Laws & Fines
In-game laws, crimes, and the fine system on ProsperitySMP.
Laws vs server rules
This page covers in-game crimes: offences the server’s law system handles with fines, jail, and courts. Hacking, griefing, and harassment are not in-game crimes. Staff handle those separately, under the server rules.
Current status
What follows is the design for Season 0’s civic layer. There are no player police officers yet. All enforcement runs through staff. Report crimes on Discord or to staff in-game, and staff apply the fines and restitution the laws below call for.
How does the law system work?
Theft from a chest is a fine; hacking the server is a ban. Those are two different systems, and only one of them is on this page.
- In-game crimes are the law system’s business: theft, fraud, trespassing, assault, market violations. It punishes with fines, restitution, and jail time. That is what this page documents.
- Real rule violations are staff’s business: hacking, cheating, harassment, and griefing. Bans belong to that side rather than this one.
Where the law applies
Property crimes — theft and property damage — only apply on protected city land (owned or rented plots in the main world). The resource world, nether, and end are unprotected: taking or breaking anything there is not a crime, the same way PvP there carries no penalty. If it isn’t on a city plot, it isn’t protected.
Where PvP is legal
Where you fight decides whether it’s legal.
Combat zones. PvP is allowed and carries no penalty:
- The resource world, anywhere outside spawn.
- Designated arena regions.
- Declared duels, where both players have consented to fight.
Civil areas. PvP is a crime. Spawn, the city and its streets, plots, markets, banks, and public infrastructure are all no-PvP zones. Attacking another player in one without their consent is an offence:
- Self-defence is never punished. If you didn’t start the fight, you aren’t charged — the aggressor is.
- Unprovoked assault (PvP without a kill): $750.
- Murder / unlawful killing, meaning a kill without consent, a duel, or self-defence: $2,000 to the city plus restitution paid to the victim (the value of lost items and XP, or a cash equivalent).
- Aggravated / gang attack, where several attackers act together against one victim: each is charged individually and the base fine rises ×1.5 per attacker, or a flat +$1,000 each.
- Repeat offences escalate. Repeat assault runs $3,000–$5,000; repeat murder $4,000–$6,000, then jail.
Combat logging is disconnecting to get out of an active fight. In PvP-enabled areas (the resource world, arenas, declared duels), logging out mid-fight to avoid dying and dropping your items is prohibited. Crashes, lag spikes, and dropped connections are not violations. What this targets is deliberate or repeated logouts timed to escape a losing fight, and staff judge intent. A confirmed combat-logger pays restitution for what the other player would have recovered. Clear or repeat cases add a fine and a criminal-record entry on top.
Fine schedule
Staff issue fines directly as law enforcement. Fines also come out of the court system when a dispute is brought forward.
Minor offences
| Offence | Fine | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Minor trespassing | $100 | Entering a protected area without permission |
| Public nuisance | $150 | Disruptive builds or signs in public areas |
| Verbal misconduct (in-game) | $250 | First offence; escalates on repeat |
| Littering / abandoned structures | $100–$250 | Structures left in public areas after warning |
Medium offences
| Offence | Fine | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Theft (low value, under $500) | Restitution + $500 | Victim receives restitution |
| Unprovoked assault | $750 | PvP initiated without consent outside combat zones |
| Property damage (minor) | Restitution + $500 | Victim receives restitution |
| Repeated trespassing | $500 | After first offence warning |
| Combat logging | Restitution + staff-discretion fine | Logging out to escape an active PvP fight; staff judge intent |
Serious offences
| Offence | Fine | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Theft (high value, over $500) | Restitution + $2,000–$5,000 | Victim receives restitution; may include plot eviction |
| Fraud or scamming | Restitution × 2 | All proceeds returned; double fine |
| Major property damage | Restitution + $2,000 | Admin-verified via CoreProtect logs |
| Murder / unlawful killing | $2,000 + restitution | Killing a player in a civil area without consent or a duel |
| Aggravated / gang attack | Base × 1.5 per attacker | Several attackers on one victim; each charged |
| Repeated assault | $3,000–$5,000 | Escalates per incident; may include jail |
| Repeat murder | $4,000–$6,000 + jail | Escalates per incident |
| Market manipulation | $5,000–$10,000 | Coordinated price fixing or artificial inflation |
Extreme offences
| Offence | Punishment | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Running an illegal operation | $5,000–$10,000 + plot eviction | Illegal shops, unauthorised industrial operations |
| Bribery of officials | $10,000 + rank suspension | Zero tolerance |
| Repeat serious offences | Jail + escalating fine | Escalating enforcement per incident |
Fine scaling
A $500 fine costs a first-week player far more than it costs an established one. That’s why repeat offenders face escalating amounts and extra penalties on top of the base fine, rather than a flat rate that stops biting.
Restitution
Theft, fraud, and property damage all leave a victim. In those cases the offender pays restitution directly to the victim equal to the value of what was taken or damaged, and any fine paid to the city sits on top of that.
Restitution is worked out from:
- Item market value at the time of the offence
- Admin shop equivalent value, where the market price is unclear
- Staff assessment via CoreProtect, for property damage
Jail
Jail is for serious and repeat offenders, and it’s a region you can’t walk out of.
- Duration is set at sentencing, and time accrues from there
- Bail may be offered, at an amount staff set
How do I appeal a fine?
If you think a fine was issued in error:
- Don’t evade or ignore it. Unpaid fines accrue while you argue.
- Contact staff on the Discord
- Bring evidence if you have it: screenshots, coordinates, timestamps
- Staff decisions on appeals are final
Escalating penalties
For serious or repeat offences, staff may reach past a standard fine:
- Plot eviction. Removal from a rented or purchased plot, for violations committed on that land.
- Job restriction. Temporary suspension from job wage earning, for economic crimes.
- Rank demotion — loss of a civic rank or title, for corruption or abuse of position.
- Permanent ban. Reserved for real rule violations such as hacking and griefing. Nothing on this page reaches one.
How do I report a crime?
To report an in-game crime:
- Contact staff with evidence
- Give the player name, what happened, when, and where
- CoreProtect logs are used to verify property damage and theft claims
- Staff won’t act on a claim without evidence