Lord of the Rings Mod: Official Server Rules

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LOTRMCServer
Discord: https://discord.gg/gMNKaX6

Welcome to our server! Please read our rules before playing.
Hopefully, you won't run afoul of these rules, and your time on the server will be enjoyable and free of trouble.
But we ask that you read the full rules before playing so that we can all avoid getting into unnecessary problems.

The rules are published in their full form so that everyone can know exactly why and how the admins may need to act.

Contents:
-Rule Breaking
-General Rules
-Chat Rules
-Banned Items and Features
-Builds
-Hired Units
-Faction Rules
-PVP
-War
-Siege Rules
-Civil War
-Policy on Data Resets

Rule Breaking:

If you break the server rules, you may be kicked, silenced, temporarily banned, or permanently banned, subject to the decision of the server admins.

[Bracketed] segments are recommended punishments for breaking stated rules.
However, these are guidelines, and the final decision will be up to the admins, who will take context and circumstances into account.

If you are temporarily banned for a third time, or temporarily banned such that the sum of all your past and present temporary bans exceeds 14 days, your ban will be made permanent.

If you believe you have been unfairly banned, you can write a ban appeal explaining your situation.
Please post ban appeals either
- on Discord in the #ban_appeals channel, (preferred)
- on the server facebook page,
- or as a message to the facebook page.
Any ban appeals will be considered by several admins together.

General Rules:

1. Treat all other players fairly and with respect.
-1a. Purposeful attempts to make one or more players' experience miserable. [Warned, then Ban: 7 days.]
-1b. Consistent offensive, disrespectful, or malicious comments. [Ban: 7 days.]
-1c. Derogatory comments towards someone's beliefs, race, gender, sexual orientation, etc. [Ban: 14 days.]
-1d. Do not target new players; refer to PVP Rules below for a longer explanation.
2. Do not bother Mevans or the server admins with questions or suggestions about the mod itself, i.e. non-server-related questions. 
-2a. Impersonating any mod team member or admin is illegal. [Ban: 3 days.]
3. Do not grief, steal, attack animals or halted hired units, or otherwise damage players' builds, land, or possessions, without their permission. This also applies to builds and possessions which are not banner-protected.
-3a. Mistaken placing/breaking of blocks in a player's build. [Ban: 2 days.]
-3b. Intended block placement/destruction to gain access to a player's build or to kill a player. [Ban: 7 days.]
-3c. Malicious destruction of a player's build. [Ban: Permanent.]
-3d. Petty theft (stealing a few useless materials/equipment, etc.) [Ban: 3 days.]
-3e. Serious theft (stealing valuable materials/equipment, or stealing in excessive amounts, etc.) [Ban: Permanent.]
-3f. Slaughtering another player's animals, except mounts in combat. [Ban: 7 days.]
4. Do not hack, cheat, use X-ray, 'cave mode', player locators, or any other form of exploit. [Ban: Permanent.]
-4a. Suggesting or threatening to hack results in an immediate permanent ban.
-4b. Smart Moving and other client-side movement mods are not permitted.
-4c. Schematica and other auto-block-placing mods are not permitted. Schematica 'Fairplay' version - which does not place blocks - is permitted.
-4d. Provided they do not violate the above rules, Minimaps, Damage Indicators, and other client-side mods are allowed.
-4e. Exploiting game mechanics to access the roof of the Nether (Y > 127) and/or building there is forbidden.
5. If banned (whether temporary or permanent), attempting to circumvent the ban with an alternate account will result in a permanent ban for both accounts.
6. If the server is full, do not repeatedly try to connect; this causes spam and lag. Instead, refresh until a slot is empty, and then connect. [1st Offence = Ban: 30 seconds with warning message. 2nd Offence = Ban: 1 day.]
7. If the server is full, players connected via 'PickaxeChat' or similar applications must log off to make room for players playing the actual game.
8. Do not attempt to circumvent the idle timeout by any method that would cause the server to keep your player logged in while you are "away from keyboard". [Warned, then Ban: 7 days.]
9. Any disputes between players are to be settled by the server admins if the players cannot themselves reach a decision.
10. If an admin asks or tells you to do something on the server, you must obey the request. [Ban: 1 day.]

Chat Rules:

1. We ask that you speak in English in the public server chat, in order to encourage open communication between all players. [Punishment: 3 warnings, then Mute.]
2. Speak to your fellow players with respect. Do not attempt to offend or provoke them.
3. Do not spam the chat. Do not be excessive with CAPITALS or repetition of phrases or repetition of phrases. Do not send long strings of messages that fill up the chat. [1st Offence: Kicked. 2nd Offence: Permanent Ban.]
4. Profanity/Swearing/Cursing
-4a. We do not censor specific words; swearing is not in itself banned, but excessive profanity or using profanity to offend/provoke other players is not allowed.
-4b. If an admin asks you to stop using profanity, you must do so. [Ban: 3 days.]
-4c. Swearing to insult or offend another player is illegal. [Refer to rules on Respect]

Banned Items and Features:

1. The use and possession of the following items is forbidden. [Ban: Permanent.]
(This includes knowledge of the possession of such items without reporting it to an admin.)
-1a. Golden Apple of either type.
-1b. Ender Pearl. (Permitted only in the crafting of Ender Chests.)
-1c. Enchanted weapons, armor, or any items whatsoever that have combat uses. (Enchanted tools must be exchanged for modified tools as soon as an admin is online - with the exception of enchanted fishing rods, and silk-touch shears, which are are permitted.)
-1d. Vanilla Potions.
2. The use of the following features/mechanics is forbidden: [Ban: 14 days.]
-2a. Leftover Orcs spawners from past updates, which no longer generate. If you see one, report it to an admin, and you will be rewarded. (If Orcs from the spawner attack you, you are allowed to kill them.) (This rule does not apply to mob spawners in the Overworld.)
3. The construction and use of automated farms, "grinders", "mob farms", etc. is forbidden. [Ban: Permanent.] These are clarified as the following:
- "Mob Grinder": Any construction which kills mobs for the sake of their drops and does not require player input for its continued operation.
- "Automated farm": Any construction which operates on blocks to generate resources and does not require player input for its continued operation, with the notable exception of farmhands.

Builds:

1. Do not build or dig to try to circumvent a build's banner protection; this is considered griefing. (Refer to rules on griefing.)
2. If you wish to build within 500 blocks of any Fast Travel waypoint (e.g. for a lore-based build) you must obtain permission from an admin.
3. Do not build any kind of permanent structure in the Barrow-downs.
4. Do not build any kind of permanent structure on Meneltarma.
5. Do not build within 1000 blocks of a Significant Build without the owner's permission. Significant Builds are the following: If the build is a city/town/fortress in the lore, then it is Significant. If it has 3 or more active players living in it, then it is also Significant. If in doubt, ask an admin whether the build is 'Significant'. Do not take the owner's word for it.
-5a. Buildings constructed unknowingly within 1000 blocks of a Significant Build. [Warning first, then ban: 1 day, unless the Significant Build owner grants permission to build there.]
-5b. Buildings built within 1000 blocks of a Significant Build, after having permission denied by the build owner or by an admin. [Ban: 7 days; build may be relocated by an admin.]
6. Do not create Fast Travel waypoints inside other players' builds without their permission. Waypoints must be a reasonable distance outside players' bases. [Ban: 1 day.]
7. Only one in-game build for each 'lore build' may exist on the server. Disputed claims will be resolved by all of the admins.
8. Do not claim (through banners or otherwise) any generated structure, village, or other 'rare' or 'valuable' generated terrain feature, with the intent of saving it to hoard indefinitely or to sell to other players, instead of using it actively for yourself. [1st Offence: Warning and removal of banners. Repeat Offences: Bans as necessary.]
9. Traders in Builds
-Moving naturally-generated traders is now disabled by config file. Admins may spawn in traders as they deem fitting, following these GUIDELINES. Traders must have suitable housing. All of the following are up to the admin's discretion:
-A build which has 3 or more players living there, or actively using it as a "hub", may have up to 2 traders spawned in.
-Large builds which serve more players may have more faction traders, but probably not more than one of each type.
-If the build is a lore-settlement associated with trade, it may have more traders: up to one of each of the faction's kind plus others which may be deemed appropriate.
-Captains will only be spawned at large builds and Significant Builds which are primarily military-themed.
In summary: If you believe you need traders at your build, it's up to you to convince an admin.

Hired Units:

1. Hired units, like all entities, cause lag in large amounts; therefore, there are limits as to how many one player can have at once in an area.
-1a. The following limits include, and apply equally to, hired farmhands.
2. When not at war (see the 'War' section) the limit is 30 units per player in an area.
-2a. 'in an area' means that you must not exceed 30 units loaded in the world at once; you can have other units at other places in far-off unloaded chunks, but not close by.
3. When at war in a battle not exceeding 4 players, the limit is 70. The extra units must be disbanded once the battle is over.
-3a. Trolls and Olog-hai count as 5 units.
-3b. Mounted units count as 2 units. 
-3c. Bombers of any kind count as 2 units.
4. When at war in a battle with more than 4 players, the limit is again 30.
[Violating any rule of this section. Ban: 3 days.]

PVP (Player-versus-Player Combat):

1. PVP is enabled on the server. However, players must follow certain rules regarding PVP in different situations.
2. 'PVP-logging' (logging out during PVP) is forbidden in all situations. Excuses are not acceptable unless the player engaged in PVP with the culprit accepts them. [Ban: 5 days.]
3. Killing a player within 20 seconds of them logging in is also forbidden.
4. 'Spawn-killing' is forbidden. This includes killing players near the server spawn (see below) and also killing a player repeatedly at their spawn point as they respawn. [Ban: 3 days.]
5. 'Noob-killing' is forbidden as it drives new players away from the server. Do not kill new players who have yet to properly establish themself, unless in self-defence. [Ban: 3 days, and a refund of the new player's items.]
-5a. Good-aligned players must not kill new players who attack Hobbits. (This of course does not include players' hired Hobbits and other exceptions.)
6. Killing AFK players is permitted. It is the responsibility of an AFK player to ensure they do not leave their character in potentially dangerous areas.
7. PVP Safe Zones
-7a. PVP is allowed everywhere except for areas declared a safe zone by the admins, wherein both parties must agree to PVP beforehand. [PVP in a safe zone without prior agreement from both parties will result in a 3 day ban.] Safe zones include:
--the area around the server spawn (300 block radius);
--the area around a default Fast Travel point (not custom waypoints) ONLY concerning a player who has just fast travelled to the waypoint (10 block radius, for a duration of up to 20 seconds after fast travelling, which is terminated if the arrived player initiates PVP);
--the area around the entrance to Utumno (200 block radius) - but NOT within Utumno itself;
--and anywhere else declared as such by the admins, such as an arena.
-7b. Player bases are NOT automatically safe zones.
-7c. If a major build is located near a Fast Travel point, owners of the build will not be held accountable for killing players near their build (outside the safe zone). Players are advised not to stay around Fast Travel points with builds if they feel they may be at risk there. 
-7d. Construction of traps (kill traps, holes in the ground, inescapable obstructions, etc.) within safe zones is also forbidden. [Ban: 7 days.]
--Note that, following from Builds rules, you may not build a trap (or any structure) within 500 blocks of a waypoint you do not have admin permission for.
8. If you are attacked first, you may defend yourself immediately after and it will not count as a breach of any PVP rule. (e.g. defending yourself from an attacking player as soon as they log in does not constitute spawn-killing; defending yourself if attacked illegally in a safe zone does not count as breaking the safe zone rule)
9. Targeting
-9a. Unless otherwise specified by the rules, any player may choose to target any other player in PVP. Alignment, and membership of a server faction, are irrelevant.
-9b. As above, if PVP causes a faction internal conflict, this is to be managed by the faction community, and not by the server admins.
10. PVP Loot
-10a. If you kill a player in PVP, you may keep their dropped items - unless an admin requests that you return them, for whatever reason.
-10b. Stealing from players' chests or other containers is still illegal, even if they are not protected by banners. Refer to the rules on stealing (General Rules).
11. PVP Raids
-11a. Since a player's base is not a safe zone, PVP raids on a player in their base are permitted.
-11b. As above, stealing (from chests or otherwise) and griefing are still illegal. (Refer to General Rules.)
-11c. Player bases cannot be occupied during peacetime: after a raid, the attacking players must leave the base within a reasonable time. (After the first player kill, 10-15 minutes.)
12. Killing a player who is being investigated by an admin is illegal. [Ban: 3 days.]
13. If players tend to engage in PVP too frequently and/or their methods of PVP cause problems on the server, admins may restrict those players from PVP for an arbitrary amount of time.

Faction Rules:

1. 'Faction' here refers to an organised group of allied players on the server, which is not the same thing as the alignment 'factions' in the mod. Factions may be based upon, but are not limited to, the alignment factions in the mod. Players can also form their own sub-factions based upon the mod's alignment factions, or form a new faction entirely.
2. Creating Factions
-2a. A faction requires 3 or more active members.
-2b. Any player, in agreement with 2+ other players, may create any faction and become its leader and first 3+ members.
-2c. If the faction already exists and is led by another player, this can lead to a situation with rival factions both claiming to be the 'true' faction. Which faction is the 'true' faction generally depends on the approval of other players, as is discussed below.
3. Joining and Leaving Factions
-3a. A player may be in more than one faction at once. Circumstances that arise from this matter should be dealt with by the factions themselves.
-3b. A player may request to join an existing faction. If the leader of that faction grants permission for them to join, they may join it. 
-3c. A player may leave a faction if they want to.
4. Faction Internal Matters
-4a. To encourage political interest, faction matters are not managed in any way by admins, but by the faction communities themselves.
-4b. This includes, but is not limited to, matters such as leadership, government, titles, internal conflicts, and civil wars.
-4c. Within a faction, players may declare titles for themselves, e.g. 'Lord', 'King'. Such 'titles' referred to here are entirely separate from the 'titles' feature in the mod.
-4d. Anyone can declare a title, but it is the acceptance of your title by your fellow faction members that really matters. Declaring a title may lead to resistance or conflict within the faction. A player can earn the acceptance of the faction by voting, bribery, war, civil war, or other means.
-4e. High-ranking faction members may also bestow titles upon lower-ranking faction members, should they choose to accept the title.
5. Alliances and Unions
-5a. Factions can form alliances with any other factions, such as during wartime.
-5b. Factions don't have to be on the same side ('good' or 'evil') to form an alliance; for example an Angmar/High Elf alliance is permitted, though unlikely.
-5c. Unions are also an option for factions. A faction may merge with one or more other factions to form a new, larger faction. This new faction is then treated as a single faction. The original factions may cease to exist, or may remain as smaller sub-groups of players within the new faction.
6. The creator of a build at an admin-granted location (e.g. waypoints) always owns that build, no matter what happens between them and their faction. Unless, of course, the creator decides to give away the build, in which case admins must approve of who they choose as the new owner.
7. Regardless of whether or not a player belongs to any specific faction, players have a right to build wherever they wish. Factions have no right to deny a player from living in a region, as long as the players in question avoid constructing near other builds. (Refer to the Builds section.)

War:

1. Right to War
-1a. Any faction leader has the right to declare war upon another faction at any time.
-1b. If the faction leader does not desire war, the war may not happen, however war itself cannot be denied, only avoided. This may lead to a secession or internal conflict as discussed above.
-1c. Individual players cannot declare war. This includes groups of players that are not large enough to be a faction.
-1d. When war is declared, it does not have to be approved by the other side.
2. Terms of War
-2a. Matters of war are managed by the factions involved in the war. As with faction internal matters, the server admins do not manage wars.
-2b. Factions may discuss matters of war freely, but do not have to agree on them.
-2c. All other rules still apply during a war, unless specified.
3. Joining a War
-3a. If an open war is declared between factions, any other faction or group of players may join the war at any time, unless specified to be a closed war.
-3b. Closed wars are between only two factions, allies may not join closed wars.
-3c. There is no limit to the number of factions that can be involved in an open war.
-3d. There is no limit to the number of players that may attend either war type.
-3e. You may not change factions simply to join a war or siege. If you attempt to, you will be denied permission to fight in the war and it will result in a ban. [Ban: 2 days.]
4. Sieges
-4a. During war, a faction may choose to target a valid enemy build to siege. (See SIEGE RULES below.)
-4b. In wartime the restriction on occupying a player's base is lifted. Players may remain in enemy bases for as long as they like until the war ends.
5. Ending a War
-5a. During a war, factions may discuss ways to end the war on various terms.
-5b. The war does not end until all participating factions have agreed to end it.
-5c. Terms of ending a war are decided by the warring factions and can include a clean end to the war, payment of some kind, continual tributes, territorial concessions, or anything else. 
-5d. Wars are usually considered won by a faction when two or more builds have been captured from the enemy through sieges. 

Siege Rules:

During war, a faction may declare a siege against a significant enemy build.
- 'Significant' requires that the build is lore-based, large, or has at least 3 occupants.
- 'Enemy' requires that the build is owned by a faction currently at war with the declarant faction.
Sieges are classified in two types: Type A and Type B, each with their own rules. Type A is the default if not specified.

Type A Siege: Does not result in build changing hands
Preparations:
1. Declaring a type A siege does not require agreement from the defenders.
2. For the siege to begin the following conditions MUST be met:
 - 3 or more defenders, including the owner or co-owner of the build; must be members of the build owner's faction.
 - 2 or more attackers; must be members of the declaring faction.
 - Other defenders may join if they belong to a faction allied with the defending faction. The allied faction in question does not necessarily have to be involved in the war, and participating in the siege does not by itself constitute a declaration of entry into the war.
 - Other attackers may join if they belong to a faction which is allied with the declaring faction AND which is ALSO currently involved in the war.
 - Players belonging to any other factions (or to no faction) are prohibited from sieging, unless agreed upon beforehand by both sides.
3. A siege may be declined or postponed if there is a significant difference in the number of attackers vs. defenders.
4. One main gate must be left open for the siege, in addition to any other access points (doors, gates, etc.) which must be left open as necessary to make all defenders accessible to attackers.
5. Additional 'siege rules' may be agreed upon beforehand by both sides.
During Siege:
6. The build may not be damaged during the siege.
7. You may NOT continue fighting in a siege after your first death (unless agreed upon beforehand in the siege rules).
Outcome:
8. By default, the siege is decided if EITHER: all the attackers or the defenders are killed once; OR a forfeit is acknowledged.
9. If the attackers are victorious, they do not claim ownership of the build. However, the build is considered 'occupied' by them, and they must be given access to the build's main gate as well as any defensive areas, including permissions on all necessary banners.
10. Occupied builds and all their possessions are still considered to belong to the original owners. Any theft or griefing by the occupying players still counts as theft or griefing.
11. Occupying players may add small modifications to the build to create a reasonable appearance of occupation:
-11a. They may add decorative (non-protecting) banners to the build, and may also replace the owners' decorative banners with their own as long as they return any removed banners to the owners.
-11b. They may add small wooden defensive works in and around the main gate area, as long as they do not interfere with the general appearance or functionality of the build.
-11c. They may not remove or alter blocks without permission from the owners.
-11d. They may not harm, remove, or displace any animals, traders, etc. in the build.
-11e. Occupiers and owners are encouraged to cooperate to make sure any occupation changes are agreeable to both parties.
-11f. Owners may appeal to an admin if they feel that the occupying players have made excessive changes to the build.

Type B Siege: Build may change hands
As with Type A, but for the following differences:
1. Type B MUST be agreed upon by both sides.
2. The build may be damaged during the siege.
3. If the attackers win the siege, the build is now owned by them. This includes access to all banners.
Before a Type B siege, an admin should save a copy of the build in case of damages. If the build is successfully defended, the defenders may ask to have the saved backup restored. But if the siege is won by the attackers, they must take the build with damages included.

Civil War:

1. Right to Civil War
-1a. Any player within a faction has the right to declare war upon any other player within that faction at any time. 
-1b. When any war is declared, it does not have to be approved by the opposing side.
2. Terms of Civil War
-2a. Civil war is considered a faction internal manner and therefore is managed by the faction community, not the server admins.
-2b. Players within the faction may discuss matters of civil war freely, but do not have to agree on them.
-2c. All other rules still apply during a civil war, unless specified.
3. Joining a Civil War
-3a. If a civil war is declared within a faction, any other players within the faction may join the civil war at any time.
-3b. Other factions may support a civil war indirectly if they wish, such as to extend their interests within an area.
-3c. In some cases, other factions may wish to enter directly into a civil war, and in doing so transform it into a normal war.
4. The terms for sieges in a civil war follow from those of a normal war.
5. The terms for ending a civil war follow from those of a normal war.

Policy on Data Resets:

Players sometimes ask for their player data to be reset. This is most often for an alignment reset, though sometimes people just want to start again.
Our policy on this is: if you want your data to be reset, *all* your data must be reset. We treat it as if you were a completely new player joining the server.
To be eligible for a data reset you must either:
-have achieved at least +1000 alignment with any faction;
-or have not been on the server for over a year.
A full data reset will include the following:
-alignment
-achievements
-inventory
-custom waypoints
-quests
-hired units
-sent back to spawnpoint
and more. Essentially, you are joining as a new player.
If you would like a full data reset (and you meet the conditions to be eligible) speak to an admin to request it.

Now you have read these rules, enjoy the server!
I suggest that you save a link to these rules for easy reference: https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/s/2fe066iqkrf59wa/server-rules.txt