Staff Rules

Respect other players & staff
This should be self explanatory. Do not start pointless arguments, do not insult, disrespect or be rude to other staff members or players. Being overly aggressive or hostile comes under this, and should be avoided. This also applies to staff titles in game, which admins should not be editing for comedic purposes (such as turning a Moderators title into Loser, or a Game Administrators into Badmin).

Do not use your powers to give yourself an IC advantage
Do not edit your IC sprites, edit items you are using IC, give yourself rejuvenations (unless given permission by an uninvolved administrator) or otherwise give yourself advantages or IC things that normal players cannot obtain.

• This includes anything that a normal player cannot obtain during the normal course of the round.
• Re-spawns are exempt.
• There may be times when this can be excused, but you must obtain senior/head admin permission first.

Do not ICly act on knowledge gained via your powers
This should be self explanatory. If you learn something using admin powers, do not act on it ingame. At all. Ever.

Be a part of the team
Communicate with other staff members where required, such as if an issue becomes apparent and needs to be resolved, or if something is unclear and needs clarification. Contact head staff if there are issues between administrators that needs resolving. Follow direction & judgement of ranks above yours. Do not attempt to instigate drama within the team, etc.

Be professional
Try to maintain some semblance of professionalism. To an extent, this includes having coherent English and grammatical skills. Even when de-adminned or visiting other servers this applies. If you are found to be misrepresenting our server or staff team on other SS13 servers, or in any BS12 related channel, expect severe repercussions.

Respect staff & player confidentiality
Player notes, discussions about player or staff behavior, discussions about bans, and pretty much anything of sensitive nature discussed in any official staff channel is to be kept private unless permission is obtained from a Senior Admin+.

Do not handle situations you are personally involved in
If something questionable, or rule violating has happened and you are personally involved or invested in some way, it's always best to hand it off to another administrator for unbiased handling. There are exceptions that can be allowed, such as cases of blatant grief (e.g. someone randomly every wing of the station at once for no reason), but in these instances common sense should be applied.

Be active on our IRC/Discord and forums
It is required and imperative that staff members be on our IRC channels or the Discord when administrating the server. It's also highly important that staff members keep up activity on our forums, as there may be discussions internally or externally that warrant input, opinion, or discussion. It's also a good thing to have administrators interacting with the community via these platforms.

• You are required to have a registered nick on IRC or an account on Discord
• Channels that all Staff are required to be active in - #bs12staff/#staff-room, #bs12admin, #staffcoach/#staffrequest, #bs12/#chatter. If you do not have access to these, contact a Head Admin.
• Channels that are optional but recommended for Staff to be active in - #codershuttle/#Coding
• You are not allowed to block the bridge between discord/IRC.
• If you require help getting on IRC, please contact any head administrator (or anyone else who knows how IRC works).
• IRC server - irc.sorcery.net
• Discord - https://discord.gg/bghCyYv

Keep a consistent identity between the server, forums, IRC/Discord, & Github where possible
To make sure that you can be easily identified and contacted by other staff and players, you should do your best to use the same name in our communication and collaboration services as you do in the game, or at least a name that is generally recognizable as you.

Do not play songs or midis on the server
Due to the poor nature of BYONDs sound engine, midis or sounds are not to be played on the server. An exception being, however, if said sounds help facilitate immersion during an administrative event.


There may be times or circumstances where a member of staff may need to be exempt from a rule for one reason or another. Whilst this is an unlikely and extraordinary circumstance, to facilitate this need a Senior/Head Administrator may give permission, under the condition that said Senior/Head Administrator becomes responsible for any actions and consequences that may result.

Intend to actively contribute
Staff roles are not titles for life - they are obligations that you accept for the good of the baystation12 community. When you become part of the staff team, you are doing so with the implicit expectation that you will be a member of that team, and that you will be able to contribute to the positions you hold regularly and well.

We understand that almost all commitments rate higher than keeping the rules on a 2D tile game. Therefore, we allow both for agreed periods of leave from staff commitments, which can be discussed with the staff manager as they are needed, and for a very low minimum of activity before we consider you to be effectively inactive.

The threshold for game staff to be considered effectively inactive is one normal round's worth of moderation or administration tasks handled within a two week window, noting that a "normal" round is one of reasonably high activity for the period being considered.

If you become unable or unwilling to participate as a member of staff and become effectively or entirely inactive, you will be given the opportunity to discuss the issue with senior members of staff. If no resolution can be found in discussion, or any changes discussed are not acted upon, you may be removed from any staff positions you hold without further delay.

Staff Discipline​

Retired Staff
Any staff that voluntarily retire or are retired due to inactivity will be recorded on the list of retired staff with their highest rank held. Retirement for inactivity is not punitive.

Rules Violations
Any Staff Member found to have violated these rules after an investigation by their senior administrator, in cooperation with their head administrator (with consideration to the advise of other senior staff), will receive an appropriate punishment from the selection below, as decided by the discretion of their senior and head administrators.

• Warning: A private notice to the staff member that their behavior has violated these rules. These warnings will go onto the record of that staff member, permanently, and may be used to guide judgement on repeat discipline.
  
• Suspension: Temporary removal from staff for a length of time between one week and indefinitely, as decided by the staff member's senior and head administrators. Suspension of a staff member will also go permanently onto their record.
  
• Removal: The staff member is stricken of some or all of their ranks, or demoted down their hierarchy, with or without provision to return. This would be reserved for serious misconducts or repeat behavior. Removal or demotion will permanently be noted onto that staff member's record, and note of it should be given serious consideration, should that staff member ever decide to try to regain their role.

Removal from Staff
Any staff member removed due to the above, or retired due to inactivity will be informed of the fact and why via PM on the forums on the same day they are removed or retired.

Head and Senior Staff Removal
To remove a head or senior staff member, you must start a vote of no confidence thread and poll in the General Staff Forums. Provide evidence of why they should be removed from the position, and seven days of polling. A staff majority is all that's required. After the vote, the rest of the head and senior team decides if the removed member should still retain their previous rank. Simple majority is required here, too.