhood, for example. It is also very much encouraged that you roleplay out the consequences to such conflict where possible.
• Only escalate conflict in a realistic manner - some characters might overreact, but you would not realistically go berserk or attempt to kill someone if they stole your prized pen, for instance. Again, your character must be motivated enough to commit to more drastic action, as they undertake it.
• Killing in self-defense in NOT preferred. If possible, always try to flee, or disable your opponent. If your character does commit a murder in a canon setting, please roleplay out the effects it would have on your character as well.
• All events of conflict will be considered canon unless otherwise agreed upon by both parties or spurred by a round antagonist-related action. Duty Officer involvement may result in a specific conflict being made canon regardless of player agreement, as seen fit. This still does not exempt you from rules on metagaming - your character does not acquire knowledge of syndicate items, xenos, etc. simply because they have interacted with them in previous rounds.
• Antagonist involvement can be incorporated (does not have to be, however) into a character’s canon, as long as the the antagonist’s names and actions are muddled to be believable, and to fall in line with the rules about powergaming. Another condition is that you carry over any effects this would have in your characters, and manage them in a believable fashion. (Such as mental trauma, physical injuries, etcetera.) Do not use this as an excuse to develop an unrealistic character: keep in mind that traumatic events, such as being involved in firefights and high stress situations, will have a tangible effect on your character. This also includes away missions content.
• Character deaths and antagonist actions are generally assumed to be non-canon (outside of canon rounds), though this can be worked around if done sensibly.
• Happenings related to canon events (canon rounds), usually ran by admins with the guidance of lore staff, are considered canon. The lore writer and the admin coordinating the event can make exceptions if permitted by the lore masters and the headmins. In the case of character death caused by the canon event, the death is considered canon and permanent unless the lore masters and headmins permit the player to decanonize the death.
• Metagrudging is not allowed. Metagrudging is whenever your OOC opinions of a player or their character negatively affect your IC interactions with that character. Basing your IC interactions with a character on events rendered non-canon is also considered metagrudging.
• Taking IC issues into OOC chat, specially if because one party was not happy with the outcome, in an unconstructive manner is rude, and not done in good spirit.
  Remember, this is a game, we are here to enjoy ourselves. (See the "Don't be a dick" rule.)
• Crew characters must not be used as off-station antags, such as mercenaries, wizards, ninjas and heisters. Exceptions can be made at the staff's discretion, but the presence of the character should add something to the overall story of the round.

On being an antagonist

When playing antagonist, adhere to the following guidelines.

• Being an antagonist does not exempt you from any server rules. Being an antagonist is meant to give you easier access to character motivation with which to generate roleplay, and access to certain tools to assist with that as well.
• The primary goal of antangonists is to DRIVE A STORY AND TO GENERATE INTERACTION. Be creative when coming up with objectives, and try to do things which will be fun for others, not only yourself. Do not resort to the bare minimums of generating a story through mechanical means, either. This means: no unmotivated/not roleplayed out mass murders, etcetera. See the rules below for further clarification.
• Only resort to killing if it makes sense or drives a story. Randomly killing someone because you’re a traitor will get you removed right quick. This also means that murder for the sake of murder is punishable. However, in certain situations, murder can serve as a tool, if none other applicable. If you’re uncertain, ask for guidance via adminhelps.
• No ganking. While antags will sometimes kill, it is expected for you to provide interesting roleplay to your targets first, if your goal is assassination. This does not mean that you need to monologue your opponent before killing them: roleplay leading up to a murder can take place over the course of the entire round, for example, leaving the murder scene itself to be “wordless”. Collateral damage is acceptable within reason, but this means you must use common sense, and avoid creating scenarios with a lot of potential for collateral (setting bombs in high-traffic areas, etc.)
• SSD/AFK characters are OFF-LIMITS. Do not kill, maim, or steal from a character who is SSD. If a character goes SSD mid-roleplay, give them some time to rejoin before continuing, if applicable. If they do not come back, use judgement as to whether it is reasonable (and fair) to continue roleplay without them or not. It is acceptable to rob from SSDs if something on their person provides an item that is immediately vital to your character (helps keep the character alive). As necessary, you can ask for guidance via adminhelp.
• The station’s primary power source and atmospherics systems are generally off-limits in terms of catastrophic sabotage, due to the impact they can have on the round. If you think you have a really good reason to mess with either, adminhelp first to get clearance.
• Recalling a transfer is not allowed as antag unless you get permission from staff first.

On playing with antagonists

• Knowledge of the antagonists and Syndicate Items is restricted. Only weapons and mundane objects would be recognised at first glance. We expect players to allow traitors some leeway. We expect players to not powergame and give the antagonists a little leeway to get away with things.
• Generally, avoid playing hero. There are certain opportunities every character can seize to overthrow an antagonist, but going rambo on syndicate ops as a frail, unarmed medical doctor constitutes a failure to roleplay and will likely end with you getting shot. Also, if you are unarmed, and being held at gunpoint, it is generally expected for you to comply with your captor, or risk suffering the consequences. Specifically concerning melee combat: knowing advanced close quarters combat moves requires legitimate training, having it as a hobby or some such for a character who then uses this knowledge to expertly dislocate limbs will not fly. Unless trained, you should restrict yourself to standard punches, kicks, shoving, and grabbing/throwing.

On executions

An execution is when a character shoots a helpless, unconscious or otherwise restrained character with the objective of outright killing them. It is possible for an unintentional execution to be considered one regardless, depending on circumstance.

• Non-antagonists are allowed to execute someone only if they are an uncontainable or unrestrainable threat to life and limb or if they continue to be an active threat after being floored. You are also expected to give an antagonist a reasonable chance to type a response and/or surrender. An execution may also be justified depending on emotional context, such as a character's close friends being murdered by an antagonist: keep in mind that such an execution will come under more scrutiny than usual, so be careful with it. It is also possible for a non-antagonist to execute another non-antagonist if it has been sufficiently roleplayed and it would make sense.
• An example of a justified non-antagonist execution is a changeling that continues resurrecting and attempting to murder people. There is no hard-and-fast 'minimum' amount of resurrections needed for an execution - the rule of common sense prevails here. Don't rush into it and give the antagonist a chance.
• An example of an unjustified non-antagonist execution is a mercenary who is downed after killing a few people. If they do not stand up and resist, then they may not be executed. You must try to restrain them with whatever means you have available.
• Antagonists are allowed to execute someone only if this is driving forward their narrative, or if leaving them alive would pose a risk to the antagonist's short-term safety. Executions are also allowed if an antagonist's orders are expressly ignored, such as a hostage being executed if security rushes into the room ignoring the antagonist's warnings, or if someone calls for help after being told not to. An execution can also be justified depending on emotional context, such as a downed security officer taunting the antagonist. With sufficient escalation in the round, antagonists may execute threats that would prove to be a threat to their long-term safety if left alive.
• An example of a justified antagonist execution is an antagonist executing someone that they have been appropriately roleplaying with. It is fine to kill someone for the sake of a narrative.
• Another example of a justified antagonist execution is an antagonist being shot at by two security officers. If the antagonist downs one of the officers, and said officer gets back up and attempts to shoot the antagonist, then they are allowed to execute them.
• An example of an unjustified antagonist execution is an antagonist indiscriminately executing all officers after a firefight very early in the round, despite them surrendering or attempting to crawl away.
• An example of a justified antagonist execution is a mercenary team executing a lone officer late in the round, after a firefight has already concluded with deaths on both parts.

• If you see anyone breaking any of these rules (or simply have questions on them), send an adminhelp (F1) to communicate directly with server staff.
• When sending adminhelps, be CLEAR and CONCISE - it makes things a lot easier for us to deal with. Try to include character names if possible.
• Adminhelps are to be used exclusively for in-game and server-related issues. Trivial matters and suggestions not related to the current round are to be left to OOC or the forums. Bugs, unless requiring immediate action (like the singularity not working), are to be reported on GitHub, and not over ahelps.
• If you are contacted by an admin, you are expected to reply, and communicate clearly and in good will. Failure to reply or disrespect towards admins may be grounds for a ban. We do our best to be polite and courteous with you, and thus expect you to do the same with us.
• All staff ingame decisions are final. OOC and adminhelp aren't the place to argue about our staff's decisions. If you'd like to contest a punishment, rule, or actions from a staffmember, start a discussion thread in the appropriate subsection of our forums, either Unban Requests, Staff Complaints, or General Discussion (for discussing specific rules).

There are different types of punishments staff may hand out, depending on the specific incident and severity of offense.

• Verbal Warning/Warning: A warning is the lightest type of punishment we will dispense. Generally, this means you'll be informed of the rule you've broken, and we'll let you resume playing after you ensure us you won't break the rule again.
• Jobban: A jobban will prevent you from selecting/playing a specific job on the pregame screen - jobbans are handed out for problematic behavior which is specific to a job. Note that if you're jobbanned from a job, you should not ask to be assigned to that job in game, as this might be seen as evasion and get you a ban. All attempts to evade a jobban (e.g. by multikeying) can result in a permanent ban being issued.
• Temporary Ban: Temporary bans are handed out for situations where a single warning may not suffice, and will prevent you from playing the game on our server for a set amount of time (usually applied with lengths of 1, 3, and 7 days). All attempts to evade a temporary ban (e.g. by multikeying) will result in the ban being made permanent.
• Permanent Ban: Permanent bans are issued in two general cases. First, to force communication with staff regarding an issue which was left unresolved, usually due to the player logging out mid-discussion. Second, as a final attempt to curb a player's behaviour, following warnings and temporary bans.

To get a ban/jobban lifted, submit an Unban Request on our forums.

The succession of command, chain of command, and all details surrounding the position of Acting Captain are disclosed in the Station Directives. The Station Directives are accessible in-game, via the New Player Menu, through your character's PDA, or via the Request Consoles and the Newscasters.

We use a single whitelist for all command staff, and additional ones for each alien race.
You can apply for a whitelist here but it is advised that you wait until people know you a bit.

If you read all the rules, don't break any rules and are a good Roleplayer, you can expect to be added to the list quickly.

• IC = In Character, means actions and events which happen ingame. Your character only has knowledge of IC actions and nothing from OOC. Using OOC knowledge is therefore metagaming. Things people say in-game are IC (e.g. say "Hello!"). Use of internet slang or smileys (E.g. Lol, rofl, ^.^, etc.) is prohibited.
• OOC = Out of Character, means the goings on outside the game. The things that you, the player, know, see, etc. The two should never be mixed or knowledge from one being used to influence the actions in the other. If you're angry at someone IC, don't bring it to OOC. OOC can be used to ask questions about game mechanics, but should not contain in-game knowledge. For example "How do I build a wall?" is fine. "halp, urist mcguy is beating me" is not okay.
• Griefing = To cause grief to other/another player(s) for no reason. Examples of this are beating random players senselessly for no reason, setting the singularity free for no reason, destroying the station for no reason, etc.
• Metagaming = Using information acquired out of character to influence the actions in character. An example is learning who the traitor is from IRC, a friend on another computer, through VOIP or through ingame OOC chat and then acting on this information.
• Powergaming = Also know as 'playing to win'. If you're trying to complete your objectives, kill the antagonists, or 'win', at all costs and ignore RP, you may be better off somewhere else. This includes having your character unafraid of death or pain, resistant to any torture, ready to battle alone against a crowd of opponents, or, being unarmed, senselessly attacking a gun wielder or hostage taker. This also includes loading up your character with items 'just in case', for example wearing internals 'just in case' there's a hull breach or plasma leak. Or wearing a spacesuit indoors for no reason. Further, this includes using knowledge that your character would not possess: such as knowledge of changelings, the cult, syndicate, etcetera, and acting on it.
• SSD = Space Sleeping Disorder. The IC explanation for players logging out, resulting in the character falling asleep with the added note to their description, reading, “He/She has suddenly fallen asleep.”
• Chucklefucking = To break the atmosphere of the game with your ingame actions, for no valid reason. While we understand that SS13 isn’t meant to be super serious, our server is about establishing a certain atmosphere, and setting out to ruin that atmosphere, or the experience of other players in that atmosphere, is punishable. Note that this may also be considered a softer form of grief.