Server Rules

Follow all rules laid out by the VSC Discord, Discord ToS, Discord Community Code of Conduct, and the Vintage Story ToS.

Do not use mods resembling cheats. Do not use cheats or hacked clients.

If you have problems with another player that can't be resolved between you, contact a staff member before it escalates. Complaints about staff should go directly to the Executive Team.

Do not use OOC knowledge for IC gains. Keep OOC grievances out of IC roleplay. When in-game, declare when speaking OOC before doing so.

You may not attack or kill another player without a valid IC reason. Valid reasons include: declared wars, bounty/assassination contracts, discovered espionage, theft, betrayal, or mutually agreed RP events. Conflict should escalate through roleplay (threats, negotiations, warnings) before combat begins.

After being killed by another player, you forget all details of your death for 15 minutes. You then regain knowledge of the place and time, but not the killer or other people present. You may not return to the death location for at least 15 minutes or until both parties confirm the engagement is over.

You may not camp near a player's spawn point to repeatedly kill them. Abusing respawn protection in PvP is against the rules. After defeating someone in a public space, you must leave and give them a chance to recover.

Logging out to avoid combat or RP is strictly forbidden. Fleeing into your own land claim is allowed, but make sure a pursuer doesn't remain trapped inside.

The following are considered land claim griefing and can result in claim removal or bans:

Upkeep is paid weekly using Omens (admin currency). If you ignore warnings and don't pay for two weeks, your claim is automatically dissolved. If you're struggling to pay, talk to your steward. Once dissolved, everything inside the former claim is free to take or destroy.

Items stolen outside your claim are your responsibility. Items stolen inside your claim are the faction's responsibility to resolve.

Joining factions under false pretenses is allowed. However, you may not pillage resources until you officially leave the faction and one IRL week has passed. You may occasionally steal small items like correspondence or minor resources. Relics obtained through espionage must be reported to your steward. Excessive sabotage or destruction is still griefing. If caught, you may face in-character punishment up to character death.

Players may mug and rob others if the victim is outside and out of sight of a protected zone (their claim, faction claim, the summit, or special lore locations). Bandits may follow engaged players into safe zones to finish a scenario but must leave when combat concludes. If a player flees behind their town walls, they are safe.

Once combat begins, neither side may place or break blocks, except rope ladders. Exceptions can be made in pre-agreed combat scenarios.

Repeatedly targeting the same victims for weak or no RP reasons is considered harassment.

You must give clear in-character intent before the first strike. Even if you know what faction someone belongs to, you need to initiate RP so the other player knows why they're being attacked (e.g. calling out their faction allegiance).

Signs may designate kill-on-sight zones, but must be visible before entering and convey the threat clearly. Reasonable trespassing (e.g. scaling a wall) permits defenders to kill on sight. Trespassers may not retaliate unless attacked or engaged in RP.

There are three levels: Personal (2-8 players), Factional (2+ factions), and National (2+ nations). Each level should involve only those at that level - a nation can't go to war with a faction.

An official war must be declared at the defending faction's summit or by providing in-game notice to the faction leader, with a valid Casus Belli. If contested, the defending faction must argue why the Casus Belli is invalid. Following declaration, participants and steward(s) enter the war room to negotiate timing and location. The war takes place within the week.

Valid reasons for war at any conflict level:

Additional reasons available only for national-level conflicts:

Traps must kill or quickly capture and resolve (5 min limit). No building during war (standard PvP rules). New Life Rule is not in effect - you may return to view the fight but must remove armor to identify as a non-combatant and may not take any dropped items.

After war ends, both parties enter peace talks within 48 hours. Settlement terms are limited by the Casus Belli unless both parties agreed otherwise before the war.

A Character Kill permanently eliminates a specific character (name, title, class). This is separate from the player - you can return as a new character (e.g. your own child) and resume a leadership role.

A CK is only issued when: a player voluntarily kills their own character, a player puts their character in unnecessarily high risk during a major event (assassination attempts, capture in battle, etc.), or as game masters deem necessary in extraordinary circumstances.

Players must open a ticket with staff to initiate a CK. If approved: the target is informed of CK risk, a time period (often 1 hour) is set where the character must be online, disconnecting results in instant death, all participating players are also at CK risk (assassins included), and game masters may set additional conditions.

Nothing stops players from returning as a new character of similar rank. The only result is the canonical death of that character and any political/personal ramifications. CKs are very rare and typically only target leaders or significant members.