Write your Minecraft server's rules

Rules aren't there to punish: they're there so everyone knows what to expect. The day a moderator sanctions someone, the player must be able to read the rule, recognise what they did, and know that anyone else would have got the same sanction. Without that, every ban becomes a public argument.

Short, or nobody reads it

Ten rules at most, one sentence each. Three pages of rules are read by nobody, and give the impression of a server run by people who enjoy sanctioning.

Each rule has three parts: what's forbidden, a concrete example, the sanction. "No toxic behaviour" says nothing; "No insults or repeated provocation, in game or on Discord, for example mocking a player's base to push them to leave" is understood and enforceable.

A template to adapt

The rules generator adapts it to your game mode (PvP, griefing, minimum age) and formats it for Discord, for /rules and for a sign at spawn.

1. Respect. No insults, harassment, hateful or sexual remarks, in game or on Discord.
2. Cheating. No modified client giving an advantage (flying, reach, seeing through blocks), no macros, no bug exploits. A bug found gets reported, not used.
3. Griefing and theft. Don't destroy or take anything that isn't yours, even if unprotected. (Remove on a server where raiding is part of the game.)
4. Builds. No offensive builds, and no farms that make the whole server lag: the team may limit them.
5. Trading. Trades between players are free; scams aren't. No selling in-game items for real money.
6. Advertising. No link to or name of another server.
7. Accounts. One account per person. You're responsible for what's done with yours.
8. Usernames and skins. Nothing offensive.
9. Team. Contesting a sanction is done in private, with the team, never in public chat.
10. Common sense. What isn't written but clearly harms others can be sanctioned. The team always explains why.

Announce the sanctions

Publish the scale with the rules: "insults: warning, then 1 h without chat, then 24 h". A player accepts a sanction they could foresee much better. The guide Recruit and lead a moderation team details how to build this scale and require evidence.

Also plan the way back: a temporary ban ends, and a permanent ban can be appealed after a set time. A player who knows they can come back behaves better than one with nothing left to lose.

The mistakes that cost dearly

• Rules the team doesn't follow. An administrator insulting people in chat cancels the whole rulebook.
• Rules made up after the fact. A sanction for a rule that didn't exist yesterday looks like settling scores. Add the rule, announce it, then enforce it.
• Different sanctions for friends. Everyone sees it, always.
• Rules impossible to check. "No cheating outside the server" can't be enforced; don't write it.

Where to show it

• In game: EssentialsX's /rules command, which shows the rules.txt file, and a sign at spawn.
• On Discord: a read-only channel, pinned at the top, see Set up your server's Discord.
• On your CubeVote listing: a sentence in the description about the atmosphere and the main rules attracts players who suit you, and keeps others away.

Underage players

A good share of players are under eighteen. Two simple rules protect everyone: private exchanges between team members and players stay on the server's tools (tickets, dedicated channels), and any report of inappropriate behaviour towards a minor goes immediately to the owner, without an "in-house" investigation.

CubeVote's own rules fit on one page: its listing rules apply to your listing, and a listing that's clear about the server's rules already respects the first one.