We recommend viewing our primary rule document located [ Here ] for the most up to date changes to our ruleset.
Article 1. Terms / Abbreviations
RP (Role Play): Engaging in gameplay in a manner consistent with your character’s personality and backstory.
PG (Power Gaming): Forcing actions on other players without giving them a chance to respond or react.
RDM (Random Death Match): Killing or attacking another player without proper initiation, roleplay interaction, or reason.
Metagaming: Using out-of-character (OOC) information for in-character (IC) gain.
IC Information: Information your character acquires through interactions and experiences in the game world.
NonRP/Fail RP: Actions that are not consistent with the interaction you are involved with or the game world’s reality.
RP Death/CK (Character Kill): The permanent death of your character, leading to starting a new character.
Heavy Wound: Serious injury that significantly affects your character's abilities, requiring time and roleplay to recover.
IC (In-Character): Actions and communications that occur within the context of the game's world.
KOS (Kill on Sight): Killing a player without any initiation, interaction, or roleplay beforehand.
Article 2. General Rules
Recording for Enforcement:
Recording is mandatory for all players to facilitate rule enforcement and resolution of disputes. If you do not have a recording your attempt to be compensated or protected by the ruleset may not be possible.
Staff will always give both sides in any rule break case to present clips. If you are unable to provide a clip while the other side does, Staff must treat the clip as the ultimate source of truth for any decisions that are made.
Character Identification:
Players must use their primary Steam Account. In-game, Discord, and Syberia names must be consistent across all platforms.
Prohibition of Glitches and Exploits:
Exploiting in-game glitches or using third-party software, including filters, for unfair advantages is strictly prohibited.
Conduct and Respect:
Players are expected to maintain a respectful demeanor in all interactions. Harassment, disrespect, or discriminatory behavior will not be tolerated.
Separation of IC and OOC Information:
Players must not use OOC information for IC purposes (metagaming). All IC information should be obtained and used within the game's context.
Handling Rule Violations:
Players are subject to a three-strike disciplinary system, escalating from warnings to potential bans. The staff's decisions on rule violations are final.
‘Malding’ or practicing toxicity in any part of the server or discord, particularly in response to IC interactions or ticket rulings is prohibited. There are ample spaces to leave constructive feedback, and tickets can be filed for any possible issue. If you feel you do not have a way to resolve an issue you are experiencing, please contact The Board.
Discord Channel Etiquette:
Communication in Discord channels should remain respectful and relevant to the topic. NSFW content, offensive language, and spam are prohibited.
Article 3. Roleplay Guidelines
Character Behavior:
Your character begins with 20 souls/respawns, and reaching 0 souls results in permanent death.
While in a group, respawning is not allowed unless your character is fully dead. Solo players not engaged in RP scenarios may respawn if near death, but they must maintain gameplay recordings for disputes.
Heavy wounds prohibit your character from returning to their body, and no one can guard your character's corpse.
Avoid "Jump-Up" play, which involves using elevated positions to avoid damage. These positions should only be used briefly and defensively. Do not shoot or attempt to ‘cheese’ mutants from an elevated position.
Ensure your character is a natural fit for the Zone world and has a plausible reason for being there.
Use vocabulary and behavior that match the world and the character you're playing. Your character's actions should align with the RP situation.
Value your character's life and act reasonably in response to threats, injuries, and death. Avoid unnecessary risks, such as:
Initiating aggression against a group with twice as many members or more.
Initiating aggression against a group of 3+ when playing solo.
Attempting to domesticate mutants.
Engaging in OOC skill grinding or taking actions without a valid IC reason.
If injected with an Amnesiac, your character must forget all IC interactions that occurred in the last 30 minutes.
Strictly prohibited RP categories include: rape, sexual RP, sexual harassment, and racism.
Character Recognition:
Character recognition relies on three factors: face, attire, and voice. You may not recognize anyone without all 3 of these properties.
Secondary attributes like speech patterns and gear preferences require multiple interactions for identification.
A complete, unobstructed view of a face is essential for both initial and subsequent recognition.
To use Recognition as a factor in a CK ticket, staff will request recordings.
Impersonation and Concealment:
You may wear the clothes, gear, and patches of another faction under the following conditions:
You can assemble a complete and convincing uniform of the faction you are impersonating (including patch, top, and bottom).
By doing so, you acknowledge the risk of a Character Kill (CK) if your impersonation or spying is discovered.
Any faction member who fails to wear their provided patch, top, or bottom is considered engaged in impersonation or identity concealment/spying. The absence of any three of these items can justify an impersonation or spying CK.
You must adhere to the relationships, alliances, and hostilities of the faction you are impersonating. This does not grant you Kill on Sight (KOS) rights against their enemies in a state of war.
The faction you are impersonating has the authority to enact KOS and file a CK if they can identify you as an imposter.
IC Recordings:
GoPros are available at Vendors for recording footage for PDA or other IC purposes. Without a GoPro, you cannot use recorded footage for IC purposes.
GoPros taken from a deceased character only contain recoverable footage if the player consents to sharing it. They cannot be compelled to do so. If they refuse, for in-game purposes, the footage is considered destroyed upon their death.
You have the option to drop and shoot a GoPro to destroy it along with any footage it contains.
All IC footage should align with IC conduct and content. Edit the footage to suit its IC purpose
Article 4. Aggression
Initiation Execution:
All hostilities require proper initiation, which consists of the following elements:
Explicit verbal demands or instructions with clear verbal consequences for non-compliance. (e.g., "Put down your weapon, or I will kill you.")
A direct response to a verbal threat or instruction given. (e.g., "If you take another step, I will kill you." / "I will walk where I want.")
While threatening actions (such as pointing weapons or surrounding) can imply danger, a verbal component is essential in the initiation. (e.g., "You need to back up, or I'm going to start shooting.")
Both parties should clearly recognize when the transition from talking to action occurs, allowing them adequate time to react.
It is the responsibility of the initiating party to ensure they are heard by the party being initiated upon. A single individual in the targeted group hearing the initiation is sufficient for validity, provided that radio communication, sight, gunfire, or other factors adequately alert the others present. Those who share rights with the individual who are alerted to the initiation can then engage or react as they see fit, within a reasonable distance.
In the event of an invalid initiation, a present Staff member may intervene by freezing and resetting the encounter, particularly if detected early. Failure to comply with Staff instructions regarding hostilities can result in immediate punishment, including the possibility of a ban.
Initiation Guidelines:
As the aggressor initiating an encounter, you should have appropriate numbers, positioning, and gear to reasonably believe that you can kill or capture the person you are aggressing, with a reasonable chance of your own survival.
The defender should consider these factors when deciding whether to respond with hostility or compliance.
The use of a radio in initiation is allowed to extend the initiation range. Those using radios may be outside the standard 3-Pip range but must still be at a reasonable distance to be included in the fight. If you choose to use this extension, video recording is mandatory to confirm the transmission of all double-mic'd communication. This recording must be provided upon Staff request. If you cannot record, you may not use this extension, and failure to double-mic or provide evidence of doing so may result in disciplinary action by Staff.
An initiation unit or squad traveling together is generally within 250 meters of each other. Separate squads that do not reach this limit must maintain that distance from each other. Using a sniper on radio outside this range to bypass the limit is not acceptable. If they are not on the radio, they are not considered part of any initiation that may occur.
Groups are allowed to misrepresent their numbers when attempting an initiation, and it is the responsibility of the group being aggressed upon to determine the accuracy of the information provided to them. Observed numbers (people you can see) must always be considered in response to aggression.
When two factions are at war, their members may engage in Kill on Sight (KoS) actions against each other. However, they must correctly identify their targets, as any mistaken KoS action will be considered a rule violation.
An initiated fight is considered over when any of the following conditions are met:
One side has been completely eliminated.
One side has completely retreated behind a locked door.
Both sides retreat with the intention to heal or rest.
The server restarts (planned or unplanned). In the event of a restart, please refrain from immediately resuming hostilities. Take the time to reset, regroup, and reinitiate.
Initiation Rights:
Initiation Rights allow for the identification of a group of players as a single target through an initiation.
These rights primarily categorize players by their faction and then consider secondary factors. During an initiation, the target is determined based on these rights, rather than targeting an individual or group that the initiating party can see or has knowledge of within a reasonable distance.
Initiation rights group players according to the following parameters:
Loners and any hired Mercenaries traveling together.
Faction members, their prospects, hired Mercenaries, and any arm-banded Loners accompanying them, traveling together.
Multi-faction groups that are not Allied do not share initiation rights. They must declare their intentions separately in the event of an initiation.
Hostile Actions / Restrictions:
Aggressive acts are strictly prohibited while under the effect of an artifact that renders you invisible to others.
Attempting to restrain someone who has not surrendered and is armed with a gun is considered Fail RP. If it wouldn't make sense for the target to allow you to restrain them, you must engage in further RP before attempting restraint.
Demanding that someone logs into a PDA to provide information, or share login details for a PDA, or disclose a code to a locked door is not allowed under any circumstances.
If you walk into an active firefight, you may be considered an enemy by one or both sides involved. If you willingly approach gunfire, you are at risk of death, and it is solely your responsibility unless you can provide evidence of another rule violation. Always prioritize your character's life and safety.
No hostile action may be directed at or conducted from behind a locked door.
Robbery Rules:
During a robbery, the victim must be left with, at a minimum:
A functional firearm with at least 2 filled matching magazines.
At least 1 stack of ammunition for the mentioned weapon. (If the weapon is not magazine-fed, 2 stacks should be provided.)
A functional gas mask with 2 full matching filters.
A complete bandage, a food item, and a water container.
The robber is obligated to meet these minimum requirements only if they have taken away these items from the victim. If the victim lacks these items initially, there is no need to provide them. Please refer to the rules on kidnapping/hostage-taking for requirements regarding holding someone for an extended period.
Group Limits:
A single group traveling together is limited to a maximum of 12 individuals in most situations.
Loners can have a group size of up to 10 total players, plus any hired Mercenaries, up to a limit of 12.
Factions can have a group size of up to 10 total players, plus any arm-banded Loners/Prospects or hired Mercenaries, up to a limit of 12.
A full group must maintain a minimum distance of 250 meters from any other group that includes members of the same faction or an Allied faction or anyone who would share initiation rights with that group.
Separate groups are not permitted to join an initiation involving members of the same faction or an Allied faction. They must wait for the conflict to be fully resolved, and this waiting period should last a minimum of 30 minutes.
Group sizes exceeding 12 individuals may be present during approved Raids or Staff-approved PvE scenarios.
Once a group reaches 4 or more individuals, they are allowed to fight back if aggressed upon without being guilty of No Value of Life (NVL).
Article 5. Taking Hostages
Hostage Taking:
Hostages can only be taken under the following conditions:
They are not behind a locked door or within the immediate perimeter of a base. Door camping is not allowed. If unsure, please consult Staff to determine if a specific location is suitable for initiating a capture.
The potential hostage must voluntarily exit the area of their base without the threat of force and be a reasonable distance away to avoid direct camping or power gaming.
You must have enough numbers to effectively demand the surrender of the hostage and anyone currently part of their initiation group. Actions from individuals outside the hostage's initiation group cannot be used as grounds to harm the hostage. For example, if you take a Freedomer hostage, encounters with hostile Duty members should not affect the Freedom hostage.
When taking hostages, you must:
Actively roleplay with your hostage at least once every 20 minutes.
Ensure their basic needs for food, water, and medicine are met.
You may not ask a hostage to take actions that jeopardize their life (e.g., "Step into that burner anomaly!").
Hostages may be held for a maximum of 2 real hours, after which you may choose to Heavy Wound them or release them. If you have requested a ransom, you can ask an Admin to extend the time period. If you choose to Heavy Wound the hostage, their character will retain enough information to potentially request a Character Kill (CK) on you within 2 days. During the 2-hour window, anyone can announce a raid to rescue the hostage. If a raid is declared, the time for holding the person hostage extends until the end of the raid.
Unmasking a captured, unconscious, or restrained Mercenary requires an already partially completed Character ID, which is only missing facial ID and is submitted as a pending CK ticket. You should have the callsign, voice sample, any relevant acts to tie to the CK, and sufficient information about the Mercenary's behavior or regular loadout to properly identify them. You may not unmask a Mercenary if you do not have a pending CK ticket with these details already entered.
Ransom/Negotiation:
You have the option to request a ransom for your hostage, specifying the desired payment in either cash or items.
You can designate who must make the payment and the conditions or location under which it must be paid. The negotiating party may attempt to modify these terms to make them more agreeable while still valuing the life of the hostage.
You are allowed to propose a hostage swap, offering someone to switch places with the hostage. However, you may not use the hostage as a bargaining tool to take additional hostages.
Similarly, you are prohibited from ordering anyone to take lethal action against themselves to ensure the hostage's survival (e.g., "Shoot yourself or we shoot him!").
You may demand that a negotiator exits a base to facilitate negotiations, but you must provide them with the opportunity to re-enter if negotiations prove unsuccessful.
Executing Hostages:
You have the option to request an execution or Character Kill (CK) if you have a valid RP reason to kill the character. To perform an Execution, you must meet the following criteria:
Present strong RP reasoning for killing the character. Valid reasons can include repeated hostile actions, death threats, spying, sabotage, desertion, robbery, seeking vengeance for a CK they performed, lying during interrogation, betraying a faction, or a long-standing history of hostility. It is your responsibility to provide proof of any or all of these reasons to the satisfaction of Staff.
You must have proof of the target's identity beyond a reasonable doubt submitted in an approved CK ticket. You may seek this approval prior to acquiring the hostage.
All Executions must be video recorded. You must clearly state to the victim why you are executing them. Without video proof, a valid ticket, or informing the victim of the reason for their execution, the Execution victim will survive and escape.
Hostage Guidelines:
While you are a hostage:
-You must understand that your life is at will of your captor and you must behave accordingly.
-You may not take any action that would cause your character to die, or attempt to escape in a way that puts you at risk of death.
-Any attempt to exploit, abuse, or get around your captivity will result in RP death of your character.
Torture Guidelines:
Hostages may be subjected to torture under the following conditions:
If you intend to torture your prisoner, you MUST notify staff via a faction-request ticket.
Staff will oversee the torture process. If no staff members are available, you must resort to non-violent interrogation techniques.
Excessive torture methods are deemed unacceptable, including:
Cutting off digits/extremities.
Denailing or similar acts.
Subjecting your prisoner to continuous repetition of Taylor Swift music.
At a certain point during the torture, the observing staff will roll a number between 0 and 100 using a random number generator. If the number is greater than or equal to 70, the torture is considered successful, and the prisoner must provide truthful answers to the questions asked. These answers should be limited to the information their character would know, without including any metagame information they might be aware of.
Article 6. Heavy Wounds / RP Death (CK)
Situations and Circumstances:
Your character may experience RP Death or a Character Kill (CK) under the following circumstances:
A validly substantiated and ticketed execution.
Death while committing impersonation/identity concealment (if identified).
Death while attempting to escape as a hostage.
Any situation in which Staff deems that you failed to properly value your character's life or engage in roleplay may result in your character's death.
Any death other than RP Death is considered a heavy wound.
If you are Heavy Wounded, you may not rejoin the RP situation in which it occurred and must remain uninvolved until it is fully resolved. At a minimum, you may not return to the immediate area in which it occurred for 30 minutes, starting from the time the RP encounter is fully resolved.
If your character is wounded, they forget everything that happened to them from the point when they left a safezone, trader, or base up until their death. You may not attempt to loot your own corpse or provide someone else with information about its location.
If you die while fighting NEAR or WITHIN your faction base, you MAY NOT leave your spawn room or participate any further in that engagement. You must wait for it to fully resolve. If a particular engagement is going on for an extended period, please contact Staff.
Faction corpses inside their own faction base are not subject to other corpse looting restrictions due to their location.
Article 7. Factions
Faction Conduct:
Holding a faction position is a significant responsibility that demands dedication and commitment, irrespective of your tenure or rank. Your behavior, both IC and OOC, should exemplify the standards that both Loners and fellow faction members should aspire to.
Joining Factions:
-In order to join a faction you must:
-Be whitelisted.
-Have a minimum of 20 hours of playtime on the server.
-Complete a Meta App or enough IC interactions and tasks to earn yourself a place in that faction.
-You may not DM faction members/leaders/staff about joining a faction.
-Meta Recruitments are always a new character. IC recruitment may be a new character based on faction.
-All forms of recruitment require Staff signoff to approve the new member.
-You must not have not been in a different faction in the last 14 days.
-The current meta recruit cap for factions is 8. The full cap for factions is currently 10.
Faction Membership:
If your character receives RP Death while in a faction, you may create a new character starting at the lowest rank of your faction.
Factions adhere to a fixed ideology, which they follow rigorously. However, players in that faction, particularly leadership, have the ability to modify the ideology within certain bounds. These modifications or variances should be consistent with the in-world setting and should not invalidate the fundamental ideals upon which the faction is built.
Faction members are permitted to sell items from their trader for profit, with the exception of items bearing faction colors and insignia.
All faction players must be in their Discord in-character (IC) voice chat when actively playing together. If engaged in an RP situation, players must mute themselves and/or use double-mic for all IC communication.
Factions may employ up to 2 Loners at any given time to patrol with them. These Loners can be hired either as expected or unexpected combatants.
Expected combatants must wear an armband to indicate their intent to be part of that faction's fighting group in the event of hostilities.
Unexpected combatants are Loners who are employed for non-combat purposes and are expected to flee if an initiation occurs.
The initiating party is expected to provide these Loners with the opportunity to leave, though the Loners may choose to stay and become part of the initiation.
If 3 armbands are observed or more than 2 Loners engage in combat before being attacked or before the fight concludes, they will face punishment, including a strike or potential ban. VIDEO EVIDENCE IS REQUIRED FOR ANY CLAIMS.
Desertion:
When leaving a faction, regardless of the reason, there is a 2-week cooldown period during which you must actively play as a Loner before being allowed to join another faction.
You may desert your faction if you have strong RP reasons to do so, subject to the following conditions and restrictions:
PRIOR TO DESERTION, you must have an OOC conversation with an Admin and your Faction Lead regarding the gear you plan on taking and your RP reasons for desertion. Failure to do so may result in RP death and a strike.
Once you have deserted, you must actively play as a Loner for the next 7 days or risk being subjected to a Character Kill (CK) by Staff.
Your faction is allowed to discover your desertion IC and address it in their own way, including pursuing you for a potential CK.
Factions Relations and Warfare:
Allied (Blue on Relations Table):
Factions in this status can perform raids together and may come to each other's assistance in most situations.
If they travel in a group, they share initiation rights.'
Factions can form alliances with only 1 other faction at a time, but they can be friendly with up to 3.
Friendly (Green on Relations Table):
Factions in this category are generally friendly toward each other.
Minimal hostility should exist between members.
They may be allowed to assist each other in certain battles or raids, but it's not automatically assumed that they are working together if in a group.
Neutral (Yellow on Relations Table):
These factions have a neutral stance towards each other.
They hold no strong feelings, and interactions will depend on individual relations.
Hostile (Orange on Relations Table):
Factions in this status are not friendly.
Expect potential attacks, robberies, or hostile encounters when encountering members of a hostile faction.
While there is no Kill on Sight (KOS), they may choose to aggress on you through actions like pointing guns, making threats, robbery, or hostage-taking. Some interaction must occur before lethal actions are taken.
WAR (Red on Relations Table):
Factions in this status are actively at war with each other.
They may engage in Kill on Sight (KOS) behavior at any location that is not their faction base.
They may not enter a hostile base unless it's part of a ticketed raid or if they are in disguise.
Additional Notes:
Changing the relation status between factions requires opening a faction-request ticket and providing RP reasoning for the relations switch.
Wars have a maximum duration of 14 days and must have a declared reason and goal at the outset.
The factions at war may come to an agreement OOC regarding the outcome, or they can defer to Staff to observe based on their in-game actions.
Article 8. Raids
Raid Guidelines:
A Raid is an attack on a base belonging to a hostile or neutral faction or loner group, carried out by either a loner group or a faction. These raids must have a valid RP reason for initiation, which may include:
Saving a hostage.
Enforcing punishment for breaking a treaty.
Robbing stalkers within the attacker's territory.
When a raid is initiated, the defending faction must unlock every locked door and storage in their base, with the exception of a safe room.
To organize a raid, the following steps should be taken:
Designate a Raid Leader responsible for filing a ticket detailing the RP reasoning and the intended time for the raid.
Staff will inquire about the number of participants from both sides and attempt to arrange a suitable time for the raid to ensure a fair PvP experience.
Each side may have a maximum of 20 participants. Factions can request assistance from their Allied factions or attempt to negotiate with other factions to join the raid. These negotiations must be done in-character prior to the raid's commencement and with sufficient notice for Staff to plan accordingly.
Article 9. Safezones and Faction Bases
Rookie Village: A fully protected safezone guarded by Loners, where no hostile actions are allowed. Initiations, robberies, assaults, and killings are strictly prohibited within this area. The only exception is the Military's ability to raid Rookie Village for detainment and confiscation. The Military may conduct a maximum of one "Shakedown" per hour, requiring a minimum of 3 soldiers. Shakedowns are intended for the confiscation of illegal items or unlicensed firearms and should be conducted as such. Faction members present may leave or comply with the Shakedown. Shakedowns may result in injuries but should not lead to Heavy Wounds or death. They cannot be used as a pretext for initiation within Rookie's safezone.
Bar Areas: Designated bar areas, scattered throughout the map, are protected by the barkeepers' personal guards. These guards do not answer to any faction, including the one that owns the area where the bar is located. No fighting is tolerated within the bar, and guards will intervene and request that any disputes be taken outside. While fights that spill over into the bar may be concluded, no initiations may be started or targeted within the bar. Conducting searches and seizures inside a bar is also prohibited.
Faction Bases:
Perimeter Patrolling: Faction Bases have a designated perimeter patrolled by non-player members of that faction known as Metaguards. Initiations may not be initiated by individuals who are not members of that faction within these patrolled areas, except during a ticketed raid. Initiations made prior to entry into these areas remain valid unless the combatants have retreated behind locked doors. Once all members of one side have retreated behind locked doors, the fight is considered over, and the initiation is nullified. No combat may be directed at or conducted from behind locked doors.
Accessways and Camping: Faction Bases cannot have their accessways blocked or impeded directly, and camping locked doors or gates is not allowed. Waiting for faction members to exit their base must be done at a fair distance with a reasonable chance of retreat or escape. After an ambush or fight within a faction's territory, that area cannot be targeted for at least one hour from the conclusion of the fight. Faction leadership can communicate privately to indicate their recuperation time.
Business or Negotiation: Anyone present within a faction's base perimeter for business or negotiation may be instructed to leave and must comply. If they indicate compliance, they must be given the opportunity to do so without opposition.
Unsportsmanlike Behavior: Sitting directly outside faction base perimeters or engaging in unsportsmanlike behavior will be addressed at Staff discretion. Fair play and good judgment are expected of all players at all times.
-Faction base perimeters and safe zones may be observed in picture form by visiting the link [ Here ]
-Color Guide To Zones:
Base - Your actual base, secured by locked doors. Not a fighting area outside of raids.
No Initiation Zone - No initiations can be made other than by the owners of that base inside this area. If you are an enemy and come into this box willingly you take your life in your hands.
No Camping Zone - A basic guideline of distance to prevent people camping too closely to bases. This box is not the end-all and as we indicate in the doc, we expect people to exercise good judgment and fair play.
Article 10. Exceptions / Appendix
Appendixes provide additional information, explanations, and clarifications to the ruleset, including addressing common misconceptions. Here are the details from each of the appendices:
Appendix I:
The rules are heavily reliant on the availability of footage to verify claims. If you do not have recorded footage, it becomes challenging to verify the accuracy of your claims, and your ticket may be dismissed.
Appendix II:
In GM (Game Master) conducted events, GM factions or characters, such as Renegades, Monolith, Sin, or others, may not be required to value their lives. This exception is made specifically for events managed by GMs.
Appendix III:
Mercenaries who are under contract or being aggressed upon are not obliged to value their lives. They have a higher threshold for torture, set at 85.
Appendix IV:
Contracts still require substantiation. You cannot simply purchase a Character Kill (CK) with no evidence or reasoning, and proper identification must be established. Contracts do not override or nullify any other rules, including initiation rules unless explicitly stated otherwise in this document.
Appendix V:
No IC communication can happen outside of IC channels on our discord, our in-game PDA, and actual IC interactions on-server. No outside discords, calls, DMs, or other sources can be considered IC by any player at any time.