Server admin Etiquette

[DocPossible]

Pro server owners and referees have godlike powers over the pitiful mortals that chose to join their offerings. With great power comes great responsibility, or so I've been told, so how should we exercise this power ?

Mostly this concerns the etiquette around kicking players. This is my approach :

No In Game voting allowed.
Vote kicking a player in game is open to abuse and has been abused more on my servers than it has proved useful. If a player really is behaving so badly that he needs to be shown the door while the game is running then the admin / referee can do that.

Never Kick In-Game *
Well, never say never, but kicking in game is a pretty dramatic thing to do. Ask yourself if you could wait until the end of the game, then kickban. The problem with booting players during a game is that it gets you a reputation, especially if you're removing players that are doing well. There are plenty of complaints on the forums from players that were kicked just as they or there team were about to win a match. If they were behaving so badly up to then, why wait until the last few seconds ?

Reasons to Kick In-Game
Chat abuse. no need for /ignore on your own server. Foul and abusive chat = boot
Team killing.

Reasons Not to Kick In-Game
They're winning. nuff said. Looks like sour grapes on your part.
Suspected of hacking. Most hacusations are wrong. Obvious wall hacks just aren't. Kick them at the end and send in the demo.

Ready up
If you've left the Ready up percentage at 100% (I try to remember to set it to 51%), you'll probably find one or two people that take their time to F3. I use allready to get the game going, but try to give people some warning. I give em a countdown from 3, then allready

Lock Teams
If you started a 5v5 server, but have a 3v3 ready to go, lock teams before starting. If other people subsequently join and unbalance the game, its YOUR fault.

Kickban
This is done using Player IDs, so you can't do it until someone joins :/ This is a pain in the painplace, but it's how it is. All you can do is ban early when someone reprehensible joins the server. I have a short, but growing list of scumbags...

Leaving the Server
If you leave, make sure you op at least one of the current players, preferably someone you know and trust. It's a bind not having a ref on the server.


Well, that's how I try to run my servers. I like to err on the side of caution when it comes to kicking people, but once they on my banlist they don't get another chance. I try to make my servers a friendly place to be and most of the time don't have to do anything. I'd be interested in your comments and suggestions.

[Mike68]

Nice, very thoughtful list.

Where do you stand on dropping inactive players (we can do that now)? I've set it at two minutes, but I'm not sure if this is a bit short.

[TaRGeT]

this is the problem :

Kickban
This is done using Player IDs, so you can't do it until someone joins :/ This is a pain in the painplace, but it's how it is. All you can do is ban early when someone reprehensible joins the server. I have a short, but growing list of scumbags...

we have no other way of keeping them off of our servers.. i have two problem players that i would love for you to take and sit them in the corner and tell them they better be good or their gunna have to sit in the corner again. what they really need is someone to catch them off somewhere when they leave their house and knock the **** out of them a few times then i bet we see some changes.

[Yakumo]

two games is way too long, 2/3 minutes tops. that's enough to answer the door for your average delivery, and after that reconnect if they have to.

[theMolester]

I run a 16 slot, 7v7 CTF "STANDARD" server. I set inactivity boot to 60 seconds. If you need more than a minute, go to spec.

If someone is being obnoxious, or doing minor bad behavior, I force them to SPEC so I can be sure they read what my problem is with what they are doing, then place them back ingame.

I can't always keep teams locked, being my server is 'standard' and 'public', people come/go too much. I do use team lock when a truly GG is happening. Remember, 5v4 or 7v6 isn't necessarily an uneven match.

Proper server moderation also means keeping lists of the good players, not just the bad.

[theMolester]

Also, if you wear a clan tag, I will assume you are experienced and hold you to a higher standard.

[Mike68]

I've settled on two and a half minutes. Like Mum used to say - "you should have gone for a wee first".


Edit: Just realised inactivity drop can be either 2 or 3 minutes, won't let me do 2 1/2.

[swampy]

I've never had a problem with people wearing clan tags.. 2 minutes is good,. I'll kick to spec first unless it's overt racial, sexist, fu fu fu spam.

Never kick when I'm losing..cause I lose a lot..lol.. Also I've gone back to spawning a server in my Tier..making Tier slumming whining invalid. 51 % to start..good. I hate 5 minutes of pre game voting.. Auto shuffle on by skill! That's that!

[runny]

Server admin Etiquette - just morals should be pretty obvious imo however for those that don't have any... perhaps listen .. nice post

oh for pickup's i tend to op 3/4 people before i leave, and trusted only for ops on any other server i spawn

[muckyman]

I`m a grown up,i uaually let anyting go but continuous personal abuse goes to far in my opinion and will get ppl kicked same as mad chat spammers and warpers thats about all that i won`t stand.