These guidelines explain how staff on Voodoo ZA and the Voodoo Network deal with rule breaks, how long bans usually last, how network bans work, and how to appeal. They support the server rules and the Terms. Staff use judgement: the lengths below are typical, not fixed. Serious cases or repeat offenders can get more.
1. Actions and who can take them
| Staff tier | Can do |
|---|---|
| Moderator | Warn, mute, kick, and temporary bans of up to 7 days. Read chat, reports and the timeline, and moderate the gallery. |
| Admin | Everything a Moderator can, plus bans longer than the moderator limit, permanent bans, unbans, RCON, and submitting network bans. |
| Owner | Everything, including staff roles and settings. |
| Network moderator / platform admin | Reviews network bans from every Voodoo Network server (approve, reject or revoke), and decides appeals against network bans. |
On other network servers the moderator limit is set by that server's owner (anywhere from 0 to 365 days). Only that server's Admins and Owner can ban permanently.
2. Offences and typical bans
Lengths marked “up to 7 days” can be given by a Moderator. Anything longer, or permanent, is given by an Admin or the Owner.
| Offence | First time | Repeat | Network ban? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cheating: aimbot, ESP / wallhack, no-recoil or other scripts, macros, cheat software (rule 02) | Permanent (Admin). A Moderator may ban for up to 7 days while an Admin reviews it. | Permanent | Yes: cheating / scripting |
| VAC ban under 1 year old (rule 03) | Removed until the VAC ban is 1 year old | Permanent if they come back early on another account | No |
| Exploiting / bug abuse: duping, clipping into bases, map or glitch exploits (rule 02) | Warning and the exploit removed, up to 7-day ban | 30 days to permanent | Only for duping or exploits at scale (other) |
| Skybases / glitch builds / lag structures (rule 05) | Structure removed and a warning | 1 to 7 days | No |
| Racism, hate speech, slurs (rule 01) | Mute, or 1 to 7-day ban | Permanent | Severe or repeated: toxicity |
| Toxicity / harassment of players (rule 01) | Warning or mute, then up to 3 days | 7 days, then permanent | Severe or repeated: toxicity |
| Doxxing, real-world threats, sharing someone's personal information | Permanent | n/a | Yes: toxicity |
| Griefing beyond normal PvP and raiding, e.g. walling in or trapping players, or targeting new players over and over to make them quit (rule 01) | Warning, structures removed, up to 3 days | 7 to 30 days | No |
| Breaking the team limit | No team limit at the moment (vanilla). If one is added it will be posted in the rules, and breaking it will mean a warning, then 1 to 3 days | Up to 7 days | No |
| Ban evasion: playing on another account while banned | Permanent on every account involved; the original ban may be extended | Permanent | Yes, if the original ban was a network ban |
| Impersonating staff (rule 01) | Warning, up to 3 days | Up to 7 days, then longer | No |
| Spam, advertising, mic spam, soundboards (rule 06); non-English in global chat (rule 01) | Warning or mute | Kick, then 1 to 3 days | No |
| Harassing or abusing staff (rule 07) | Warning or mute | 1 to 7 days | No |
As rule 09 says, repeat offences can lead to a permanent ban. Staff take into account how serious the offence was, earlier warnings and bans, and whether the player owned up.
3. Network bans and the review queue
A local ban applies to one server only, and starts straight away. A network ban is shared across every Voodoo Network server.
- Submit: an Admin or Owner of a network server submits it, with a category (cheating, scripting, toxicity or other), a reason, and 1 to 10 evidence links.
- Review queue: the ban waits as pending review. It isn't enforced or shown publicly yet. The local ban on the submitting server can still apply.
- Decision: a network moderator or platform admin checks the evidence and approves or rejects it. Approved bans can be revoked later (for example after a successful appeal).
- Shared: once approved, the ban goes to every network server's plugin, usually within about 2 minutes. Each server enforces it according to its settings: kick for all network bans, kick for cheating / scripting only, or alert staff only when the player joins. Free-plan servers are always alert-only.
Approved network bans appear on the public Ban list. Bans that are pending or rejected don't.
4. Evidence standards
- Best: unedited video clips (Medal, YouTube, Streamable, etc.) that show the player's name and the offence clearly, with the time and server.
- Also good: screenshots of chat or combat logs, anti-hack detections, F7 reports from several players, and staff spectating notes.
- A single report with no proof isn't enough for a ban longer than 7 days, and never enough for a permanent or network ban.
- Network bans must include at least one evidence link (http / https), and links must stay available for the review.
- Evidence is never made public. When you appeal, you can see how many pieces of evidence are attached to your ban.
- Evidence that is fake or edited leads to the ban being rejected, and to action against whoever submitted it.
- To report a player, open a ticket on our Discord with your clips or screenshots, or use F7 in game.
5. What happens when you're banned
- You're kicked with a message like:
You are banned (local / network): reason. Appeal: … - Temporary bans end on their own at the expiry time. Permanent bans stay until they're revoked.
- Bans are listed on the Ban list with your name, avatar, server, reason, category and dates. Your SteamID isn't shown (see the Privacy policy).
6. How to appeal
- Go to the appeal page and sign in with the Steam account that was banned.
- Choose the ban, and explain in 20 to 3,000 characters why it should be lifted. Be honest, and include any links that help.
- The ban stays in force while your appeal is open.
- Who decides: local bans are decided by that server's staff. Network bans are decided by network moderators / platform admins.
- Outcome: if your appeal is accepted, the ban is revoked. If it's denied, the ban stays and you'll see the staff response on the appeal page.
- You can have one open appeal per ban, send up to 3 appeals in 24 hours, and appeal each ban up to 3 times in total if you're denied.
- We aim to respond within [7 days]. A temporary ban may run out before the review.
- Don't make new accounts while you wait: that counts as ban evasion.
- You can also open a ticket on our Discord.