Bullying

Bullying is the act of repeated, targeted acts of harassment usually involving PvP-oriented violence. Since the term is officially left open to interpretation, it has been a topic of contention. Most typically, it is defined on MCO as "An act commited by a player for the sole purpose of denying another player the ability to play the game".

"Bullying" as the term is used on MCO is similar to "spawn-camping", "spawn-killing" or "soft-locking" in other types of games.

What counts as bullying

• Repeated and unwelcome aggressive acts against an unwilling and non-consenting player, who has previously asked the aggressor to leave them alone.

Acts of aggression can include but are not limited to:

• Attacking in player-versus-player combat PvP, to the point where the victim simply cannot play the game normally. Some examples being:
  • Waiting at a player's home or project for them to respawn or return so you can kill them again
  • Following the player all over the map specifically to kill them repeatedly.
  • Waiting someplace you know the player has to go to kill them each time they try.
• Inciting other players to attack the victim, so no one person can be blamed for repeated PvP.

The last point merits an additional note. The staff take a very dim view of anyone attempting to organize coalitions or gangs for the purpose of disrupting other players' enjoyment of the game, or harassing individuals. Organizing gangs attempting to bypass bullying rules by having each individual only kill the victim once has been attempted before, and has always led to the ban of the ringleaders.

What is not bullying

"i will report this to notch hes the one who made minecraft" - Thor_Eleanor

It's worth bearing in mind that not all aggression counts as bullying; after all, MinecraftOnline is a survival server, and theft, combat, death, and looting are a natural part of the game.

The following actions do not count as bullying:

• Mean words in chat, regardless of content. MCO has a policy of absolute freedom of speech in chat.
• Occasional infrequent PVP, particularly if the victim retains the ability to choose to go elsewhere and avoid additional combat.
• Consensual PvP where the players agree to duel or to exchange PvP head trophies, etcetera.
• Looting of unlocked containers, whether repeated or not. Lock your chests with blocks!
• Grief does not fall under the bullying category; any grief is subject to an immediate and permanent ban, and is not open to negotiation.
• Private message spam also falls under the normal spam rules, and is again subject to a permanent ban.
• Individual acts of aggression as a response being provoked by another player (e.g. offensive 'trolling' in chat, PvP, or other acts of aggression) will not be counted as bullying.
  • If the "victim" of the acts of aggression continues to provoke other players, their individual responses will continue to not count as bullying.
  • The "victim" must cease provoking other players and request that the aggression stop before further actions may be considered bullying. This is a mandatory step.
  • Responses to provocation may be considered bullying if they continue after the "victim" has ceased provocation and requested that the aggression stop.

MCO values free speech, which means you can say what you want without being banned for it, however, It does not mean that you're immune to the in-game results of angering other players on the server. Actions have consequences.

"Don't let your mouth write checks your *** can't cash." - Krenath

Dealing with Bullying

You can kill them first.

You can set traps in your builds to kill them. There are many creative ways to kill a player who is coming to kill you.

If the area isn't your home or project, you can simply choose to leave the area. The /home, /spawn, /rules, and /warp commands can quickly remove you from a hostile area.

If you feel you are being subjected to PvP beyond normal levels, the first action to take is to ask them, publicly, to desist. This is a mandatory step; if you are preparing to ask a member of staff to intervene on your behalf, the first thing they will ask you is whether you have asked the attacker to stop.

If you have asked your assailant on one or more occasions to stop and they have not, then you can report the matter to the administration by sending a detailed email to They can then issue a formal warning to the assailant to desist and leave you alone; if they fail to do this, they can be permanently banned.

How to make sure you do not become a bully

PvP and looting are perfectly acceptable on MinecraftOnline, and are part of the survival nature of the server. That being said, if your intended actions are likely to spoil the game experience of another player, you should consider whether you want to go through with those actions. For instance, if someone is in the middle of a delicate build, it may be a pretty bad time to attack them.

If a player has asked you to stop attacking or looting them, or to leave them alone, then you should do so. Do not wait for a member of staff to intervene; if they have to tell you to stop, it is likely to result in a warning on your record, which can then lead to an immediate ban on any further infraction. And nobody wants that.

If in doubt as to whether someone minds engaging in random PvP, you may want to try returning anything you've taken from them and gauging their response, and helping them to return to where they were previously, before ever considering attacking that player again. You may find that you've just made a new friend, or found a willing sparring buddy.

Admin Judgements

In the end, admins decide what is bullying, and what is not. Since Bullying is subjective, it is extremely rare for a player to get a Ban for Bullying, without getting a Warning first. It is not recommended to try arguing with an admin about getting a Warning. If you are asked by an admin to stop a behavior, it may well just be a politeness before giving you an official Warning.

< TheDarkrai85> mrninjalex
< TheDarkrai85> We need to talk
< TheDarkrai85> Your pvp along with 2b2tisfull's pvp has grown to be excessive enough to warrant a warning
< mrninjalex> i have pvped in maltapple twice.
< TheDarkrai85> You have a history, this is non-negotiable
< mrninjalex> i have never targeted any players repeatedly.
< TheDarkrai85> Don't give me that bullshit
< mrninjalex> i can't think of one player that i've gone to more than 3 times to pvp
< TheDarkrai85> You and I both know what you two are about, this is a formal warning and an olive branch for you to knock your shit off
< TheDarkrai85> Straighten out your act or we will do it for you, end of discussion.
< mrninjalex> this wasn't 1 sided either. each time in maltapple i've been met with a militia to fight against me.
< Ownagecat> you know, theres a reason why theyre willing to form a militia right
< mrninjalex> yes, but the point is, it isn't bullying.
< mrninjalex> pvping random players every few weeks is not bullying by any means.
< mrninjalex> pvping dozens of different players once or twice isn't bullying.
< mrninjalex> had all those attacks been on 2 or 3, i would see why
< TheDarkrai85> Im sorry, I forgot you're the admin.....wait

See also

• PVP
• Protecting Yourself From PVP
• Griefing
• Bans