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Something that you should know.
What you can appeal?
You can appeal to the administration against your:
(a) sentence, if you pleaded guilty
(b) conviction and sentence, if you pleaded not guilty
Ask the administration to reconsider your sentence if you agree with the conviction but disagree with the sentencing (i.e. you are guilty but the sentencing is too high).
Ask the administration to reconsider your sentence or conviction if you think the decision was wrong (i.e. you are innocent and there should not be any sentencing).
What could be the outcomes?
The administration may decide that the sentence:
(a) should stay the same
(b) is unreasonably low (called ‘unduly lenient’) and may increase it
(c) is unreasonably high (called ‘unduly strict’) and may adjust it
(d) refuse to hear the case
How sentences are worked out
If you are found guilty of a crime, your sentence will depend on a number of factors, including the type, seriousness and circumstances of the crime.
When deciding on a sentence, the prosecutor will consider things like:
(a) the seriousness of the crime
(b) if you have a criminal record
(c) if you pleaded guilty or not guilty
(d) aggravating or mitigating circumstances
An aggravating circumstance is something that makes a crime more serious, such as committing multiple offences.
A mitigating circumstance is something that may reduce your sentence, such as having problems in your personal life that have affected your behaviour.
What are the sentencing criteria?
Prosecutors follow internal guidelines from the Sentencing Council when deciding what sentences to give.
Can I ask for someone's sentence to be reviewed?
You can ask for someone’s sentence to be reviewed if you think it’s too low or too high.
Anyone can ask for a sentence to be reviewed - they don’t have to be involved in the case.
Make sure you submit your request as early as possible and within 7 days of the sentencing. If not, the review cannot be processed.
What actually happened?
Your account has been temporarily/permanently suspended, muted, jailed or warned from our server, because you might have violated our rules. Our goal is to provide a fair, fun and legitimate game experience for everyone. We will continue to do our best working with all of you to improve the quality of the gameplay, including ongoing optimisation and fine tuning of our anti-cheat system. Please be aware, bans are not intended as a shameful punishment in any way, they are a way for us to give you a needed break from our server to allow us to effectively work together on understanding why your account has broken our server rules. Our server rules are there to ensure nobody is disrupting other players game experience and that everyone is playing fairly. If we believe you have, and are likely to continue disrupting other players or playing unfairly then we will stop you from gaining access to our community server which is provided free of charge. This is of the agreement we have assumed that you have acknowledged once you have entered the server. Rest assured, you're responsible for your account and whom has access to it, if someone else broke the rules and not you, you still take that responsibility and that account will be terminated until the ban is lifted through successful appeal.
Before Appealing
You may submit an appeal for requesting a lift on your punishment. Keep in mind that appeals are only for punishments that exceed or fall on 7 days or punishments related to cheating; submitting an appeal that goes against this will not be handled, and may even earn you a warning. Appeals would only count if you believe you were wrongfully punished or if you think you would deserve a second chance. There is no point for wasting your time in submitting an appeal if you have other intentions. Please note that, purchasing a rank does not, and will not, give you more privileges when appealing. All punishment types can be appealed providing that they are 7 days or longer.
Please understand that you are not guaranteed a pardon for your punishment. Your appeal will be accepted or rejected based on our private appeal criteria, or the sole discretion of staff in some cases. But firstly, you need to figure out a few things:
Where were you punished? (E.g. In-Game? Discord? Facebook Group?)
Why were you punished? (E.g. Cheating? Bypassed filter? Trash Talking?)
What's your in-game name?
Why do you deserve to be unpunished?
These questions are pretty straight forward. But please make sure you get them right because if you can't even get them correct, it shows how little effort you are putting into your appeal. This can lead to your appeal being cancelled or rejected right away.
Filling the appeal form
A detailed explanation of the questions will be provided below. But essentially, we are looking for a direct and brief answer for questions with a single line of answer space, and detailed answer in a multi-line answer space.
Which account are you appealing for?
For in-game punishments, please provide your in-game name;
For Discord, please provide your latest username with the numbers in the end. (E.g. KilleRGod#1234)
For Facebook Group, please provide the your full-name in facebook.
What were you punished for?
Simply state the punishment reason. No extra explanation needed.
The punishment reason will be provided for you on most platforms. If you are banned in-game, the reason will be provided on the login screen. If you are muted in-game, the reason will be provided when you attempt to chat. Therefore you should not enter "I don't know" for this question. The only exception being if you were manually banned from Discord.
Do you agree that this is a fair punishment?
Simply answer "Yes" if you agree with the punishment and "No" if you disagree with the punishment in accordance with the rules.
Have you been punished in the same category before?
You will answer "Yes" if you have been punished in the same category before. For example, if you are currently banned cheating, and you have been banned for any sort of cheating offense before, whether that be flying or killaura, you will answer "Yes".
You can elaborate on why a similar punishment occurred if you stated yes. (Optional)
Why should we revoke your punishment?
Please provide us with a detailed explanation on why we should pardon your punishment. Include any evidence to support your claim.
Showing a bad attitude would not help, even though you might be judged and punished wrongly. You shall always stay calm and remain rational. Provide a valid, descriptive and reasonable proof. Utilising this information to support you in your ban appeal will significantly increase your chances of success in an Appeal.
What should I write if I have done something wrong?
There are many reasons why you should make a sincere apology when you've made a mistake. First, an apology opens a dialogue between yourself and the others. Your willingness to admit your mistake can give the others the opportunity they need to communicate with you, and start dealing with their feelings. When you apologise, you also acknowledge that you engaged in unacceptable behaviour. This helps you rebuild trust and reestablish your relationship with the others. It also gives you a chance to discuss what is and isn't acceptable. What's more, when you admit that the situation was your fault, you restore dignity to the person or people you hurt. This can begin the healing process, and it can ensure that they don't unjustly blame themselves for what happened. Lastly, a sincere apology shows that you're taking responsibility for your actions. This can strengthen your self-confidence, self-respect, and reputation. You're also likely to feel a sense of relief when you come clean about your actions, and it's one of the best ways to restore your integrity in the eyes of others. Never shall you lie to us intentionally for anything, as this clearly would not help with your appeal and it would also show that you are not willing to correct yourself. Worst still, your punishment might be altered with more severe arrangement.
Express Remorse
Every apology needs to start with two magic words: "I'm sorry," or "I apologize." This is essential, because these words express remorse over your actions. For example, you could say: "I'm sorry that I snapped at you yesterday. I feel embarrassed and ashamed by the way I acted." Your words need to be sincere and authentic, be honest with yourself, and with the others.
Admit Responsibility
For your actions or behaviour, and acknowledge what you did was your fault. People make mistakes, And if you look back at what you could've done better then you have already found that you were responsible for what happened. Responsibility can be shared amongst multiple people, which is why it's a good idea to show yours too.
Promise you won't repeat the same mistake
Explain that you won't repeat the action or behaviour. This step is important because you reassure others that you're going to change your behaviour. This helps you rebuild trust and repair the relationship. You could say: "I've read over all the rules and from now on, I'm going to make sure I follow them to ensure I don't disrupt other players or play unfairly, And I want you to call me out if I do this again." Make sure that you honour this commitment in the days or weeks to come – if you promise to change your behaviour, but don't follow through, others will question your reputation and your trustworthiness.
After Appealing
Once you have successfully submitted your appeal, you will have to wait patiently until one of our staff get to your appeal. The appeals are processed in the order they are submitted. That being said, please do not PM any staff members to check your appeal as it will be ignored. You will receive further notifications when a decision is made or updates are made to your appeal. Some appeals may require more time to be processed if further investigation is needed. If your appeal has not been answered for more than 3 days, you may consider resubmitting your appeal. If your appeal is denied, you may still reply to the our response via mail to dispute the decision with evidence to backup your argument (in a right way). If you are simply asking why it was denied, your message would be ignored since it simply "did not meet our criteria". We process many appeals on a daily basis and we won't be able to remember everyone's appeal. DO NOT ask staff members to look at your appeal. Messaging Moderators, Senior Staff and Owners might result in you getting punished. Be patient and await your reply. Please resubmit your appeal if you really did not get an answer.
Please note that, appeal decisions are final. Please respect the fact our staff have taken the time to look into the case for you and have looked into all evidence stored to support it. If the decision has been made to not accept your appeal, this means we feel the punishment is valid.
Starting from December 2018, we will be granting players another chance at appealing for their permanent punishments. This is mostly targeted for players whose accounts were compromised and if they had been permanently banned for inappropriate names, skins or capes. Regardless, we are also giving players another chance if they were permanently banned for cheating or disrupting public order as well. To be eligible for this offer, the Minecraft account that you are appealing for must be permanently banned or muted at the time of appealing.
Frequently Asked Questions
I was banned for [SPARTAN CHEAT DETECTION]. What does it mean?
You were caught cheating and were subsequently banned by our anti-cheat. Please refer to What is Spartan? here.
What is considered valid evidence?
Valid evidence is something that can prove whatever you need to prove, however evidence that the player can interfere with is not something we are looking for. (E.g. chat logs) For example, ".minecraft/versions" would not be valid evidence to show that you did not hack the folders can be deleted, and/or the hacked client could be installed elsewhere.
Here is a list of invalid evidence that should not be included in your appeal:
".minecraft/versions"
Your YouTube channel
Videos that do not contain your punishment. E.g. gameplay from 2 weeks ago
Here is a list of valid evidence
Video(s) that show you were banned as you were playing legitimately
Others, if you can provide valid arguments to it.
The above lists are subject to change and should not be considered complete.
How do I send screenshots in my appeal?
You will need to upload your screenshots to an image sharing website such as imgur.com, gyzao.com and more, and then paste the URL to the image in your appeal.
I cannot write English fluently. Can I appeal in another language?
Of course you can. However, your appeal will be judged based on the translation from Google Translate unless the staff member happens to speak that language as well. It is important note that you should refrain from using slang, and use proper grammar when appealing to avoid a bad translation. If the translation comes out as something coming from an alien, unfortunately the appeal will be denied.
Why is my appeal denied?
Generally speaking, your appeal is denied because it didn't meet our criteria, and we cannot explain any further because it will involve discussing our appeal criteria. If you do feel like your punishment was not justified, please provide evidence to support your argument. But keep in mind, if you can provide evidence, you should do so in your appeal.
My appeal is rejected. Can I appeal again?
Yes, you can. As long as your appeal is meaningful and you are not spamming or abusing the system, we welcome a second submission of appeal.
