SA:MP Server Rules

Basic rules: Argonath Rules

Last updated: 26/04/2018s

Cheating

All forms of cheating are strictly prohibited.

Cheating can be the use of a third party program that is capable of giving you an advantage over other players.
Money cheating can be having another person create an account for the sole purpose of sending you the start-up money or spending the start-up money in a way that directly benefits you.
Exploiting the script in any way that is unintended by the developers that gives you an advantage or using a bug or glitch in any way that gives you an advantage. Any deliberate action that gives you an unfair advantage over another player or group of players that was not intended by the developers is cheating.
Sharing cheats or such is not allowed.

Modifications

Players are allowed to use some visual modifications, it is up to players to determine if the modification is capable of giving them an unfair advantage before using it and you use them at your own risk. Claiming that you did not know an unfair advantage existed within the modification is not a valid defense. For further information about modifications see this post.

No mods allowed except purely visual txd changes. Any change of vehicle model, object or player model can cause you to be banned if found it gives you a (dis)advantage.

Glitch/Script Abuse

Exploiting the script in any way that is unintended by the developers or using a bug or glitch in any way that gives you an advantage over other players and will result in a permanent ban. This includes, but is not limited to, the following:

Game mechanic glitches such as crouch bugging (C-Bugging) and slide bugging (C-Walk). (even if you are doing it alone and in the middle of nowhere)
Entering a locked vehicle and trying to drive it, paint it, or shooting it's tires in order to disable it.
Pausing during a role-play situation, during combat, or while being suspected.
Healing during combat. This does not include equipping armor. (Leaving combat scene to heal is allowed unless you're being followed by the attacker.)
Attempting to bypass the weapon restriction while car-surfing.
Usage of the tow script to disrupt other players or groups game-play for invalid role-play reasons.
Usage of the command (/jail) in an unfair way. (Such as camping in front of jail cells. Or going on police duty specifically to give minimal jail sentences to a friend.)
Usage of the command (/gu) to avoid death by another player. This does not take place during shootouts with cops.
Usage of the command (/vehicles) to prevent a vehicle from blowing up by despawning it.
Usage of the command (/q) to prevent death.
Usage of any command such as (/kill) or (/q) to avoid a role-play situation.
Usage of the command (/kill) (or any intentional form of dying) as a method of teleporting.
Usage of the command (/kill) (or any intentional form of dying) below 20% health as a method of healing.

Roleplaying

All players should attempt to roleplay at all times and are expected to roleplay within the boundaries of these rules. This means player's cannot refuse to roleplay or behave in a manner that is clearly an attempt to ruin the situation that is currently on-going. Failing to respond to /me and /em actions will be taken as refusal to roleplay.
If you wish to get out of the roleplay situation you are in then you must do so within roleplay boundaries, you cannot quit the game or simply run off or even have a staff member teleport you. Those that do will simply be punished.
Excessive language within roleplay is fine unless someone in your group gets upset at what is being said then you should stop if told to do so by a Staff member. Have common courtesy to respect others and not everyone may be fine with what is going on so do take the time to ask if this type of roleplay is okay for them.
Players must be somewhat realistic with their roleplay, give others a chance to respond to your role-play actions, giving them no chance to respond or forcing them into a situation is not allowed.
Usage of /gm (group message), public chat or other non role-play communication ways to call for backup in kidnapping/similar situations are deemed false and are set to a punishment.
OOC and IC are still not supported by Argonath but we do allow it long as it isn't forced onto those you are role-playing with.

Deathmatching

Deathmatching is defined as attacking another player without a role-play reason and is strictly prohibited. This includes, but is not limited to, the following:
Killing any player on sight without interacting with them or giving them a chance to role-play.
Killing any player after insufficient/poor role-play situations. (Such as shouting Stop several times, or if someone refused to obey you in a robbery.)
Revenge Killing which means killing a player who had just killed you.
Returning to a role-play scene after you die for revenge or to help any remaining friends. (If you return to watch you're liable of being reported.)
The use of any vehicle to injure any other player (Car Killing/Car Parking) or to destroy their vehicle. (Ramming)
Attacking someone only because one of his/her group members attacked you.
Any act or actions which are likely or intended to cause death or harm to one or more people whom maybe associated with a role-play situation. (e.g intentionally causing an explosion where players are nearby is mass deathmatching)

Copbaiting

Any act of baiting cops to suspect, chase or shoot you is strictly prohibited. You should not preform any act or actions which directly or indirectly attempt to get you suspected by the police.

Do not escape or fight if surrendered to the police.
If a group of suspects have been barricaded inside a property, other civilians/suspects may not enter it after police are outside (Even if there is just 1 cop outside).
Players cannot help/aid suspects after the police arrives to the situation or during an active pursuit.

Suspects are not allowed to suicide by anyway.

Cop hunting

Once you are suspected by the means of an Officer or having killed another player your objective is to escape and lose your wanted level. You should at no time attempt to hunt down or bait cops to give chase to you and anyone else with you at that time, doing so falls under the term 'cop-baiting' and will result in punishment. Once you lose your wanted level you may continue to stick with your current group of player's if they are wanted or not but you face being suspected once again.

If you are with another member of your current group/family/gang and they are wanted and you are not you may assist them in holding off the law, as long as you were present at that exact moment and not 300 feet away. The same can apply if you are in a vehicle with someone who is wanted and you are not, you may open fire as you yourself have been attacked there-fore allowed to shoot back. This only applies if you were in the vehicle at that time.

Picking up a random player who is wanted by the law is allowed, the cops should suspect you for aiding and abetting in this type of situation.

Police rules

You must always give suspects a chance to surrender before engaging with lethal force, unless the suspects engage you before being permitted the chance to ask them to surrender.
Do not injure suspects who surrender.
Nobody can be forced to stay inside the jail after the scripted time expires.
Mis-Using duty rights or suspecting other players for no apparent role-play reason to disrupt/annoy their game-play is not allowed. Make sure to not blatantly suspect others for false crimes.
Acting corrupt is completely fine as long as its set to proper role-play.
Intentional infractions against server police rules can result in an administrative cop ban.
You can not taser a player that is actively shooting.

Group/Family rules

You are not allowed to use a racist or offensive name for your group.
Impersonating clan/group tags will get yourself banned.

Group/Gang wars

Never fight another group because you hate them.
Clan wars for invalid/weak reasons will be considered as mass death-matching. Clans and Groups can be disbanded by the administrators if problems persist. (Simple swearing and insults are deemed as a weak reason to attack anyone.)
Every member of each group involved should personally know the role-play reason why you are having a fight.
Avoid populated areas such as parks and governmental buildings.
Groups that claim they own land or turf, have no authority over who enters that area, and as a consequence are not allowed to kill/attack people for trespassing. Players can protect their property if they are under threat, however there should be a reasonable role-play reason for the threat in the first place.
Those that are killed should not return and rearm themselves for a second round, you should stay clear of the situation till it is over. If you were pulled out by a member of staff for other reason you may rejoin, if you quit or crash mid-way through you may also rejoin (purposely crashing to rejoin isn't allowed).

Once an attack is over the attackers should leave the area and return to their own territory. Any retaliation attacks may only be carried out THREE HOURS after the initial attack occurred (This does NOT mean dead players may return to the role-play situation). There must be valid grounds as to why you are attacking another faction, excuses such as; "we don't like them, they called us idiots" or anything else along those lines a staff member has all the right to put a stop to it.

If you have been killed and you don't know why, you may ask your killer for clarification. If you are the killer and are being asked this question you are obligated to tell them the reason behind it. If you are unhappy with the reason provided you may report them for further investigation.

Disruption to players

Any action that unreasonably disrupts the game play of others outside of a role-play context is prohibited. This includes, but is not limited to, the following:

Using the chat system to send abusive or provocative messages.
Any form of Cyber bullying, racism or harassment are strictly forbidden. (Sexual/Rape role-plays must be agreed by the victim beforehand.)
Slang is only allowed as a part of role-play (Swearing as personal attack on players is forbidden).
Ruining game-play/role-play of others.
Impersonating players nicks or regular clans/groups tags.
Making malicious or untrue reports about a player.

Disruption to the Server or it's Staff

Any action that unreasonably disrupts or interferes with the smooth running of the server is prohibited. This includes, but is not limited to, the following:

Causing the server to be unstable or causing it to crash or lag.
Causing any harassment towards a staff member or deliberately interfering with or obstructing staff members from doing their work.
Failing to follow valid instructions from members of staff or attempting to argue back.
Stunting.

Chat rules

Misusing any chat window to disrupt the server and its players is prohibited. This includes, but is not limited to, the following:

Speaking non-English languages on the public chat.
Flooding or Spamming any chat window.
Advertising services on the public chat that meant to be done by (/ad).
Mis-using help requests (/h). (Help requests are to be used only for help questions regarding scripts or (in-game/forum) related questions.)

Key-binds

Usage of keybinds are allowed as long as they're set to the following rules:

You are not permitted to use keybinds as a form of botting. While keybinds are running, the player MUST be present at the computer and awake.
You are not permitted to create keybinds or programs with allow for unattended automation of tasks.
You are not permitted to create keybinds which are complex enough to span over 30 seconds of automated activity, interaction, or any other applicable action.

Sensitive discussions

Discussions regarding "sensitive" topics such as personal matters, religion, politics are not encouraged in most cases.

Religious and Political discussions are prohibited on public chat.
Pornographic content (Including distribution and discussion) is not allowed.

Mis-use of advertisements

The advertisement command (/ad) is there so players can advertise legitimate in-game businesses and services, player may use it to hide inconspicuous advertisements that may mean something else. The following are a few examples of what you shouldn't be advertising.

Narcotics and/or illicit items that are obviously not meant to be advertised to the general public.
Criminal groups that are announcing they are recruiting members.
Attempting to provoke and/or undermine other players or groups/businesses.

Scamming

A scam is any act of dishonesty or fraud that is used for financial gain to the detriment of another player. Where this is done during any activity that is defined as "legal" it is prohibited, in addition any scam against a new player (not older then 1 month) is prohibited regardless of whether the activity is legal or illegal.

Items that are deemed illegal such as narcotics and weapons that have been scammed by another player during a transaction is not subject to punishment as it is allowed within the server. Examples of legal and illegal deals:

Selling/Buying properties, selling/buying vehicles, legal loans that are signed by a contract, weapons deals inside ammunation. Are examples of legal deals that is prohibited to scam with. These also cannot be used as collateral as a stake during a casino game (inside of a casino). If you wish to stake these items then sell them and use the funds to gamble.
Dealing narcotics, weapon dealing outside ammunation. Are examples of illegal deals that is allowed to scam with.

Scamming is also not permitted inside any official casino buildings by gambling through the Blackjack game or using dice. Gambling outside of a casino is not protected so we will not refund any lost money or items.

Properties

Properties with no size means it cannot have a different interior than the one is currently has.
Properties that are deemed invalid will be force sold without notice. These include houses set at the back of businesses or a business set as a house for example.
Properties that are found to be under valued will be revalued to the correct price. The owner must sell the property and will have first say on the re-purchase, if they cannot afford the new value they will have up to five days or the property will be up for public sale.
Properties should not be renamed to cause offensive/provoke or flame other players or groups.
Property value will not be modified upon request so it can be bought cheaper.
Properties will not be sold upon request.
Properties will not be transferred to another player account unless a binding contract has been accepted by the courts stating who shall receive the property in the event of the owner being banned or going inactive.
Objects shall not be placed at the entry spawn position to a property.
Objects shall not be used to create offensive text such as large scale signs that may offend others.
Objects shall not be placed in a way that makes it impossible or hard for other players to reach in.

Usage of heavy weaponary/vehicles

RPG's can only be used against Aircraft's or Boats(if firing upon a taking off boat/plane/aircraft collateral damage is permitted)
Heavy Air (Hydra/Hunter) can only be deployed against aircrafts (Anything that operates itself within the air, and not on the ground.) or water vehicles (boats, hover crafts, etc.)
Heavy Air (Hydra/Hunter) can return fire if fired upon, how ever heavy air is not permitted to stay at a scene if no aircraft or boat is being used, they are permitted to stay and hover nearby airspace after an aircraft or water vehicle was recently operated by the individuals they're after.

Restricted gates and barriers

Gates that are restricted to groups can not be used to avoid role-plays. The gate must be opened after a decent role-play (Contact a staff member to oversee the situation).
Barriers may only be used for role-plays and spawned in a realistic role-play manner. The barriers must be removed once the role-play ends.

Other unfair or unreasonable behavior

Players are expected to behave fairly and reasonably at all times; any action or behavior that is deemed to be unfair or unreasonable is prohibited. The following are some examples of behavior that is unreasonable or unfair:

Carjacking/Ninja jacking someone's vehicle by using force. This includes stealing a players vehicle when he/she has clear intention to use with no proper role-play with him/her.
Attempting to escort/help suspects who have surrendered.
Misusing rights that come with particular roles such as issuing passports or driving licenses without proper process.
Saving vehicle's main spawn point on state territories or around governmental buildings.
Choosing to play a role that is likely to cause offence, upset or unreasonable disruption to others.
Attempting to continue the same role-play scenario after you have been killed.
Intentionally drive-bying from a vehicle that has no driver.
Using trains as a suspect making it impossible for cops to reach.
Spawn killing (except where a player spawns after entering a building).
Misleading new players or intentionally giving false information about legitimate commands.
Attempts to avoid or ignore administration punishment.

Advertising

Advertising other servers or communities in any chat channel is strictly prohibited and will result a permanent removal from the server. This includes, but is not limited to, the following:

Advertisements of groups that do not belong to Argonath RPG community and/or do not have agreement are forbidden.
Recruiting other Argonath players to another server even via chat applications (Facebook, Skype).

Multiple accounts and sharing accounts

Each player may create and use one account only; creating or using a second or subsequent accounts for any reason is prohibited. Logging into an account of another player with or without their permission is prohibited.

Enticing or encouraging rule breaking

Intentionally engaging in any act that is likely to directly encourage a player to break the rules is prohibited. This includes, but is not limited to:

Using a leadership role within a group to order subordinates to break the rules.
Using rule breaking as an initiation into a group or a test of loyalty.
Giving support to someone you know to be banned and is evading the ban by using another account.

Trading in-game items for real life currency

Buying or selling, or offering to buy or sell, any in-game item including, but not limited to, characters, items or currency for real-life money is prohibited.

Naming your character

Players may choose any name they like with some exceptions. Names that are made up of numbers or symbols, names that are intended to impersonate another player and names that are likely to cause offence or include obscenities are prohibited.

Unreadable nicknames are not allowed (Please refrain from using <>?/|\{}()-=+/*- due to the server's RPG script commands).

Ban evading

If a player has been banned from the server, whether it is a full ban or a temporary ban, he may not enter the server on any account until the ban has been formally lifted.

Administrative enforcement of unlisted rules or offenses

Although we strive to cover as much ground as possible with our rules while also maintaining a concise, clear tone, it is unrealistic for a new rule to be created for every single possible situation that may occur in an environment as dynamic as Argonath's. Therefore, administrators are permitted to use their powers for infractions or situations not specifically outlined in the rules at their discretion in order to enforce a positive and friendly server atmosphere. Administrators may also use their powers to enforce regulations created by management in response to a newly released feature until the official rules list is updated accordingly.

Claiming that your offense "was not listed as against the rules" is not a valid argument to challenge an administrator's decision, which is always final. Spamming an administrator's PM with constant complaints impedes upon their ability to do their job efficiently and thus may be punishable. While it is completely reasonable to politely ask the punishing administrator for clarification on a decision that was made via PM, attempting to start an argument about the matter in public chat is disruptive to other players and will be dealt with accordingly.

Some examples of unlisted rules or infractions that may be enforced include, but are not limited to:

Enforcing the rules of a player or admin-hosted event, and punishing those who choose to ruin the event for others.
Spreading slander (false information deliberately made to harm an individual's reputation) on a player or administrator.
Providing new players with weapons to bypass the passport limitation on buying weapons without taking the time to make them at least somewhat familiar with the rules, which indirectly encourages the new player to deathmatch. Giving a new player weapons with the sole intention of enabling the player to deathmatch others may be punished severely.
Taking advantage of a new player's lack of server knowledge for your own personal gain.
Roleplays or roleplay groups with themes that revolve around potentially controversial or offensive historical/current events, tragedies, or politics.

Administrators are entrusted to use their best judgment in any situation they may encounter while on duty and choose the best course of action, even if the situation at hand currently has no rules or regulations written about it. This is not to say that administrators are free to create and enforce their own rules however they please, nor can they make decisions that directly go against what is stated in the rules. Rather, administrators are simply given the wiggle room to act as deemed necessary in response to a server environment that is constantly moving forward. This will allow administrators to streamline the process of adapting to new and unfamiliar situations in order to more efficiently deal with disruptive influences or individuals attempting to bend the rules, and overall contribute to a more peaceful server environment for all players to enjoy. However, if you feel that an administrator's decision on a matter not discussed in the rules was unreasonable or unfair in some way, you can either ask a manager for clarification on the issue, or follow the steps listed in rule #12 on how to send a report on an administrator.

Interacting with Staff

The decisions of the administrators in the server must be accepted and followed without argument. Admins have a range of punishments they may issue and they have the authority to decide what action to take in any given situation. Note that something not appearing on this list is not a reason to argue with or ignore administration.

Administrators do have to follow a code of conduct and their use of commands is bound to a set of rules and guidelines that they must follow; if you feel an admin has misused or overstepped their position, or made an incorrect decision, it should be reported by using the report function on the forum or by sending an email to