The following rules are considered deprecated. Please see the wiki for the most up-to-date rules.
Click the wiki link, not this
Last updated 2012/03/04: Added forum rule 10
This thread is your one stop shop for all things illegal within osu!. Below is a breakdown of each section to provide more detail as it applies to one particular facet of osu!:
All purpose rules:
1. Each player may only have one account at any point of time. If discovered to be in possession of more than 1 account, all other accounts except the first one registered will be deleted and further action may be taken.
2. Be nice to other players, don't harass people for any reason whatsoever. If someone asks you to stop bothering them, stop bothering them. Trolling, herein defined as deliberate antagonism of other player(s) in order to make said player(s) uncomfortable/feel harassed/commit an infraction, is also considered in this ruling.
Examples of harassment include repeatedly sending derogatory or unwanted messages (forums and irc alike), public slander/defamation of character, or repeatedly highlighting a user on irc. Note that in some cases, such as with public slander, a request to desist is not required. That's something you should just never do.
If you have an infraction you wish to report (including, but not limited to trolling, cybering, harassment), please contact a moderator (BAT/GMT) soonest possible. Providing logged chatlogs and screenshots are most definitely welcome as they assist in understanding the infractions in progress. A three-strike rule is usually given for such infractions (warn, temp ban, ban), although serious offenses may be otherwise considered at the moderators' discretion.
3. As a catch-all safeguard, circumventing order and civility via loopholes in the rules is punishable at the sole discretion and judgment of the administrative team. An official rule stating that you should not be a douche should not be required for you to not be a douche, but just in case: don't be a douche.
4. No excessive vulgarities, in neither the chatrooms (irc) nor on the forums. Cursing can be used to punctuate your statement, but not to hurl abuse at other people. The odd curse word is acceptable. Cursing for the sake of cursing is not. If an infraction of this is combined with an infraction of any of the other rules, you are eligible to be considered for two separate infractions (and therefore double punishment).
5. Do not attempt to obfuscate or sabotage the enforcement of rules. This includes attempting to "cover up" infractions, whether they be your own or someone else's.
Forum-wide rules:
1. Do not spam forums with useless posts, herein defined as posts with no informational value or going grossly out of thread's topic scope.
2. Do not flood forums either. Flooding consists of excessive posting, usually with little value (see spam above).
3. As this forum is visited by minors, no 18+ subject matter is allowed. As such, you are not to embed content that is not safe for work. All mature subject matter must be linked from an off-site source, must be clearly identified as "NSFW" (Not Safe For Work), and must have some value in being posted. Do not link inappropriate content for the sake of linking inappropriate content.
This includes avatars. If your avatar was deleted due to being of a suggestive, offensive and/or crude nature, you should avoid re-uploading it in the future. If you continue to do so, your avatar permissions will be revoked.
4. Refrain from attacking the topic at hand with biased personal attacks. For example, if the topic is about coffee, you may post your critique of coffee (e.g. "Coffee is better without sugar.") but you're not allowed to attack coffee (as a subject matter, e.g. "Coffees suck and soft drinks rule.") nor are you allowed to attack those who adhere to it (if it were activities that can be partaken in, e.g. "Coffee drinking is for idiots, soft drinks for the win"). The forums are for discussion and conversation, not senseless nay-saying.
5. Never bump dead threads unless you have something important to add to the conversation. Bumping inactive, forgotten threads may fall under the "spam" category.
6. Linking to malware or malicious/fraudulent websites is strictly forbidden, no exceptions.
7. Your signature should be less than 256kb in filesize. Animated images are a no-no - they go in your Userpage (subscriber feature), not your signature. If you want to dump a lot of junk into your sig, then dump the lot of junk to your Userpage and link to it from there. If your sig was "mysteriously" deleted, it likely broke one of the sig rules. Don't break it again, it might result in a ban of some description.
8. Advertisements and referral links are also not allowed. We can't stop you from privately linking someone (e.g. a friend) via a referral, but posting them publicly on the forums (be it a thread, post, or signature) is forbidden.
9. The report system may only be used to report rule violations. Fraudulent reports are strictly forbidden.
10. No content (including youtube videos) should automatically play on page load. Animated gifs/pngs are excepted, but posting large volumes of animated image data to consume resources are not allowed and you will be banned for doing it. Use spoilerboxes for larger animated images.
BSS Forum Rules:
These rules apply strictly to the unique nature of the BSS (Beatmap Submission System) threads. These threads are created via the osu! client when a beatmap is submitted through the editor.
1. Never bump a BSS thread for the purpose of bumping it. Doing so resets the "graveyard" counter and can prevent abandoned maps from being graveyarded in a timely manner. All posts in BSS threads should be constructive and pertaining to the map in question.
2. Kind of an extension of Rule 1 above: If the mapper of the thread has indicated in the thread that they no longer wish to continue with a particular map, do not post in the thread without his/her consent.
3. Do not create threads in the Pending Submissions and WIP boards. Use the appropriate subforum when creating a thread. (This obviously excludes BSS threads.)
4. Do not get off topic in BSS threads. BSS threads are about the parent beatmap. If you have an issue with something not directly pertaining to the beatmap, post it in the appropriate forum.
Off-Topic Rules:
1. Off-Topic is a place for less serious and fleeting discussions, not mindless spamming. As with other forums, all threads must be intended to spark discussion.
2. Don't make stupid threads/posts as defined by common sense. These threads will be deleted or Wastelanded as necessary. Excessive creation of stupid threads/posts will be backed with punitive measures. As stated, don't be a douche.
3. Birthday threads are allowed in Off-Topic (and nowhere else), but will be locked 36 hours after creation.
IRC rules:
Foreword: if you are banned from irc, read this thread.
1. No spamming/flooding. This is obvious.
2. No frequent nick changing. Nick changing should be used rarely and with justification. Changing nicknames causes confusion and irritation. Changing your username to make a joke or circumvent a silencing will result in punitive measures.
3. No avoiding punishment. If you were silenced for misbehaving, and you relog to undo the silence, you will be banned.
4. No discussion of 18+ content such as sexual stuff.
5. No impersonating other people, especially staff. This should not require explanation.
6. Speak only in the language designated by the channel. #osu, #lobby, the #mod* channels, and other "child channels" of #osu are English, as English is the primary language of the game. The language in other language channels should be self-explanatory: speak Chinese in #chinese, Japanese in #japanese, French in #french, and so on.
-->6a. Please note: English is occasionally spoken in the non-English channels. This should generally be avoided for the sake of channel cohesion, but is necessary at times as English is a universally understood language among staff members.
7. Do not advertise multiplayer games in any channel other than #lobby. That's what #lobby is for.
Client rules:
1. Any form of manipulation of the client, such as score hacking, macro-enabled full-combo sequences, and auto-aim are all considered cheating. This is a one-strike rule; cheaters will be permanently banned.
2. Beatmap creation can be a creatively rewarding experience, allowing you to share your work with others. This excludes pornography - beatmaps should not contain images (including video) of a mature, sexual nature unless deemed tasteful (would you see it in an art museum?). It doesn't matter if your song is the opening of a pornographic anime; if the graphics used are inappropriate, they will not be accepted and further action may be taken.
Note: rules subject to change as everything else changes. This thread will be kept current where possible. Keep in mind that at the time of posting, none of these rules are actually new except where explicitly extracted from common sense.
Also, this does not necessarily supersede any existing rules not covered by these rules. I just don't remember where the old rules are. I'll probably only be enforcing these rules.
This thread is your one stop shop for all things illegal within osu!. Below is a breakdown of each section to provide more detail as it applies to one particular facet of osu!:
All purpose rules:
1. Each player may only have one account at any point of time. If discovered to be in possession of more than 1 account, all other accounts except the first one registered will be deleted and further action may be taken.
2. Be nice to other players, don't harass people for any reason whatsoever. If someone asks you to stop bothering them, stop bothering them. Trolling, herein defined as deliberate antagonism of other player(s) in order to make said player(s) uncomfortable/feel harassed/commit an infraction, is also considered in this ruling.
Examples of harassment include repeatedly sending derogatory or unwanted messages (forums and irc alike), public slander/defamation of character, or repeatedly highlighting a user on irc. Note that in some cases, such as with public slander, a request to desist is not required. That's something you should just never do.
If you have an infraction you wish to report (including, but not limited to trolling, cybering, harassment), please contact a moderator (BAT/GMT) soonest possible. Providing logged chatlogs and screenshots are most definitely welcome as they assist in understanding the infractions in progress. A three-strike rule is usually given for such infractions (warn, temp ban, ban), although serious offenses may be otherwise considered at the moderators' discretion.
3. As a catch-all safeguard, circumventing order and civility via loopholes in the rules is punishable at the sole discretion and judgment of the administrative team. An official rule stating that you should not be a douche should not be required for you to not be a douche, but just in case: don't be a douche.
4. No excessive vulgarities, in neither the chatrooms (irc) nor on the forums. Cursing can be used to punctuate your statement, but not to hurl abuse at other people. The odd curse word is acceptable. Cursing for the sake of cursing is not. If an infraction of this is combined with an infraction of any of the other rules, you are eligible to be considered for two separate infractions (and therefore double punishment).
5. Do not attempt to obfuscate or sabotage the enforcement of rules. This includes attempting to "cover up" infractions, whether they be your own or someone else's.
Forum-wide rules:
1. Do not spam forums with useless posts, herein defined as posts with no informational value or going grossly out of thread's topic scope.
2. Do not flood forums either. Flooding consists of excessive posting, usually with little value (see spam above).
3. As this forum is visited by minors, no 18+ subject matter is allowed. As such, you are not to embed content that is not safe for work. All mature subject matter must be linked from an off-site source, must be clearly identified as "NSFW" (Not Safe For Work), and must have some value in being posted. Do not link inappropriate content for the sake of linking inappropriate content.
This includes avatars. If your avatar was deleted due to being of a suggestive, offensive and/or crude nature, you should avoid re-uploading it in the future. If you continue to do so, your avatar permissions will be revoked.
4. Refrain from attacking the topic at hand with biased personal attacks. For example, if the topic is about coffee, you may post your critique of coffee (e.g. "Coffee is better without sugar.") but you're not allowed to attack coffee (as a subject matter, e.g. "Coffees suck and soft drinks rule.") nor are you allowed to attack those who adhere to it (if it were activities that can be partaken in, e.g. "Coffee drinking is for idiots, soft drinks for the win"). The forums are for discussion and conversation, not senseless nay-saying.
5. Never bump dead threads unless you have something important to add to the conversation. Bumping inactive, forgotten threads may fall under the "spam" category.
6. Linking to malware or malicious/fraudulent websites is strictly forbidden, no exceptions.
7. Your signature should be less than 256kb in filesize. Animated images are a no-no - they go in your Userpage (subscriber feature), not your signature. If you want to dump a lot of junk into your sig, then dump the lot of junk to your Userpage and link to it from there. If your sig was "mysteriously" deleted, it likely broke one of the sig rules. Don't break it again, it might result in a ban of some description.
8. Advertisements and referral links are also not allowed. We can't stop you from privately linking someone (e.g. a friend) via a referral, but posting them publicly on the forums (be it a thread, post, or signature) is forbidden.
9. The report system may only be used to report rule violations. Fraudulent reports are strictly forbidden.
10. No content (including youtube videos) should automatically play on page load. Animated gifs/pngs are excepted, but posting large volumes of animated image data to consume resources are not allowed and you will be banned for doing it. Use spoilerboxes for larger animated images.
BSS Forum Rules:
These rules apply strictly to the unique nature of the BSS (Beatmap Submission System) threads. These threads are created via the osu! client when a beatmap is submitted through the editor.
1. Never bump a BSS thread for the purpose of bumping it. Doing so resets the "graveyard" counter and can prevent abandoned maps from being graveyarded in a timely manner. All posts in BSS threads should be constructive and pertaining to the map in question.
2. Kind of an extension of Rule 1 above: If the mapper of the thread has indicated in the thread that they no longer wish to continue with a particular map, do not post in the thread without his/her consent.
3. Do not create threads in the Pending Submissions and WIP boards. Use the appropriate subforum when creating a thread. (This obviously excludes BSS threads.)
4. Do not get off topic in BSS threads. BSS threads are about the parent beatmap. If you have an issue with something not directly pertaining to the beatmap, post it in the appropriate forum.
Off-Topic Rules:
1. Off-Topic is a place for less serious and fleeting discussions, not mindless spamming. As with other forums, all threads must be intended to spark discussion.
2. Don't make stupid threads/posts as defined by common sense. These threads will be deleted or Wastelanded as necessary. Excessive creation of stupid threads/posts will be backed with punitive measures. As stated, don't be a douche.
3. Birthday threads are allowed in Off-Topic (and nowhere else), but will be locked 36 hours after creation.
IRC rules:
Foreword: if you are banned from irc, read this thread.
1. No spamming/flooding. This is obvious.
2. No frequent nick changing. Nick changing should be used rarely and with justification. Changing nicknames causes confusion and irritation. Changing your username to make a joke or circumvent a silencing will result in punitive measures.
3. No avoiding punishment. If you were silenced for misbehaving, and you relog to undo the silence, you will be banned.
4. No discussion of 18+ content such as sexual stuff.
5. No impersonating other people, especially staff. This should not require explanation.
6. Speak only in the language designated by the channel. #osu, #lobby, the #mod* channels, and other "child channels" of #osu are English, as English is the primary language of the game. The language in other language channels should be self-explanatory: speak Chinese in #chinese, Japanese in #japanese, French in #french, and so on.
-->6a. Please note: English is occasionally spoken in the non-English channels. This should generally be avoided for the sake of channel cohesion, but is necessary at times as English is a universally understood language among staff members.
7. Do not advertise multiplayer games in any channel other than #lobby. That's what #lobby is for.
Client rules:
1. Any form of manipulation of the client, such as score hacking, macro-enabled full-combo sequences, and auto-aim are all considered cheating. This is a one-strike rule; cheaters will be permanently banned.
2. Beatmap creation can be a creatively rewarding experience, allowing you to share your work with others. This excludes pornography - beatmaps should not contain images (including video) of a mature, sexual nature unless deemed tasteful (would you see it in an art museum?). It doesn't matter if your song is the opening of a pornographic anime; if the graphics used are inappropriate, they will not be accepted and further action may be taken.
Note: rules subject to change as everything else changes. This thread will be kept current where possible. Keep in mind that at the time of posting, none of these rules are actually new except where explicitly extracted from common sense.
Also, this does not necessarily supersede any existing rules not covered by these rules. I just don't remember where the old rules are. I'll probably only be enforcing these rules.
.