TF2Center Rules

We strive to make TF2Center a positive gaming community where players of all skill levels can enjoy playing competitive TF2 together peacefully. In order to accomplish that and ensure your experience with TF2Center is as pleasant as possible, we have agreed on this set of rules. We expect players to abide by these rules whilst using TF2Center services. Please read them carefully, try to follow them at all times and encourage other players to abide by them in good faith. The TF2Center staff will enforce these rules and they can assist you if you are having any issues with other players.

If you feel you were unjustly sanctioned, you are welcome to appeal moderation action on our discord server.

0. Golden Rule: treat others as you would like to be treated.

This is the core idea of the rules below. They are a general outline for what is and isn't allowed whilst using this service. There can always be cases that are not fully covered by these rules and our staff may impose punishments on individuals providing disruption to the service that aren't explicitly laid out in these rules.

1. Profile Rules

1.1 Offensive names

Names that are blank or that have potential to cause offense to other players - including but not limited to: general derogatory language, directed derogation, discrimination, sexual language, or are generally disrespectful - are not allowed on the site.

1.2 Inappropriate avatar

Avatars that portray imagery or text that is generally derogatory, directly derogatory, discriminatory, sexual, or generally disrespectful are not allowed.

1.3 Impersonating a TF2Center staff member / General Impersonation

Attempts to impersonate a TF2Center staff member, even in parody, are prohibited. The same applies to logging in and playing with a name chosen to impersonate a regular player or otherwise using an impersonated name to defame a player's name or otherwise deceive the community.

1.4 Inappropriate personal content

We do not allow sprays, signatures or other publicly visible personal content that portray imagery or text that is generally derogatory, directly derogatory, discriminatory, sexual, or generally disrespectful.

1.5 Ban Evasion

Using alternate accounts or VPNs to evade a ban of any kind will be considered a serious offense with repercussions against all accounts involved.

2. Chat Rules

2.1 Offensive Language

Language with the potential to cause offense to other players, including but not limited to: general derogatory language, directed derogation, discrimination, sexual language, or general disrespect towards other players will not be tolerated.

2.2 Inappropriate advertising

Advertising is not allowed. Links to affiliated sites such as UGC, ETF2L, ESEA, ozFortress, backpack.tf and other major community websites are acceptable unless they are posted excessively or repetitively.

2.3 Spamming

Sending the same message repeatedly to flood the chat (may include the excessive use of nonsensical sentences or structures) is not allowed.

2.4 Language

As an international site, we need a common language in which all players can communicate. Therefore, English is the only language allowed to be used in our services. This applies to main chat, lobby chat, discord and Mumble. This rule is also needed to ensure that our moderators can follow what is said and react accordingly to rule violations.

2.5 Personal Attacks

Racism or bigotry of any kind which includes remarks that attack anyone's race, sex, religion, nationality, culture, or sexual orientation is strictly prohibited.

2.6 Trading

All kinds of trading activities - which include public trade requests in the chat and Mumble, trading announcements or trading spam - are prohibited on TF2Center.

2.7 Porn and morbid visual content

Porn links, morbid videos or images are strictly prohibited.

2.8 Arguing Bans

Arguing about a ban in main chat isn't allowed. Instead post an unban request on Discord.

2.9 Ban Rules exploitation

Attempting to find loopholes within the ban-list to try to exploit the reason for which you were banned is not acceptable. The Rules are here as guidelines and do not define every reason in which a player could be banned. If you have an issue with a ban, please use the Unban requests section of the Discord.

3. Hacking/Exploitation - Strictly Prohibited

3.1 Third party manipulation tools

Using or encouraging the use of third party tools to manipulate the game client, including but not limited to wall hacks, aim bots, anti-recoil utilities, or other multihack utilities designed to influence the client and play.
In scenarios of cheating suspicions, TF2C staff may request a POV demo from the accused player

3.2 Exploitation of game client

Exploitation of the game client including excessive or abusive manipulation of interpolation ratios, ping registration, or texture modifications designed to be advantageous for the player.

3.3 Exploiting map glitches/defects

Abusing faults in the maps to get under/outside of the map, into another team's spawn, or to otherwise gain significant advantage in play. Please note there are additional areas that may be deemed 'exploitable' for Engineers, and are therefore out of bounds for building upon.

4. Destructive Behaviour

4.1 Idling inappropriately

Idling or not engaging in play on a server wherein it is inappropriate.

4.2 Ghosting/Spectator abuse

Using spectator positions - whether spectator team or upon-death-spectate - to gain an advantage or otherwise spoil a means of play, such as giving away another player's position making them vulnerable to attack - is strictly prohibited.

4.3 Leaving Lobbies

It is expected of all players in a Lobby to play the Lobby to completion. If you have to leave a Lobby you are expected to report yourself first and wait for a substitute to arrive. If you cannot wait, clear the slot by joining spectator or disconnecting from the server (by disconnecting, TF2Center system will automatically give you a Cooldown ban).
Excessive Rage Quitting can give additional penalties.

4.4 Sedition towards TF2Center

Behaviour or actions that seek to undermine TF2Center as a whole, including maligning, dissuading players, misleading others with misinformation regarding TF2Center, encouraging rule violations on TF2Center services or against TF2Center staff will result in a serious penalty.

4.5 Inappropriate behaviour & offclassing

Wasting time in Lobbies, inappropriate offclassing and being antagonistic to other players is prohibited.
In offclassing-allowed Lobbies, any player may offclass at any time (this includes the medic). In non-offclassing Lobbies, only scouts and roamer defending or pushing the last point are allowed to offclass. This rule will be automatically enforced - players playing pocket soldier, demoman and medic will receive an automatic cooldown if they offclass.
Using troll loadouts/subclasses (e.g. Battle Medic, Demoknight, Trolldier, Fat Scout Heavy) can be considered a punishable offense. You may temporarily switch to such a loadout for match balancing purposes AND if your teammates don't object.

4.6 Microphone Spamming

Using the microphone to make non-communicative noises, including but not limited to the use of microphone pass-through tools to play music, nonsense noises, screaming, singing, or otherwise inappropriate use of the microphone is not allowed.

5. Violation of Law

5.1 Suspect violation of law

Behaviours that are suspect of violating EU or UK law, including but not limited to serious cases of harassment, threats of violence, or actions that may denote pedophilia. TF2Center administrators are not litigators, but do our best to comply with the laws that govern the country our servers are hosted within.

5.2 Defaulted payments

Failure to adhere to good will with TF2Center when donating; donator rights are a gift in exchange for your contribution. Defaulting on the payment through chargebacks, closed accounts, reported accounts, or otherwise circumventing execution of the transfer of funds without a reason will result in a permanent ban.

5.3 Stalking

Any identified activity consisting of the repeated following and harassing of another person can be considered a violation of law and will result in a severe penalty.

5.4 Personal information / Doxxing

The sharing of personal information that can potentially identify a player offline (phone number, real name, address, social media, etc...), be it your own or someone else's information is prohibited. This applies to both consented and non-consented cases as this is to keep your safety in mind. Any doxxing attempt will result in a permanent ban with no appeal.

6. Play Guidelines

6.1 Rep Abuse

Players of all skill levels are welcome on TF2Center. Players can use the !rep tool only to remove AFK players and players displaying disruptive behaviour (see pt. 4 of the Rules) after a warning in chat. Forbidden/Prohibited reasons to use the !rep tool include:

• Removing a player because you don't like that player's gameplay for some reason not listed in pt 4 of the Rules.
• Grouping up on a user and !repping because you do not personally like them
• Removing a player to "make room for a friend" via the sub request - (you may ask politely if they could rep themselves, more often than not, a friendly player will give up their spot willingly)
• !rep a player because they "look too good to not be hacking". If you suspect a player is hacking, save a demo and post a ban request on Discord after the game.

6.2 Cooldowns

If you are reported for substitution for any reason, you will face the following scaling penalties:

Cooldown (Join Lobby Ban):

• Level 0: 30 mins
• Level 1: 1 hour
• Level 2: 2 hours
• Level 3: 4 hours
• Level 4: 1 day
• Level 5: 2 days
• Level 6+: 7 days

the cooldown penalty will NOT be applied if you wait for your substitute to join. You can further reduce your cooldown level by taking sub spots and finishing every 3 Lobbies. The cooldown periods also apply for offclassing and mumble cooldowns.

7. Lobby Creator Guidelines

7.1 Server Quality

Lobby servers must be fit for competitive play, and must be as lag-free as possible. They must have the appropriate whitelists installed, and must not have any gameplay altering mods loaded for the duration of the match.

7.2 RCON usage

Leaders should avoid using RCON, most commands needed are issued by TF2Center, and unruly players may be removed via !rep. RCON may be used only for the following:

• changelevel: to set the map back to the one the Lobby was started on.
• sv_password: to set the password back to the Lobby password (note: you may use the re-initialise Lobby button on the page to expedite this).
• kick a player that has been !rep'ed and is not playing or griefing
• kick a player for offclassing in a non-offclassing lobby that refuses to switch back to their class

You may use rcon kicked/banned only if accompanied by a ban request on Discord. Misuse of this may be met with a ban.

7.3 Configuration issues

TF2Center automatically configures servers. Using your own modified config files is not permitted. In the case that we are unable to properly configure your game, please make a bug report on the forums. Using your own modified configs to play with a different ruleset then selected can result in a ban.

7.4 CVAR modifications

Changing of gameplay modifying CVARs (sv_cheats, gravity) is not tolerated and will be met with lengthy Lobby creation bans. Disabling TF2Center's log listener will be met with a severe ban as we use this for moderation purposes.

7.5 Time requirements

For the duration of the Lobby the server you provide must be reserved for exclusive use by TF2Center. A Lobby may not be ended prematurely, (except for situations in rule 8.3) and win conditions must be met for the Lobby to end. This includes ending the Lobby via rcon to use the server for any other purpose.

8. Lobby Tools Usage

8.1 Use of Lobby kick/ban tools

Leaders are encouraged to be good hosts, respect other players and use these tools sparingly. Any abuse of these tools will be met with a punishment.
It is acceptable for Lobby leaders to kick those players who are constantly griefing them, but we encourage you to instead try to solve such animosities with each other either directly or with the help of a moderator (report the altercation on the discord if it escalates). The usage of these tools must be accompanied by a message on the lobby chat explaining the kick/ban reason.

8.2 Slot Reservation

If the Lobby is full, almost ready and there are still reserved slots unfilled, Lobby leaders are obliged to unlock them immediately.

8.3 Closing Lobbies

The close Lobby function is only permissible where there is an obvious issue with the Lobby and a majority of players are calling for closure. This does not include when your team is losing or you personally are not having a good time.
The TF2Center staff team has the right to close any Lobby at any time, typical reasons for this include but are not limited to: keeping the Lobby flow going, removing duplicates (badwater pro, rc, rainy, etc..)

8.4 Slot Requirements

Slot requirements must be intended for the general good of the Lobby. Intentional trolling with requirements (excessive Lobby or hour requirements) will result in a Lobby closing and/or a ban.

8.5 Use of external tools

Use of external tools, like browser plugins to gain an unfair advantage over other players is not allowed (example: auto-taking of slots).

9. Advanced Lobbies (ALs) additional rules

9.1 Play seriously

Advanced Lobbies are made with the thought of playing the game seriously and at a higher level than standard lobbies, while still keeping their regular format. This means a zero tolerance policy for trolling of any sorts.You can have fun without ruining the experience for others. That's why we also encourage people to play ALs to the best of their abilities, including communicating with others in Mumble as an integral part of competitive TF2 experience.

9.2 Voice chat usage

Using voice communication in competitive TF2 is extremely important to ensure best results for teamwork and, further, winning. Before joining Advanced Lobbies make sure your audio settings are tuned correctly and your microphone is working fine. While we understand that English is not everyone's first language, we strongly encourage you to actively participate, or at least be present in the mumble channel to be able to listen to your teammates.

If you do not join mumble voice chat for communicating, you will be met with a Mumble-required lobby cooldown. After frequent offenses, your access to Advanced Lobbies will be removed.

9.3 Offclassing in Advanced Lobbies

Offclassing with the intent to disrupt the lobby will be met with a penalty the same as non-offclassing standard lobbies. The only difference is that after the 3rd offense, the player will have their Advanced Lobby access taken away.