As an anonymous figure, I have always loved this undisclosed Minecraft server since I joined it a couple years ago. Being a relatively social human, I always tended to find some friends to play the game with, not just on this main server but on other servers as well. Since a different survival subserver on the same server was closed down earlier this year, my friends and I chose to start playing on the new SMP (survival multiplayer) map. A lot of people are online there, sometimes more than 800 on the entire server, and the 60 player "limit" on the SMP subserver is frequently hit. Because of that, there is no doubt that there are many players who come from different backgrounds, like servers, or from several YouTube channels that display this server in their videos. From what I've seen, there are several player-owned civilizations or towns, like st. marina, bramopolis, and cobble kingdom to name a few.

On this server, there are a lot of staff members from Helper to Sr. Admin. In the last 6 months, notably, there has been a large influx of new staff members to cope with the increase of players and stepping down of previous officials. I have nothing against any of the staff players as I understand they are given a task of keeping the server from self-destructing itself, and that can be a challenging and stressful task indeed. For the respected safety and privacy of players, staff, and the server, I will not mention anyone's real name or username.

Despite a couple close calls, the community is pretty friendly and staff do their job. Most players are just there to have fun and do their thing. However, one player, from a new SMP server, has been close to me as a friend. We live together on the server and we have close connections to many other players and mayors there. Everything was fine. Until...

One day, within the last week, my friend (let's call him D) mentioned the name of another server. ONCE. No links, nothing. Just something around the lines of:

"Dude, I heard [other server] got a new owner, it's really weird now lol."

We thought nothing of it. However, when I checked my Discord later that day, D said he had been permanently banned (for 50 years, that is) from the server for "Excessive Advertising (IP SPAM ONLY)". Not a SINGLE link was posted by ANY user that day, from the time I was online, at least, and I was there when it happened. I challenge someone to find a screenshot or server log evidence against that! Not only that, but D added, "Add on that plus, because it got a new owner like i said, it wasnt even called that anymore."

Ban evidence:

https://docs.google.com/drawings/d/1fdbkF_BDXqzI0JJPuu69XRhWLiXXJIuJOM7da-hn3Bo/edit?usp=sharing

It can be discerned that it clearly says "IP SPAM ONLY" as part of the ban description. I repeat, I witnessed 0 IP's mentioned by players that day, never mind multiple of them or the same one.

Now, to quote the official Server Rules page:

"Advertising another server IP or name will result in a ban. Advertising non-Performium affiliated links is not allowed. You are only allowed to advertise your YouTube if you are streaming on the server. Otherwise, this is not allowed."

As it suggests, D is indeed headed for a ban. Despite not saying anything along the lines of "join [server]!!! It's so cool!", the name of another server being mentioned may be considered advertising. However, the ban given was noted for "IP SPAM ONLY", which should be changed; there is a different ban for regular advertisements!

Now, both of us thought hmm, maybe it was a mistake. Perhaps submit a ban appeal? Well, sure enough, the appeal was denied, saying "After reviewing the evidence, you were found to have been banned correctly. You were advertising a server, which is against our rules." Nothing about the link(s), no disclosed evidence by the staff team. Also, D was quoted in the appeal that he was given "no message, no mute, just a perm ban without explanation".

Dozens of witnesses were there at the time of the perm ban. Not one posted a link. Not even D. He said a name of another server ONCE. I am slightly familiar with the rules and the bans, and that, if ANYTHING, would be a ban for advertising, rather 7 or 30 days. Not 50 years.

Is this entirely the staff who made this decision's fault? Probably not. I just think that although some bans are well-deserved and go smoothly, this one was neither deserved or provided any evidence, despite D's request, that showed that D was in the wrong.

Let me make this clear to all reading this: I DO NOT condone any shaming of staff. I do NOT wish to cause chaos in any way whatsoever. I respect the position of all staff members, but I just think that this situation, as well as some others, should be reviewed fairly and provided with evidence as to why they were denied.

I am calling for the player, whose name I chose to keep redacted for privacy, to be unbanned from the server, or at least given a shorter sentence. For those who were there, as well as any staff, should know clearly who the mystery man is. Let this be a reminder of what can happen to an innocent man, given zero warnings before being punished for all of eternity.

Thank you for your time, and I hope this catches the attention of many!

-An anonymous, concerned Minecraft player