Table of Contents

1. Community Rules
2. Minecraft Rules
3. Discord Rules
4. Website Rules
5. Disciplinary Action

Community Rules

These Community Rules are the foundation of behavioral expectations for all members across the Realms of Echoes community, including our Minecraft server, forums, Discord, and all related platforms. These rules are built upon our Six Foundational Pillars: Safety, Transparency, Inclusivity, Respect, Integrity, and Collaboration. They serve to protect our community and ensure that every member can participate in a welcoming, secure, and fair environment.

1. Terms of Service and Legal Compliance: You must abide by the Realms of Echoes Terms of Service and comply with all applicable laws, including United States federal, state, and local laws. Illegal activity on any RoE platform will result in immediate removal and may be reported to appropriate authorities.
2. Age Requirement: You must be at least 18 years of age to participate in any RoE platform. Users under 18 are not permitted to access or interact with the community in any capacity.
3. Language Requirement: RoE is an English-language-based community. All public communication must be in English to ensure clear moderation and inclusive participation.
4. Safety Policy: RoE enforces a zero-tolerance policy regarding sexual content and other dangerous behaviors. Violations will result in a Permanent Ban and may prompt legal action or external reporting. Report any concerns to a Moderator, Administrator, or directly to: thomas@realmsofechoes.com Prohibited actions include, but are not limited to:
   • Erotic roleplay (ERP)
   • Distribution of sexual or explicit material
   • Unwanted advances, persistent flirtation, or coercive behavior
   • Solicitation of inappropriate interactions or targeted exploitation
5. Plagiarism and Attribution: All creative content (writing, art, skins, media, etc.) shared on RoE must be your original work or used with documented permission.
   • Content must be Free-to-Use or licensed for sharing.
   • You may be asked to prove ownership or permission.
   • AI-generated content must be clearly labeled as such.
6. Discrimination: You may not create, share, or promote content that discriminates against members or groups within our community based on race, ethnicity, nationality, gender, religion, sexual orientation, age, or disability.
7. Abhorrent and Violent Content: You may not create, share, or promote content that depict extreme bodily harm, graphic injury, or real-world mass harm scenarios. Content that creates a hostile, unsafe, or excessively disturbing environment is not permitted.
8. Privacy Violations: You may not share another individual’s personally identifying information without explicit written consent. You may be asked to provide proof of consent. This includes, but is not limited to:
   • Legal name
   • Age or birthdate
   • Location or address
   • Workplace or employment status
   • Photos, videos, or voice recordings
9. Moderator Shopping: Moderator and Administrator decisions are final. Do not seek alternate rulings from other staff members. If you believe a ruling was unfair, file a formal report through the designated channel.
10. False or Malicious Reporting: Submitting knowingly false reports, doctoring evidence, misleading staff, or abusing the report system to harass or manipulate others is prohibited. We take reports seriously. Abusing that system damages trust and wastes staff resources.
11. Harassment and Targeted Behavior: You may not engage in repeated, targeted, or malicious behavior designed to harass, frighten, intimidate, humiliate, or distress another player or group.
12. Spamming and Disruption: Mass posting, irrelevant content, or excessive off-topic chatter in any channel or chat medium is prohibited.
13. Unauthorized Advertising: Advertising other Minecraft servers, communities, or unrelated products/services is prohibited. You may only advertise artistic or character-related commissions within RoE if relevant and permitted.
14. Harmful or Offensive Links: Do not distribute links to sites or content that includes but is not limited to:
    • Discriminatory, hateful, or violent
    • Pornographic or sexually explicit
    • Gore-related or grotesque
    • Intentionally shocking (e.g., jump-scares)
15. Rule Circumvention (Loopholing): Do not attempt to skirt these rules through technicalities or bad-faith interpretations. Moderator and Administrator discretion is final, and intent will be evaluated when determining consequences.
16. Staff Conflict of Interest: Active staff on other Minecraft servers are ineligible for RoE staff roles. Applicants must resign from external staff positions before applying. Exceptions may only be granted by RoE Administration.
17. Username and Identity Policy: All usernames (Minecraft, Discord, forums) must avoid impersonating or mocking RoE staff or ranks. This includes parody, satire, or deceptive use of staff-related names or roles.
18. Off-Platform Misconduct: RoE may take action in response to conduct that occurs outside our platforms (e.g., on private Discord servers, social media, or in direct messages) if that conduct demonstrably affects the safety, trust, or well-being of our community or its members. This includes threats, harassment, or manipulation targeting RoE players, even if such actions do not occur on our services.
19. Consent in Collaborative Content: Players must obtain clear, ongoing consent from all involved parties before sharing or publishing collaborative works (e.g., shared RP logs, forum threads, screenshots, recordings, or co-authored lore). Withdrawal of consent must be respected.

Minecraft Rules

The following rules govern behavior, roleplay, and mechanical engagement on the Realms of Echoes Minecraft Server. These are enforced in conjunction with the Community Rules and exist to preserve immersive roleplay, fair competition, and community well-being.

Roleplay Rules

1. Powergaming: You may not perform actions that are unrealistic or impossible for your character without consent or system approval from a member of Story or Administration. This includes forcing outcomes on others without their input, playing as invincible or flawless, or circumventing limitations through unrealistic mechanics.
2. Metagaming: Using knowledge gained out-of-character (e.g., through Discord messages, streams, or OOC chat) to influence in-character decisions is prohibited. Roleplay must be driven solely by your character's in-world experiences.
3. Character Sheet: You must maintain an up-to-date and approved character sheet before participating in combat or storyline events. Your in-game stats must match your approved forum character sheet. Refusal to provide one may result in restricted participation.
4. Multiple Characters: Players may maintain multiple characters with the following conditions:
   • Characters may not share items, resources, or knowledge
   • Characters may not interact directly in-game
   • Characters may be aware of one another if justified in lore (e.g., family ties)
5. Romance Roleplay: Romantic roleplay is only permitted for characters who are both 18+. Consent must be maintained at all times and may be withdrawn at any point.
6. Initiation Roleplay: All hostile or combative roleplay must begin with meaningful, clear roleplay initiation. Minimal or effort-light initiation (e.g., single words or sudden attacks, shouting "Halt!") is not permitted
7. Stalling: You may not intentionally delay or derail roleplay for out-of-character advantage or disruption. If you must log off unexpectedly, communicate clearly and seek to resume the scene later.
8. No-Value-Life: Characters must demonstrate a reasonable desire to survive. Reckless, self destructive, or dramatically unrealistic behaviour without narrative justification is not permitted.
9. Roleplaying Villains: Villainous characters must be nuanced, story-driven, and contribute positively to community roleplay. Antagonism must be tasteful and serve narrative or character development goals, not exist purely to harass or disrupt.
10. Character Death: Character death (Permanent Kill, or PK) requires player consent. You may not pressure, manipulate, or coerce another playing into accepting a PK. Only Administration or pre-approved Story events or lore requirements may override this rule.
11. Character Maiming: Maiming (e.g., permanent disfigurement or limb loss) does not require consent but must be executed with narrative care. Gratuitous torture or grotesque detail is not permitted. Repeated maiming to punish PK refusal is disallowed.
12. Revenge Characters: You may not create a new character for the purpose of avenging previous events or characters. Characters must have their own motivations and not act as narrative proxies.
13. Detention: Captured characters must be actively roleplayed with. If a detained player is left unattended for 30+ minutes, they may /spawn to escape or request staff assistance. Scheduled scenes may be enforced if agreed in writing.
14. Voiding: You may void trivial RP errors (e.g., typos) freely. Major voids (e.g., reversing scenes or events) require consent of all players involved or Moderation approval. All major voids must be reported to staff.
15. Roleplay Trolling: Characters created for the sole purpose of disruption, annoyance, or mockery (in-character or out-of-character) are not permitted. Meme characters or RP designed to provoke are subject to removal.
16. Lockpicking and Theft: You may use mechanical or narrative lockpicking to access restricted areas with Story or Moderation oversight. Theft from containers must be pre-approved by Staff or occur as part of an approved heist or event.

Mechanics Rules

1. Rolling Mechanics: You are required to follow the official RoE Rolling System in all combat, skill checks, or contested interactions. Staff may instruct you to roll for things not typically stated for purposes of story and events. This includes correct usage of:
   • Character Levels and Tiers
   • Techniques, Items, and Sorcery
   • Unconsciousness and Death's Door states
2. Sorcery and Grimm Use: Sorceries and Grimms may only be utilised or played after your character has received in-character training or transformation and an approved Special Permissions Application is on file. Events may temporarily grant access to Sorceries, Grimms, or other unique unlocks that expire upon direction of the Story member hosting the event. Use of these unlocks outside of the event without approval is considered powergaming.
3. Special Item Use: Advanced or special items may only be used after being crafted and acquired through roleplay, and approved via a Custom Item Application (cApp). Materials must be held mechanically and functions must be consistent with currently approved lore.
4. Client Modifications: You may not use any client-side modifications that provide a mechanical advantage, bypass intended gameplay systems, or reveal hidden data (e.g., x-ray, minimap with entities). Modifications used purely for aesthetic, accessibility, or performance purposes are generally allowed. Contact Moderation for approval if uncertain.
5. Exploits and Glitches: Abusing server bugs, Minecraft glitches, or unintended plugin behavior for any gain is prohibited. This includes duplication glitches, unintended movement mechanics, and bypassing protections. Report all discovered issues to our Technical staff immediately.
6. Build Quality & Griefing: All builds or decoration must meet the quality standards outlined by our Design staff. You may not create landscars or rushed and low-effort builds, use meme structures or modern elements, or alter another player's region or build without explicit permission. Griefing is strictly forbidden, and significant changes require Design oversight.
7. Chat Channels: Use chat channels according to their designated purpose. Abusive behavior, spam, or personal attacks against players are never appropriate in any channel.
   • /q, /w, /s, /rp | These channels are for in-character roleplay only.
   • /ooc, /looc, /qooc, /wooc, /sooc | These channels are for out-of-character only.
   • /event and /env | These channels are for roleplay use only.

Discord Rules

All Discord activity related to Realms of Echoes must align with our Community Rules, the Discord Community Guidelines, and our expectations for a safe, inclusive, and drama-free space. Participation in RoE's Discord is a privilege and may be revoked at any time based on behavior.

1. Civil Discourse: All discussions must remain respectful. If a disagreement escalates, de-escalate or take it off platform. Disagreements are not grounds for personal attacks and staff intervention may occur to stop a hostile interaction. Behavior that is prohibited includes but is not limited to the following:
   • Inflammatory arguments or baiting
   • Discussing distressing, grotesque, or NSFW topics
   • Political, religious, or socially charged debates
   • Discriminatory, bigoted, or offensive statements
2. Profile Conduct: All visible aspects of your Discord presence (including username, nickname, avatar, banner, bio, and status) must be appropriate for a general audience. You may not use imagery or language that is offensive, grotesque, explicit, discriminatory, inflammatory, or designed to mock or impersonate members of the RoE community.
3. Tagging Etiquette: Avoid excessive or unnecessary use of @ tags. You may not spam pings to individuals or groups, use @everyone or @here without express staff permission, or abuse pingable roles or use tags to provoke.
4. Advertisement and Promotions: Only content relevant to RoE (e.g., character art, skin commissions, RP resources) may be promoted in designated channels. Permission to advertise or promote may be given by Administration, but otherwise prohibited material include but are not limited to:
   • Advertisements of unrelated services, products, or servers
   • Solicited donations or monetary support
   • Raffles, giveaways, or events
5. Anonymity: Your actions on Discord reflect your community presence. Alternate or secondary accounts are not permitted without prior approval. Ban evasion, identity deception, or disruptive re-entry will result in punitive action across all platforms.

Website Rules

All participation on the Realms of Echoes website and forums must comply with our Community Rules and Terms of Service. The forum serves as a central hub for character creation, lore development, storytelling, administrative requests, and collaboration. The following rules ensure respectful and immersive engagement.

1. Section Relevance: All posts must reflect the correct in-character or out-of-character context, based on the forum section.
   • Announcements, Guides, Media, Character Sheets, Staff Applications, Reports, and Whitelisting are all out-of-character.
   • Lore, General Roleplay, City of Vaelyn, and Roleplay are all in-character.
2. Roleplay Integrity: In-character posts must maintain immersion and narrative integrity. You may not include memes, real-world references, or lore-breaking elements in IC posts. You may not use the forums to metagame, powergame, or force character outcomes without direct engagement or consent.
3. Forum Profile Standards: You forum profile (including username, avatar, signature, banner, biography, and user title) must remain appropriate for a general audience. You may not use imagery or language that is offensive, grotesque, explicit, discriminatory, inflammatory, or designed to mock or impersonate members of the RoE community.
4. Forum Moderation: The RoE forums are considered a canonical and administrative platform. What is posted maybe reviewed as evidence or documentation for future staff action. Forum participation is a core part of the RoE experience. Conduct yourself with the same respect and commitment to quality expected in-character and in-community.

Disciplinary Action

Disciplinary action is the structured response to violations of server rules or community expectations. These measures exist to maintain fairness, safety, and trust across all Realms of Echoes platforms. Staff will evaluate each case with care and context as not all situations result in punishment; conversation and correction are often prioritized where possible. Disciplinary action is not optional or advisory: if you are warned or sanctioned, the action has been reviewed and deemed necessary by staff. These actions are final and may not be appealed. If you believe a Staff Member is misusing or neglecting their responsibility, you may file a Staff Report and the matter will be reviewed by Administration. Below are the standard forms of disciplinary action available to staff:

1. Warning: A formal notification that a rule or community guideline has been broken. Warnings are written, documented, and may be cited in future moderation decisions.
2. Temporary Action: Time-limited sanctions meant to address rule or community violations with intermediate severity. Examples include:
   • Temporary bans from the server, forums, or Discord
   • Restriction of in-game or forum permissions (e.g. forum mutes)
   • Suspension from roleplay events or community participation
   • Suspension from Special Permissions and roleplay privileges
3. Permanent Action: Reserved for the most serious and/or repeated violations. Examples include:
   • Permanent ban, resulting in a complete removal from one or more RoE platforms
   • Full deletion of accounts, characters, and content. This is typically used in the case of Terms of Service violations, criminal behavior, or serious safety risks to the community.
4. Staff Blacklist: A designation that bars a player from holding a staff position within RoE.

Disciplinary Discretion

While Realms of Echoes maintains written rules and clearly defined policies, not every situation can be anticipated or categorized. As such, staff members reserve the right to exercise reasonable discretion when responding to disruptive, harmful, or unethical behavior, even when the behavior is not explicitly listed in our our Server Conduct. Staff are empowered to take action on any conduct that compromises community safety, narrative integrity, or platform health, including retroactive intervention where harm becomes evidenced after the fact. The intent and impact of a player's behavior will always be considered, and staff will act in the interest of preserving the RoE community. All staff decisions are context-sensitive and subject to staff interpretation. Disciplinary outcomes are determined on a case-by-case basis by the staff member or team managing the incident. These decisions are final and non-appealable. However, in cases where a user believes they have been subject to staff misconduct, overreach, or abuse of authority, they may submit a formal Staff Report to be independently reviewed by Administration. Administration also reserves the right to remove any individual from the community at any time, with or without stated cause. Participation in RoE is a privilege, not a guarantee, and may be revoked at the sole discretion of Administration.