Authoritative Rules List for Minecraft at Simbey.com

Defining rules for playing on the Minecraft server has been a challenging effort.  No matter what is written, there's going to be something in it that upsets someone.

Over the years, I've tried to have a minimal set of rules.  Unfortunately, banning players can still feel subjective, and there have been occasions when players have been banned for reasons that, ultimately, won't be covered by this list.  One of the worst things anyone in any position of authority can do is to act hypocritically.  Therefore, some players will have opportunities to appeal their bans from before this page was posted (June 7th, 2021).

The following list is going to attempt to outline a numbered set of rules that will describe the kind of players I do not want on my server.  From this point (June 7th, 2021) onward, when a player is banned from the Minecraft server, the ban message will include the rule number from below.

Instant Bans

1. Griefing or destruction for the sake of destruction.
2. Killing villagers or destroying villages.
3. Killing other players' pets.
4. Using a modified game client to fly, X-Ray, or gain any combat/competitive advantage over players using vanilla clients.
5. Performing any action or building to intentionally cause lag.
6. Misrepresenting your identity or attempting to impersonate someone else.

These bans are permanent, and no appeals will be accepted for breaking those rules.

Subjective Banning

1. Don't be a troll.  If all you do is post racial slurs in chat or on signs, while contributing nothing positive to the server, then you may be banned, especially when in combination with other lesser offenses.
2. Continually harrassing other players, without provocation, as with trolling, may result in bans ranging from at least one day to up to a full week.
3. Don't ask for op, to be admin, or to have special privileges.
4. Floating trees.  Just chop down the entire tree (the wood blocks) and replant, if possible/applicable.
5. Creeper holes.  If you play like an idiot, you're going to trigger the creepers.  If you can't help being an idiot, then at least do your part and fill in the holes.
6. Hunting all the animals.  Look, I get it, you're hungry, and you prefer meat.  At least do me a favor and breed the animals first.  No one wants to play on a server devoid of animals.
7. You are allowed to initiate pillager raids, but you must be prepared to deal with the consequences.  Fortify the village before causing the raid or repopulate it.
8. If you allow zombies at night to kill every villager in a nearby village, don't be surprised if you later find yourself banned.  Be responsible!
9. Don't be toxic in chat.  This might be the most subjective rule, and it's difficult to succinctly describe.  If you come onto the server expecting everyone to be an NPC/normie and then become angry when that's not the case, don't start toxic drama about your ignorant political positions.

In case you don't understand the theme, it's pretty simple.  Don't do anything that will cause me extra work.  I look after the villages, I maintain many of the long rail lines, and I do fill in creeper holes when I find them.  However, all of this takes time.  More importantly, it takes up time that I could be putting to use for more interesting projects.

Don't be a garbage player.  Don't be a close-minded NPC/normie either.

If you do your part to keep the server looking nice, and as long as you aren't destructive, then you'll do fine.  If you feel these rules are too restrictive, then I don't want you on my server.  Go back to 2b2t.

The kind of player I want on my server is the one who is going to contribute more value to the server than what he/she consumes.  Build a base.  Replant trees and fill creeper holes.  Breed animals to replace those you slaughter.  Make the server's world a nicer place than when you found it.  I have an unfavorable view of those who connect to a server to do nothing other than raid and pillage.

Minecraft's a Big Place

We all don't get along.  Expecting everyone to get along with everyone else is an unreasonable expectation.  Fortunately, we can all still play on the same server.

As it turns out, Minecraft is big.  Really big!  If you're building at X:5000, and another player is building at X:-5000, then the two of you are at least 10 kilometers apart.  That's more than six miles!

If physically distancing yourself from another player isn't enough, you also have the option of ignoring the other player's chat messages.

Discord

While Discord itself probably has a long list of its own rules, in general, just try to follow these simple rules:

1. Don't post obscene or pornographic material.
2. Don't impersonate other users.
3. Don't misrepresent your identity.
4. Don't be a troll.
5. Be reasonably nice to each other.

Just like with Minecraft, if you find that you don't get along with someone, try to ignore that person.  Any member breaking the above rules may be banned for a day or a week, depending on the infraction.  Repeatedly breaking the rules may result in a permanent ban.