This is the set of rules for SBYW.
Last updated on Monday, December 20, 2021.
Spam: Spamming is discouraged on SBYW. We define spam as a series of messages sent in a short amount of time which may or may not contain gibberish. Examples of spam include sending a simple message like "Hi there" a bunch of times in a row. Also, one message can be considered spam if it contains no substance, such as "asdfjljworuqprueipcmlsfszarjofqweruiop". If you're asked to stop spamming, simply stop and nothing more is likely to happen. Repeat offenders may be punished more severely.

Screen Reader noises and crashing: Since effectively all our players use a screen reader, we will not allow actions that crash or otherwise disrupt normal operations of screen readers. This usually comes in the form of messages containing text that crashes a synthesizer, but can appear anywhere where users can input text, including as part of their maps. Also, sending messages that cause screen readers to make strange noises but don't crash them should be used sparingly, and are subject to the spam rule. The unfiltered channel is a more welcoming place for synthesizer play, or maps can be made for the purpose of sending it in their local chats.

Customized death messages are covered by the same rules as the public chat. A custom death message must always specify at least %p and %m as wildcards. %m is optional if a map name or something very close to it is included in the message. If a staff member asks you to change your death message, it's a good idea to do so. The staff reserves the right to remove death messages that do not follow these guidelines.

Public Maps: Admins reserve the right to unpublicize a map if it does not serve a useful purpose. Common examples where this is the case include: totally or almost empty maps, maps that do nothing but play random noises, maps that instantly kill the player because the starting health was set to 0 or the player spawned on a hazard, and maps that lock up clients by attempting to load too much web-based content.
The first time we find a map you have publicized that we do not believe should have been, we will send you a friendly message when we unpublicize your map, and you are free to continue working on it for the future. If you continue to publicize meaningless maps, we will unpublicize them without warnings. If the situation gets worse, your ability to build new maps can be taken away, which will force you to only build on ones you have already made.

Map Contributors: the admins are not responsible for your map contributor choices. Remember that a person with contributor access to a map has as much power as the original creator. The contributor can modify or delete the map in any way they like and add or remove other contributors. We are not responsible for anything that other contributors do to your maps, so consider carefully to whom you grant contributor access.

Personal Attacks: There is a line between joking and attacking. For this reason, we put no official prohibition on insults, but once they get past a certain level admins may intervene at their discretion. Messages with deliberate degrading of a person including racism, sexism, homophobia, name calling, etc., are strongly discouraged. The victim's opinion takes precedence when evaluating these sorts of cases, and variants of the excuse "they deserved it" are not good reasons to personally attack. Personal attacks are serious and will be punished severely.

There are certain topics that should not be discussed in a joking fashion. These include sexual assault, suicide, and child abuse. Topics like these may pose a real risk of triggering someone and sending them into a traumatized state, on top of the fact that such jokes are already morally indecent. Honest discussion of these topics such as what you have encountered in these areas or what resources may be able to help are perfectly fine, though such discussions may need to be taken into a more private setting if others express distress triggered by the conversation.

Harassment:
What is harassment? Harassment is receiving a type of attention that you do not wish to receive on a persistent or continual basis. This can range from obnoxious botheration, annoyance, or vexation from a party or parties all the way to sexual harassment (the unwanted reception of sexual attention, advances, etc.) If this is happening to you, we want to know about it. Feel free to PM any online admin or use the /report command. You may also write up a complaint to admins@sbyw.games.

It is important to note that something that annoys you might not annoy someone else. So, it's important to let the person or people know that their behavior is bothersome to you. If, after doing so, the behavior continues, feel free to report it. Online and active admins should intercede on behalf of the party or parties being harassed in such situations where they occur on public chat. If being harassed via private messages, you as the victim must first try muting the offender to make it stop. This can be done by pressing f9, finding the offending player's name in the list, pressing enter, tabbing to the mute this player check box and pressing spacebar to check it. If the offender circumvents the mute, such as by using other players to send you messages or by publishing maps with names that target you, you are welcome to file a report.

what should be included in the report? Please include the date and time of the incident, the usernames of the party or parties involved, and the chat log. If you press and hold the shift key on your keyboard, and then tap the backslash key (above the enter key and below backspace on a lot of U.S. English keyboards)), you will hear the speech say, "Exported". What this means is that all the data that has accumulated in your buffers have now been written to their appropriate files, and your in-game buffers will be cleared. Opening the file associated with the buffer where the incident took place, and pressing ctrl + end will put you at the end of the file, where the most recent item will be. From there, select text from the beginning until the end of the file or the end of the relevant text and copy it, save it to another file, and attach it to your email.

The staff will investigate and act against the offending party or parties. Please note that while we are happy to receive any such reports and will assuredly act if there is evidence to be found, we do not take kindly to fake reports made against others. If you are found to have done so, you will be severely punished, and it is very likely that you will find yourself unwelcome on SBYW.

Swearing and adult content: There is no blanket prohibition on swearing, nor on what may be classified as adult content. If you are building adult content maps you are required to mark them as such. This is generally done by cordoning off the adult content area and then placing a warning on its entrance with a story, which is harder to skip past than a zone or a sign. The public chat doesn't need to be perfectly clean but do keep in mind that there are children on this game. Very adult conversations should take place on the unfiltered channel or on a map marked for such.

Onoff messages: Online and offline messages should contain more than your name. Graphic or adult content within your online messages is highly discouraged. Furthermore, such messages should not be deliberately swapped to attempt to trick people into thinking you went offline when you came online and vice versa. If your online/offline message contains any content an admin declares inappropriate at their discretion, you will be required to change it. Failure to comply with the admins request may result in punishment, beginning with the simple disabling of this feature.

Onoff sounds: For those who can upload custom online/offline sounds the same rules for messages apply, along with the following stipulations. Sounds should not be overly loud. As the game reduces all such sounds by 15 decibels it is reasonable to ensure that sounds do not clip for the most part. Particularly painful tones, including high-pitched squealing, are not permitted at any high volumes if at all. Each sound should contain no more than 6 (six) seconds of forground audio. Their absolute length may be greater than this to allow for effect tails such as reverb and fade-outs, but in this case the absolute length should be no more than 10 (ten) seconds. While the file size limit for these sounds is 120 KiB, the closer you get to this ceiling the more everything will lag when the sound is played. It is therefore highly encouraged that you reduce your file size via encoding as ogg vorbis at q 5 (160 kbps) or less, or ogg opus at 96 kbps or less. These settings should provide minimal degradation to your sound while minimizing potential lag. If you upload a sound that breaks these rules, you will be told to remove or change it and may have your timer updated to do so in a speedy manner. Further violations will result in this feature being disabled, reverting you to the default online/offline sounds.

Unauthorized code forks: We allow no discussion of unauthorized code forks in any medium. This includes telling people to play them on public chat, posting links, sending private messages, or making maps with information about them.

Flashing: Flashing occurs when a player goes online and offline multiple times in a short period. This may occur due to the player's internet being unstable but can also be done intentionally as a form of spam. If a player flashes with custom online and offline sounds, admins or the player may disable them until the flashing problem is resolved. Deliberate spamming via flashing is punishable by a temporary ban, which is unfortunately the only way to make it stop.

Privacy: Privacy is not guaranteed. If you are on a private map or in a private message conversation with someone, whatever you say or do can be considered out of our reach until one of the participants publicizes or exposes it to us in some fashion. We reserve the right to read private message logs, but we will not invade your privacy without reason. Our logs are to be used to back up an already existing claim, not to make a new one. However, if we suspect that you are violating rules, we can and will monitor your actions in game.

One Account: Players are allowed to create and use only 1 account, and if caught with more, will lose all but one. If you feel like you'd like to start from scratch, you're free to delete your current account and create a new one at any time. If you wish to change your username but keep your current account, please ask a developer to rename you. If you have created a new account because your original account is broken for some reason, please alert an admin or developer and they may be able to help.

Community Failure: Individuals who find themselves skirting around the rules, especially when this involves creating or fostering a toxic environment may find themselves unwelcome from SBYW. This includes, but is not limited to circumventing a mute, consistently having a bad attitude, being passive aggressive and not dealing with their punishments, and generally bringing everyone down. Disrespecting staff after official decisions is the most obvious case of this. Another case to avoid is butting in in a non-constructive manner during administrative action upon another player.

Punishments: It is required that all players follow instructions given by staff. That is, if you are told to stop something, simply stopping it should generally yield no further action. Disobeying in such cases will yield a punishment. General punishments include, but are not limited to, an official warning from the staff, being unable to send chats for a period of time, being jailed (unable to switch maps or chat), being unable to build new maps and/or modify existing ones, a temporary ban, or a permanent ban. Other punishments may be administered to fit the crime committed. For example, a player who refuses to change their online and offline sounds may have them disabled.

Admin Hat: The admin hat is a tool whereby administrators and developers can indicate to the player base as a whole that message(s) sent while the hat is worn are in an official capacity and represent the entirety of the staff. Admins should comport themselves in a professional manner during this time, and players are required to obey any directives given while the hat is on. The activation and deactivation are accompanied by indicator sounds and each chat the wearer sends will be labeled with their rank. When the admin hat is not in use, admins are able and encouraged to act as normal players. Admins may choose to give friendly warnings before putting on their admin hat to avoid any unpleasantness.

[admins:]
Players should generally be given a chance to redeem themselves before punishment is administered. However, past actions are part of the consideration for action taken, so if they are a repeat offender, they do not get infinite chances.
Action taken should be based on logic or majority opinion of the players where available, not purely personal dislike. Do not allow the majority to silence, however. E.G., don't ban somebody just because most of the people on the server don't like them if they haven't done anything yet.
Administrative action taken should be the result of a consensus among admins except in very clear-cut cases, such as unauthorized code forks.
Admins may only act against a player in response to a violation on this game. If it occurs on another platform, it is out of our jurisdiction. Specifically, regarding harassment, the victim may mute the offending player personally if all of it occurs out of our jurisdiction and we are thus unable to act.

Admins will have accountability with each other and with developers. If you believe that an admin is acting out of line for whatever reason, you are encouraged to report this via the /report command or by sending an email to admins@sbyw.games. Do note, however, that spurious or falsified reports may result in punishments for the person who submitted them.

These rules will serve as a baseline but may not be applicable in all situations. Generally accepted practices of morality and certain circumstantial developments may add to them in any given situation. That is to say actions not covered by these rules are not always okay. Admins will establish punishments for such actions via consensus.
These rules may change at any time. If they do change and new conditions are added, retroactive action should not be taken. That is, if a player did something which was then considered a violation of a rule added after the fact, they cannot be punished for the original act unless they repeat it after the new rule is in effect.