Terms & Rules

1.1Scope and agreement

• These Terms cover every interaction between you and the Service.
• They apply equally whether you join from Java or Bedrock.
• They apply to in-game chat as well as the official Discord and voice chat.
• Mechanics and specific rules described on the Wiki pages are part of these Terms.

1.2Definitions

Key terms used in these Terms:

2.1Cheat mods and hacked clients

Mods and tools that allow impossible actions or give you an advantage over other players are banned.

• X-Ray, ESP, Freecam and anything that shows blocks or players you shouldn't see
• Combat and movement hacks such as KillAura, Reach, Fly and Speed
• Auto-movement, auto-mining and auto-combat tools such as Baritone
• Hacked clients such as Meteor Client, Wurst, Aristois, BleachHack, LiquidBounce and Inertia
• Mods that edit the server world directly, such as Axiom
• Cracking the world seed to locate ores or structures

The server automatically detects cheat mods (Sakana Shield). Detected players are kicked and Staff are notified. If you're unsure about a mod, ask on Discord before using it.

2.2Automation and AFK

• Automating input with macros, auto-clickers or weighted/taped keys
• Farming items or XP while away from your keyboard
• Using contraptions or tools to avoid the AFK kick

2.3Bugs, glitches and duping

Deliberately using server or plugin bugs for gain is banned. If you find one, don't exploit it — report it to Staff right away. Continuing to use or spreading an exploit is also punished.

• Duplicating items, money (SC) or XP
• Using bugs in shops, the auction house, buy orders, trades or payments to gain things unfairly
• Rollback duping using lag or server restarts
• Exploiting bugs that bypass land protection or permissions
• Knowingly accepting duplicated items or SC

2.4Helping rule breakers

Helping rule breakers, accepting items, SC or land gained by breaking the rules, or covering up a violation you know about is banned. You may receive the same punishment as the rule breaker, or worse.

2.5Accounts

• Only one account may be online from the same IP address at a time. If you need to share a connection with family or friends, ask on Discord first.
• Using other accounts to evade punishment or to gain unfairly from trades, bounties or auctions is banned.
• Sharing, lending or selling accounts is banned.
• You are responsible for your account's security. Report suspected account theft immediately. Losses while your account is compromised are generally not compensated.

2.6VPNs and proxies

For security and anti-grief reasons, connecting through a VPN or proxy is banned (and blocked automatically).

2.7Attacking the server

DDoS attacks, unauthorized access, or anything else that damages the server or players is banned. This results in a permanent ban and may be reported to the authorities.

3.1Harassment

• Abuse, threats, insults and excessive provocation
• Discrimination based on race, gender, religion, nationality, origin, appearance, etc.
• Sexual harassment
• Stalking a player or persistently interfering with their play
• Continuing after being asked to stop (results in heavier punishment)

3.2Spam

• Repeating the same or meaningless messages
• Flooding with line breaks, symbols or all-caps
• Unnecessary @mentions on Discord, or deleting a message right after mentioning someone
• Posting in the wrong place (use /tc for town talk, /nc for nation talk, and so on)

3.3Advertising

Advertising or recruiting for other servers, outside Discord servers, products or services without Staff permission is banned. Sharing Discord servers for towns and nations on Sakana Network is fine.

3.4Inappropriate content

The following is banned everywhere — chat, player names, skins, town and nation names, quarter names, signs, item names, builds and map art.

• Sexual, violent or gory content
• Slander or discriminatory content
• Problematic political or religious content
• Invisible or translucent skins that interfere with other players
• Anything else that makes other players uncomfortable

Staff may rename or remove inappropriate town names, nation names or boards without notice.

3.5Impersonation and false information

• Impersonating Staff or other players
• Making up or distorting Staff decisions or announcements
• Spreading lies that harm other players or the Service

3.6Personal information and privacy

• Sharing someone's real name, address, school, contact details, photos or IP address without permission
• Publishing private messages (/msg) or Discord DMs without the other person's permission
• Spreading another player's coordinates, base location or online status to cause them trouble

3.7Using the block feature

You can block annoying players with /ignore. If problems continue, report them to Staff instead of dealing with it yourself. Staff can't be blocked.

4.1Banned in voice chat

• Abuse, discrimination, sexual remarks and harassment
• Playing loud sounds, noise or music for long periods
• Deliberately talking over others, or continuing to talk to someone who has refused
• Recording, streaming or publishing other players' voices without permission
• Advertising or recruiting over voice chat

Recording to report a violation is allowed — don't use or publish it for anything else. Violations may result in a voice-chat-only mute.

5.1Griefing

• Destroying builds or contraptions on someone else's land, or placing blocks there without permission
• Killing someone else's villagers, pets or livestock
• Building directly above, below or right next to someone else's build without permission
• Blocking entrances or otherwise preventing others from using their land
• Destroying or altering public builds without permission

Even for builds in the unprotected wilderness, Staff will investigate and act on confirmed griefing or theft.

5.2Theft

• Taking items from someone else's chests (even where you're trusted, taking more than you're allowed is banned)
• Joining a town or getting trusted in order to steal or grief
• Refusing to return items someone dropped after they ask for them back

5.3Spoiling the scenery

• Lava casts and other acts that seriously spoil the scenery
• Placing large amounts of meaningless blocks, or dumping large amounts of items

However, destruction on or near someone else's land or builds falls under 5.1 (Griefing).

5.4Server load

• Large, always-running redstone clocks
• Contraptions that create large numbers of mobs, items or entities
• Oversized mob towers and automatic farms

Ask Staff on Discord before building anything that might cause lag. Staff may disable or remove contraptions without notice.

6.1Town, nation and plot names

Names that can be confused with another town or nation, that pretend to be Staff or real organizations, or that fall under 3.4 are banned. Staff may change or remove inappropriate names without notice.

6.2Claiming and obstruction

• Surrounding another town with your land so it can't expand or be accessed
• Claiming land in unnatural shapes purely to obstruct others
• Claiming large areas you don't plan to use so others can't use them

This doesn't apply if the other town expanded toward your land on its own and ended up surrounded as a result.

6.3Responsibilities of mayors and kings

• Mayors and kings are responsible for properly managing their residents and member towns.
• Using ranks, trust, jail, outlaw status or taxes to harass specific residents or for unfair gain is banned.
• When kicking a resident, give them time to collect their items. Residents who grief or seriously break the rules may be kicked immediately.
• Unfairly taking or destroying a kicked resident's builds or items is banned.
• If you won't be able to log in for a long time, hand your town or nation over to another resident.

6.4Trust and permissions

Staff don't guarantee the behavior of players you trust or give ranks to — only give them to people you trust. Players who receive trust must not build, break or take beyond what they were allowed.

6.5Between residents

Even between residents of the same town or nation, PvP, looting or breaking builds without consent is banned. Towns and nations may set their own rules, but these never override these Terms and can't be forced on outsiders.

6.6Inactive for 60 days or more

For players who haven't logged in for 60 days or more, the server automatically cleans up the following. Cleaned-up data and items can't be restored.

• Mayors: the mayorship passes automatically to an assistant or the most active resident. Towns with no other residents are disbanded.
• Kings: the crown passes automatically to the mayor of another member town.
• Chest shops, bounties, money, transaction history and resident data are deleted.

Staff may also review and clean up long-unused builds and land when someone asks. If you'll be away for 60 days or longer, talk to Staff on Discord in advance.

7.1Real-money trading (RMT)

Trading items, SC, land, towns or accounts for real money or another game's currency — or offering to — is banned.

7.2Scams

• Taking payment without delivering, or delivering something other than what was promised
• Cheating someone in a trade done outside /trade, such as by dropping items on the ground
• Using shop signs or descriptions to misrepresent the item, amount or price

Trades between players are safe when done with /trade, chest shops, the auction house or buy orders. Problems from trading any other way are generally your own responsibility.

7.3Auctions and buy orders

• Bidding with yourself, friends or alt accounts to drive up the price (shill bidding)
• Agreeing with others not to bid so an item sells unfairly cheap
• Repeatedly posting, ordering or cancelling in bulk to manipulate prices

7.4Bounties

Faking a bounty claim — for example, having a friend or alt account defeat you on purpose to collect it — is banned.

7.5Wrecking the economy

Dumping or giving away huge amounts of items or SC to deliberately break the server economy is banned.

7.6Map art

• Map art that follows these Terms can be displayed, traded and sold freely.
• Copying someone else's map art and selling or distributing it without the creator's permission is banned.
• Bypassing the copy and edit protection of maps locked with /maplock, for example through bugs, is banned (treated as a glitch under 2.3).
• Map art using copyrighted characters or logos is at your own risk. Staff are not responsible for copyright disputes.

7.7Mistakes

Losses from typing the wrong amount or quantity in /pay, shops, the auction house, trades or the trash (/trash), or from the other person's mistakes, are generally not compensated. Check the confirmation screen carefully before confirming.

8.1PvP ON is at your own risk

Staff won't compensate deaths or item losses while you have PvP on.

8.2Attacking players with PvP off

Killing or hurting players with PvP off indirectly — with lava, water, fire, fall damage, mobs or traps — is banned. Traps are allowed against players who have PvP on.

8.3Escaping combat

Logging out while combat tagged (20 seconds) kills you on the spot. Escaping combat by any other means, such as bugs, is also banned.

8.4Spawn killing

Camping homes, beds or town spawns to repeatedly attack players right after they respawn is banned.

8.5Teleport abuse

• Using /tpa or /tpahere to lure players into traps or dangerous places
• Using teleports to enter someone else's land to steal or grief
• Attacking allies or players under a truce without their agreement

9.1Item restoration

Your inventory and ender chest are backed up automatically whenever you join, leave or die. If items are lost to server bugs or lag, Staff will restore them from backups as far as they can verify.

9.2Griefing and theft

Staff investigate griefing and theft. Items recovered from the offender are returned to the victim. Full compensation or restoration is not guaranteed — keep valuables in your ender chest or somewhere safe.

9.3Rollbacks

After large-scale griefing or bugs, Staff may roll an area or data back to an earlier state. Items lost due to a rollback are not compensated.

9.4Not eligible for compensation

• Deaths and losses while PvP is on
• Losses from your own mistakes (7.7)
• Losses while your account was compromised
• Losses of players who broke the rules themselves

9.5False reports

False reports, staged incidents or fabricated evidence aimed at getting compensation or a rollback will get the reporter punished.

10.1Types of punishment

10.2Immediate permanent ban

• Using cheat mods or hacked clients
• Duplicating items or currency, or spreading how to
• Attacking the server
• Large-scale or malicious griefing
• Using another account to evade a ban
• Real-money trading

10.3Lifting punishments

Punishments are lifted when they expire, when evidence turns out to be insufficient, or when an appeal finds there was no violation. Staff are not obliged to disclose the reasons or the information behind a decision.

11.1Reporting and contact

• Report violations or ask for help in the #お問い合わせ (support) channel on the official Discord (discord.sakananw.xyz).
• Include screenshots, video, coordinates and times whenever possible.
• Reports made in in-game chat may not be handled.

11.2Appeals

• If you disagree with a punishment, you can appeal through #お問い合わせ (support).
• Appeals must come from the punished player, once per punishment, and include the punishment, your reasons and any evidence.
• An appeal does not guarantee a different outcome.
• False or harassing appeals may lead to further punishment.

11.3Mediation

For disputes between players that aren't rule violations, you can ask Staff to mediate. Staff will step in if they find it reasonable and everyone involved agrees. Please follow the outcome of the mediation.

11.4Reporting staff abuse or improper punishments

If you see a staff member abusing their power (using permissions for personal gain, favoring or harassing particular players, etc.) or handing out an improper punishment, report it directly to the Owner, ly7a, by Discord DM.

You will not be disadvantaged for reporting. Reports and reporters are not disclosed beyond what is necessary.

• When, where, who, and what happened
• Evidence such as screenshots or video
• For a punishment, what the punishment was and why you think it was improper

If you simply disagree with your own punishment, please file an appeal under 11.2 first.

12.1Staff authority

Staff make the final call on everything regarding the Service. To prevent abuse, Staff may review chat, private messages, and trade and payment records.

12.2Harassing Staff

Staff volunteer their time so everyone can have fun. Abuse or threats toward Staff, persistent or repeated demands, rallying other players to pressure Staff, demanding compensation beyond these Terms, and online slander or impersonation of Staff will be punished. Serious cases may be referred to the authorities with evidence preserved.

12.3Service interruptions

The Service may be paused or ended without notice for maintenance, updates, bugs, disasters or at Staff's discretion.

12.4Disclaimer

• Staff are not responsible for disputes or damages between players.
• Staff are not responsible for damages caused by service interruptions, shutdowns, changes or data resets.
• Except in cases of intent or gross negligence by Staff, Staff are not responsible for damages from using the Service, including loss of in-game data.

12.5Changes to these Terms

Staff may change these Terms. Continuing to use the Service after a change means you accept the updated Terms.

12.6Governing law

These Terms are governed by the laws of Japan.