Rules FAQ

Can I say I have work tomorrow, or that I'm in college? Yes. Vague life-stage references aren't offenses. Don't post an exact age or birthdate, and don't ask anyone theirs. If staff ask you to dial it back, dial it back.

Can I put my age in my Discord bio? No. A bio or status is visible to everyone here; the same rule applies as in chat. Staff will ask you to remove it and won't write the number down.

Does the rest of my Discord profile count? What Cozy members can see inside Cozy does: nothing sexual, no "single, DM me," and the same care with your own real name, location, school, and personal accounts. Pronouns are fine, and so is how you identify — religion, orientation, gender, disability. Your real name isn't part of that: it's what makes you findable, and it stays out. An outside invite link in your bio isn't a violation by itself; telling Cozy members to go look at it is.

Can I comment on Cozy's posts on other platforms with my Minecraft username? Please don't, if the account carries your real name — it links the two for anyone who sees it, and nobody here should be findable. Cozy will never ask you to post a username, an age, or anything personal there, never confirms who anyone is, and hides comments that identify a member when staff see them or they're reported. Reports, verification, and appeals never happen there; open a ticket. Cozy's official accounts are listed on the About page; anything else claiming to be Cozy isn't.

Someone asked how old I am. What do I do? Don't answer. Say the rules don't allow it, and if it continues, open a ticket. Asking is the violation; you haven't done anything wrong.

Something already happened, and I went along with it. Am I in trouble if I report it? No. The person who comes forward is treated as the person at risk, not as the one under review, and nothing about coming forward is held against you — whether it was one message or a lot more, in Cozy or in private. Staff act on what the other person did. You don't have to explain your own part in it to report it; if you want to, you can, and it doesn't change the answer.

Do I have to say my age to report something? No, and staff won't ask — not even in a safety review. You don't need to explain anything about yourself to report what someone else did. If you mention your age in a ticket anyway, that isn't a violation; it stays in that ticket and isn't recorded anywhere else.

My username has my real first name in it. Is that a problem? No. Just don't confirm it's your real name, and nobody else may guess or announce it.

Can I say what country I'm in? About yourself: a country, language, or time zone is fine. Nothing more precise, and don't ask anyone else's.

Can I run a survey, poll, or research project with Cozy members? Not through Cozy. Cozy doesn't host, approve, or promote questionnaires, surveys, or research about its members, by anyone — not as a link in a channel, not as a thread for answers — because nobody's age is verified here, so anyone who answers may be a minor, and Cozy won't be the way anyone gathers information from them. That's the same answer for everyone, however careful the project. Your own experience here is yours to write about, as long as nobody else is identifiable, and Cozy's public pages can be cited. Cozy's own petitions and votes are about the shared world and never ask for personal information.

Can I mention my religion, orientation, gender, or disability? Yes. Saying how you identify isn't personal information under rule 3 and isn't campaigning under rule 2. Nobody may argue with it or ask you to justify it. Don't press your beliefs on other people, and don't interrogate anyone about theirs.

Can I video call a friend I met on Cozy? Discord lets any two people who share a server call each other, with or without video, and Cozy can't see or control those calls — it doesn't regulate private friendships, and that includes calls. Two things to know: nobody may pressure anyone to turn on a camera, and Cozy can't vouch for who's on the other end — so treat every Cozy contact as possibly a minor, and never share or ask for anything you wouldn't want a minor to see. If anyone asks you to keep a call secret, pushes you to turn on a camera, or asks for photos, report it.

My partner is joining Cozy. Is that a problem? No. The rule is about people who meet through Cozy — there's no exception for them because nobody here can tell who's an adult. A relationship that existed before Cozy is a different thing, and the rule says so: your partner is welcome, and being known as a couple isn't a violation. Keep the relationship out of Cozy spaces — no romantic conduct in chat or voice — and don't post anything that identifies either of you.

Can I turn on my camera in a Cozy voice channel? No. Cameras stay off in Cozy voice channels. Screen sharing your game is fine.

Can I screen-share gameplay from another Minecraft server? Not in Cozy voice — and that includes Realms. It turns into "where is that?" within a minute, and answering a channel full of Cozy members is promoting another server in a Cozy space — one of the things rule 7 prohibits. Cozy's own servers, your own worlds and builds, and the other games people play together are all fine to share — and whatever's on your screen is content in a Cozy space, so the content rules apply to it.

Can I screen-share my singleplayer world, or other games? Yes to both. A singleplayer world is yours, and nobody can be invited to it. Other games are fine to share because a game isn't a community. The line that doesn't move is rule 7's: name the game, never hand out an invite to a Discord or a private server.

Can I chat in a language other than English? In DMs and in-game private messages, yes. Public channels and public chat are English so that moderators can read them.

Can I tell my friend from school about Cozy? Of course. Inviting people to Cozy is welcome. The rules are about moving Cozy members out.

Can I swear? Not in Cozy chat or voice, and that includes in-game private messages — they run on Cozy's servers, and the chat filter that's being set up covers them too. Working around the filter counts, and so does swearing before it's running. Discord DMs between friends aren't covered. Nobody reads your /msg logs routinely; staff see them only while handling a report or a specific concern.

What happens if I slip and swear? In text chat, once the filter is running: the filter catches it and tells you why, and that's the whole response — no reminder from a moderator, nothing on your record. Staff get involved only for what a filter can't handle — getting around it on purpose, keeping it up after the filter has already told you, voice, or swearing at someone — and the first of those is a correction, a reminder on the record rather than a penalty. Until the filter is running, a slip is a reminder and nothing more. Nobody is banned for a slip. Slurs and hate speech are different: they're on the immediate-removal list, as they always have been.

Why is even a mild swear covered? The word for "excrement" is hardly the worst one. It isn't a judgment about the word. The rule is "no swearing in Cozy's spaces" rather than "no bad swearing" because that's the only version staff can apply the same way every time; a list of acceptable words turns every reminder into an argument about the list. The line sits where it does because Cozy is 13+ and mixed-age — a 13-year-old and an adult read the same chat, and Bedrock already filters swearing by default and locks it on for child accounts while Java filters nothing outside Realms — and because Cozy chooses to be listed on the Official Minecraft Server List as a server without swearing: the list allows listed servers to permit swearing if they say so, so this is a choice about what Cozy is, not a box the listing makes us tick. The cost is small: in text chat the filter stops the message and tells you why, and that's the whole response; in voice, a slip is a reminder and never a ban; and Discord DMs between friends aren't covered. Getting around the filter with symbols or spelling is the one thing that turns a non-event into a correction, because it's deliberate.

Couldn't the rule allow casual swearing and only ban swearing at people? Swearing at someone is already a violation under rule 1, with or without the swear, so the swearing rule only ever covers the casual kind — that's the rule, not a gap in it. It covers the casual kind because a 13-year-old and a parent read the same chat and the whole server is judged by what's in it, and because a filter can't tell a creeper from an insult and a moderator can't be asked to make that call the same way every time. It stays small on purpose: Cozy's own chat and voice, one category of word, and the filter's note as the whole response to a slip in text.

Do abbreviations and shortened spellings count? The rule is about the word, not the spelling. A spaced-out, symbol-swapped, or shortened version that's clearly the word is the word; the filter catches the usual ones, and a person handles the rest. If it isn't clearly a swear to the person reading it, it isn't a case. Nobody is hunting for them; deliberately dodging the filter is what makes one a case, and that starts with a correction — a reminder on the record, not a penalty.

English isn't my first language, and some words that count as swearing in English are just exclamations in mine. The rule is about what's on the screen, because a 13-year-old and a parent read the same chat and a filter can't read intent — but the response is built for exactly this. In text chat the filter's note is the whole response; in voice, a slip is a reminder, and a reminder is all it is; nobody is punished for how their first language works. Only keeping it up after the filter or a reminder has said so, or aiming words at someone, goes any further.

Do the rules apply in /msg? Yes. /msg runs on Cozy's servers, so every rule applies there — it isn't a way around any of them. Staff don't read private messages routinely; they see them only while handling a report or a specific concern, and anything unrelated isn't used or shared.

Will I really get caught if I take something? Yes. Every container interaction is logged with your name and the time, for 90 days, and anyone can see it with /co inspect. Reports come in constantly, staff trace items wherever they went, and a wipe clears everything you hold — inventory, ender chest, containers, and stashes. The best outcome a deliberate theft can have is a final warning and losing more than you took. We'd rather you never try — and we're telling you this so you don't. An honest mistake at a shop is a different thing; see below.

I was banned for theft. Is that permanent? Not usually — we'd like to help you come back and play within the rules. Open a support ticket in our Discord (or email [email protected] if you're not on Discord) and ask. A first theft ban usually ends in a return, with a final warning and a wipe — your inventory, ender chest, containers, and stashes are cleared, and shop stock and profits removed; builds stay. Staff decide on the facts. A second theft is permanent.

I underpaid at a shop by mistake. What happens? Your Minecraft access is paused with a temporary review hold — not a finding — and the screen tells you to open a support ticket. Reply there and say you'll pay the difference or hand the item back; your access comes back, and you have a day to do it. Done, it's recorded as a warning, and that's the end of it; a second mistake is a final warning. Not done, or arguing instead of paying, or something hidden or moved on, and it's treated as theft. A week of silence and the transaction is rolled back for the shop owner, with access paused until you return and hand the item back. A mistake at a shop is the most common ticket here and the least serious — the point of the hold is only that we can't sort it out without you.

There's a chest that looks abandoned. Can I take from it? No. Containers are never public by default, anywhere, no matter how old or unattended they look. Ask staff; they can check ownership and designate it if it's truly abandoned.

I bought something from a player and it turned out to be stolen. Do I lose it? Not if you bought it at a shop or in a normal trade without knowing. The owner gets their items back through the log, the thief loses what they gained, and staff don't take it from you. Items are taken back from a holder only when the log couldn't make the owner whole, or when the deal was obviously off — a secret pickup spot, an unmarked stash, a big unexplained gift right after a theft — and even then, holding them without knowing isn't an offense. If a thief cheated your shop — underpaid, or took without paying — open a ticket and the log makes you whole.

Can I sell items to a shop, or put an item back and take my diamonds out? Only if the shop's sign says so. A shop's sign is the owner's permission for exactly the trade it describes — pay the price, take the item — and nothing else. Taking diamonds out of a shop's payment chest because you left an item in its stock is taking from a container without permission, whatever the item is worth, and doing it across shops for the price difference is theft. A few shops are built to trade both ways, and their signs say so; what one shop allows is never permission at another. Made a mistake? Put the diamonds back, take your item, and tell staff in a ticket.

Someone told me a container was free. Can I take from it? Only if the owner says so — a sign on it, or the owner's own word to you. "Someone said it was free" isn't permission, and a tip about free stuff somewhere is how new players get set up. If you're not sure whose it is, leave it and ask staff.

What happens to a base whose owner was banned, or who's gone for good? It doesn't become free. Its containers are still off limits, and a permanently banned player can't give the base away afterward — they're no longer part of Cozy to give anything. A gift made before the ban counts if it's in writing somewhere: a sign, a book, a message, a ticket. Otherwise a base like that changes hands one way — a Build Takeover petition in #world-decisions, with the coordinates. Anyone can file one, including the people already living there, and the vote decides; staff don't pick who gets it. Until a petition passes, nobody takes from it or dismantles it — the neighbors included. A single stray container whose owner is gone for good is different: ask staff, who can check the log and designate it free.

Can I give my base to someone with a petition? You don't need one. Outside the shared spawn areas — where plots and shop rights need staff approval to change hands — you can give your own build to anyone, and it's best to put it in writing (a sign, a book, a message in a ticket) so staff can see it later. A petition can only give away what the person filing it owns: a petition to give someone a base that isn't the filer's transfers nothing, whatever the vote. If you want a base that isn't yours and its owner is gone, file a Build Takeover petition with the coordinates instead.

How do I check who placed or opened something? /co inspect, then click a block or container. Anyone can use it, and we'd rather you check than guess.

Can I harvest crops from someone's farm? Crops growing in the world, yes. Anything in a container, no. Item frames and armor stands count as containers.

Can I trade with someone's villagers? Yes — at spawn or in someone's base. Trading takes nothing that doesn't come back, so it's like harvesting crops, not like opening a chest, and at spawn a villager is manual activity, not a shop. The villager itself is theirs: killing it, moving it, or carting it off is griefing. Courtesy still applies — it's their build, so don't trade a hall dry or leave it a mess, and if the owner asks you to stop, stop. A "take one" barrel is storage, not a villager: the spawn rules on shops and storage apply to it, and outside spawn it's still a container that only its owner can mark free.

What happens if I took something by mistake? Return it and tell staff before they find it. Self-reporting is the difference between a conversation and a case.

I took something from a chest by accident — a misclick while browsing, or I forgot what I was doing. What happens? The same as a shop mistake: a hold until you respond in a ticket, you give it back, and a warning goes on the record; it isn't a theft finding and doesn't count as one. What makes it a mistake is the shape of it — one chest, one time, nothing moved on or used, and returned as soon as it's pointed out — not how valuable the item was. Picking out the good stuff, moving it to your own storage, going back for more, or going quiet when asked is theft, and the log shows which it was.

I underpaid at a shop by mistake — diamonds instead of diamond blocks, or two items for the price of one. Is that theft? It's still your responsibility, and the fix is the same either way: pay the difference or return the item. If the circumstances show it was a mistake, that's the whole consequence plus a warning on the record — no wipe, no ban, and it doesn't count as a first theft. A second mistake is a final warning. A deliberate taking is theft, whatever came before, and the shop owner's log is what shows which it was.

Someone else was using my account. Am I responsible? Yes. Your account is you: whatever happens on it is your conduct, and "someone else was using it" doesn't change a finding. It adds one: letting anyone else play on your account puts an unverified person — possibly under 13 — on Cozy through you, which is bypassing verification. Staff won't ask who it was or how old they are; they'll tell you the account is yours alone. If it comes out that the other person is under 13, your Minecraft access is paused until you confirm in writing, in your ticket, that you're the account's only user, and restored on that confirmation — nobody under 13 can be on Cozy through anyone's account.

Is griefing a ban? Ordinary griefing isn't. A crop stepped on or a block broken passing through is fixed and forgotten. Deliberate damage in the course of playing — breaking into a build, taking down a wall, killing someone's animals — is rolled back and handled on the ladder, a warning first. Destruction as the purpose is different: TNT, lava, fire, or tools used to wreck a build, a farm, or a shared area is a deliberate attack on the server, which is on the immediate-removal list — permanent, both platforms, closed. Hardcore is the one world where griefing is part of the settings.

Which minimap can I use? Any of them, as long as cave mapping and entity or player radar are off. The test is whether it shows you something vanilla hides.

Is Freecam allowed? Yes, for screenshots and cinematics, as a camera that can't pass through blocks — the mod's "no clip" setting off — and can't interact. It's a camera, not a scout. Using it, or Replay Mod, to see through walls, roofs, or the ground, to find caves, ores, or players, or to act on anything from the camera's position isn't allowed. Peeking into someone's build that way is a correction; finding resources that way is treated like X-ray.

Is the bridging mod (reach-around placement) allowed? Not on Survival. It changes where and how you can place blocks, and its own page says it's an unfair advantage. The test for any mod: does it change what you see (fine) or what you can do (not on Survival)? If the mod's page says it gives an advantage, that settles it.

Is Litematica's Easy Place allowed? Not on Survival — and neither is Printer, or any mode, addon, or tweak that places blocks for you or changes where, how fast, or on what you can place them (Tweakeroo's placement tweaks included). Litematica itself is fine for your own builds and shared designs: it shows you where the block goes, and you place it. That's the test on the Mods page — convenience is fine, capability isn't. The Creative server may allow building-assist tools that Survival doesn't; check its list.

Are inventory mods like Mouse Tweaks allowed? Yes. Mouse Tweaks, and mods that sort your inventory on a key press, change how you move items inside an inventory screen — every one of those moves is something a vanilla player can do with more clicks. They don't touch the world, reveal anything, or act without you. Convenience, not capability. The line is features that act on their own — refilling a hotbar stack when it runs out, swapping in a fresh tool, anything that moves items without a click from you. That's automation that acts for you, the same line as AutoTotem, and those settings stay off.

Can I remove Nether fog? Regular Nether fog, yes. Lava fog, no — that's an X-ray-class exploit.

Is dynamic lighting allowed? No. It lights the area around a torch or lantern in your hand without placing one, which is a capability vanilla doesn't have — the same reason fullbright isn't allowed. It isn't X-ray, so it isn't a ban: turn it off, and a first instance is a correction.

How many chunk loaders can I run? Up to 3 per person without asking — an alt account doesn't add three more, and neither does a kingdom; related projects run by the same people count as one. An account left online to keep an area loaded counts as one, whoever's account it is. Beyond that, one named player requests approval for the project.

Why is there a chunk-loader limit at all? Every always-loaded chunk keeps entities ticking and block changes flowing into the server's logging database around the clock. A handful is nothing; dozens across the world add up to lag and database strain for everyone. The limit is about total server load, not about anyone's build.

Does the same rulebook apply on Hardcore? The community rules do. Hardcore's gameplay settings allow PvP, griefing, theft, and traps within that world; nothing about kindness, privacy, or content changes.

I found someone's map art in the world. Can I make a map of it? Not without the creator's permission. If there's a sign at the canvas or shop saying copies are open, yes. Otherwise ask them — and if you can't reach them, ask staff in a ticket.

I bought a map art. Can I give it to a friend? That copy, yes — it's yours. Making a second copy for them isn't, without the creator's permission.

The artist has left the server, or I can't reach them. Permission can also come from a passed petition, the way any build can be opened. Ask staff in a ticket if you're not sure whether the creator is still around — unreachable by itself isn't permission.

Can I copy a build with Litematica? Your own, or a design that's been shared — a public tutorial, a schematic someone posted or gave you — yes. Taking a schematic of someone else's build needs their permission, and so does rebuilding their distinctive build block for block. Learning from it and building your own version is always fine.

Someone built a farm just like mine. Is that a violation? No. Nobody owns a farm type, a style, or a technique. What needs permission is taking a schematic of your build or reproducing it block for block.

Can I build a schematic I downloaded, or a design from YouTube or another server? If you're allowed to use it, yes — that's what shared designs are for, and building it in survival is your work. Where it came from is on you; Cozy doesn't check outside provenance or settle disputes about work made elsewhere. Just don't present it as your own design.

Can I type a book I like, or a movie script, into Minecraft books? Not a whole work — that's copying someone's copyrighted work into Cozy. Quotes, references, parody, and your own writing are fine, and map art of a character or scene is fan art. If a rights-holder ever asks us to take something down, we will.

Someone built a famous YouTube build and is calling it their design. That's the one part of an outside design Cozy does care about. It's a correction — credit it, stop claiming it — not a ban. Events and contests can require original work, and each event says so.

Will I get banned for copying a map? Not for a first mistake: it's a correction, and the copy is removed. Selling copies, or carrying on after being told to stop, escalates like anything else.

Can I play on other Minecraft servers? Yes — on your own, with friends, or with Cozy friends. Cozy has no interest in where you play. The rule is about how people get somewhere, not where they are: the violations are things like giving a Cozy member access to a private space, bringing Cozy members to a server you run, promoting another community to Cozy members, and posting addresses on Cozy. Playing isn't on the list.

Can I be in a Discord with other Cozy members? Yes. Being in the same community as other Cozy members is not a violation.

Which servers are OK to play on with Cozy friends? Any public one that neither of you runs — a server anyone can join on their own, without an invite, whitelist, application, or someone letting them in. That's the whole test. Being advertised somewhere — the official Minecraft Discord, Reddit, a server list — isn't the test either way: plenty of servers advertised there run a whitelist or take applications, which makes them private, and an open server is public whether or not anyone is advertising it. If you'd need someone to let your friend in, it's private, and Cozy members can't be brought there. If it's yours, bringing Cozy members to it is recruiting, however open it is. Cozy doesn't keep a list and doesn't vouch for any server; its rules and staff stop at Cozy's door.

I run a public server. Can my Cozy friends play on it? They can play anywhere, and Cozy doesn't decide who your server admits. What you can't do is be the reason they're there: asking Cozy members to come, sending the address, or bringing them over is recruiting — public or private, friends or not. Listing it publicly and then telling Cozy members to go find it is the same as sending the address. The public-server allowance is for meeting a Cozy friend on a server neither of you runs. Cozy members who find yours on their own, through a listing or a search, have done nothing wrong, and neither have you.

I know my Cozy friend is an adult — we've talked for months. Can I invite them to my private server or Realm? No. The rule is about the space, not your friend: a private space is where Cozy's safeguards stop, and Cozy won't be the way anyone gets there. However sure you are, Cozy can't be — nobody here has verified anyone — and the same rule has to work for everyone. Play together on a public server, or use Cozy's Creative server.

Is the private-invite rule just about stopping people poaching members? That's half of it. The other half is safety, and it's the half that makes it a rule: Cozy doesn't verify anyone's age, a private world or Discord is where Cozy's moderation stops, and Cozy won't be the way anyone — possibly a minor — gets there. That's why a personal world or private Discord is covered, however close the friend — it's a space someone controls and lets people into — and a group chat isn't: a group chat is a conversation, which Cozy doesn't regulate or see inside, though the rules that apply to any private contact still apply there. The person invited is never in trouble.

Can I play on a server run by someone who was banned from Cozy? Yes. Where you play is your business, and a ban here doesn't follow anyone elsewhere. Two things do matter: helping a banned person get back into Cozy is ban evasion, and if a community run by someone removed for a safety violation or ban evasion is used to recruit or target Cozy members, Cozy may designate it — you'd be told privately, by name, before anything else happened.

Can I make a Discord just so my kingdom can use a server tag? No. A Discord that exists so kingdom members can join it is a kingdom Discord, whatever's inside it, and kingdoms are organized here. Cozy can't check what an outside server contains, doesn't supervise other servers or take roles in them on Cozy's behalf, and can't make an exception it has no way to check. A tag from a server that's yours alone is like an invite in your bio — fine by itself; pointing kingdom members to it isn't.

How do we arrange to play on a public server together? In DMs or a group chat, like any plan with friends — for a public server neither of you runs. That's meeting up, not inviting: a DM is still the wrong place for access to a private space, or to a server you run or recruit for. DMs are not exempt from rule 7. Cozy channels aren't for arranging play on other servers, and outside links and addresses never go on Cozy — typed or spoken. Saying a server IP in a Cozy voice channel is the same as posting it.

Can I tell people I play somewhere else? Yes, including which one — where you play is a fact about you, not an invitation. Playing with a Cozy friend on a public server neither of you runs is fine, and so is naming it so they can meet you there; do that in DMs, as a plan between friends. A server's address or link never goes on Cozy, typed or spoken, and Cozy channels and voice aren't for pitching a server or gathering people for one. Promoting another community to Cozy members, encouraging them to move there, or handing out invites to private or invite-only spaces is a violation in a channel or in a DM.

Someone in game chat asked me for a good server. Can I answer? Say where you play if you like — "I play on X" is fine anywhere. What can't go in the answer is the address or link: it never goes on Cozy, typed, spoken, or spelled out, and Cozy chat isn't the place to point people to other servers, whoever asked. If a friend wants to meet you on a public server, arrange it in DMs. A first slip is a correction, not a ban.

Could someone DM a lot of Cozy members to get them playing on a public server? No. The public-server allowance is for friends meeting up — a plan between people who already play together. Working through Cozy's members — DMing people you don't play with, or lots of them — to get them onto another server is recruiting, and the rule says public or not, yours or not: you don't have to run a server to recruit for it. It's the same violation by DM as in a channel. If you get a DM like that, you're not in trouble; one ticket saying who and how is the whole job.

Is a group DM with Cozy friends okay? Yes. A group chat is a conversation, not a server, and Cozy doesn't regulate private friendships or see inside them. What you can't do is run a Cozy kingdom or group out of one, or use it to hand out invites or recruit — and the rules that apply to any private contact still apply there: no asking for personal information, no romantic conduct, and treat every Cozy contact as possibly a minor.

Anything to know about playing other games with Cozy members? Cozy's privacy and conduct rules come with you. Share a gamertag, not a phone number, real name, or personal social account; don't pressure anyone to turn on a camera; and remember Cozy can't vouch for anyone's age. A game lobby or party is where you play, not a private community — that's fine. If someone uses a game invite to ask for personal information, asks you to keep something secret, or keeps offering you gifts, report it.

Can I invite a Cozy friend to my Realm or test world? No. Private and invite-only spaces — Realms, whitelisted servers, test worlds, private Discords — are where Cozy's safeguards stop, and we won't be the way anyone gets there. Public servers with their own moderation are fine to play on together. For testing and planning, use Cozy's Creative server.

Someone invited me to their private server or Discord. Am I in trouble? No — not for being invited, and not for joining. The rule is about the person who invites. If it felt off, open a support ticket and say who invited you and how; that's the whole job, and nobody may pressure or expose you for reporting.

What happens to someone who runs a Discord or server to recruit Cozy members? Inviting a friend to your private Discord is a warning, and closing it or removing them is the fix. Running a group to draw from Cozy — people with recruiting roles, members posted at spawn to meet new players, DMs to newly verified members — is bad-faith participation under the Community rules, and the first finding can be removal. The people who were invited are never in trouble.

A Cozy member asked me for the invite to my server. Can I give it to them? No. "They asked first" doesn't make it okay to provide access. Tell them it's against Cozy's rules for you to hand it over.

My friends and I want to start our own server. Are we in trouble? Starting a server isn't against the rules. Using your Cozy connections to fill it — invites, onboarding, promoting it to members, running it as a home for a Cozy group — is. If it's built from Cozy's membership, it's the thing the rule exists for.

What's an "advisory notice"? A heads-up, not a penalty. If staff have reason to think a specific outside community is being built from Cozy's membership, they may tell you so privately. Nothing is required of you and it isn't a mark against you; it means that from then on, helping bring Cozy members into that community would be a knowing violation. You can stay a member there.

What's a "safety designation"? A narrow tool for one situation: a community run by someone who was removed from Cozy for a safety violation or ban evasion, and that's targeting Cozy members. If that ever applies, you'd be told privately, by name, and asked to leave; you'd be reinstated on your word. It has nothing to do with ordinary outside communities, and you're never expected to guess which community it is from who's in it. Not sure whether a community you're in is the one? Ask in a ticket, by name — you'll get a yes or a no, and asking isn't evidence of anything.

I got a "temporary review hold." Am I banned? No. A review hold pauses access while staff look at something. It's not a finding. The notice tells you how to respond.

Will staff DM me about a ban? Not from a personal account, ever. On Minecraft, the notice is the ban screen and your support ticket, which stays open to you. On Discord, a notice is sent by DM at the time of the ban where practicable, and it never comes from a moderator's own account — a personal message claiming to be a staff decision isn't one. If you didn't get a notice, email [email protected] with your username and it will be sent to you.

Can my friend appeal for me? No. Appeals come from the person themselves.

I was banned from Discord. Can I ever come back? If the ban was for one of the immediate-removal violations, no. Otherwise, one written appeal after 12 months, by email to [email protected].

I'm banned. Can I still report something dangerous? Yes. Email [email protected]. It won't reopen your ban, and it won't be held against you.

I bought a Minecraft account and it turns out it's banned here. Can it be unbanned? First, what this isn't: an account bought new from Minecraft is yours, has no history anywhere, and can't be banned here before you've ever joined. This only happens with a second-hand account from a resale site, which comes with everything its previous owner did — including a ban here. Bans stay with the account, whoever is using it now: Cozy can't verify that an account changed hands, and "it was someone else" is something every banned account could say. Second-hand accounts aren't allowed here anyway — the Gameplay page says accounts may not be bought, sold, or transferred, and Minecraft's own terms don't allow it — so one isn't treated as a new person: no fresh start, and its verification link doesn't move. The ban has whatever route its reason gives it, and nothing more. If you're new here, play on an account that's yours; you're welcome to.

Can I report a staff member — or the owner? Yes. Email [email protected] with the subject "STAFF CONDUCT." That mailbox is read by the owner and nobody else, so the person you're reporting doesn't see it. Don't use a ticket for this yet — tickets are currently seen by the moderation team as a whole; a ticket type that only the owner can see is being set up. A report about the owner will go to a designated reviewer, at an address he doesn't receive, once both are set up — the Staff Code says what applies until then, including that such a report currently does reach him. If it's about anyone's safety, or you'd rather it not reach him at all, you can always go straight to Discord, Minecraft, or law enforcement.

Cozy doesn't read DMs — so what happens if I report one? We look at what you sent, for that report, and nothing more. We never go looking, and the other person's other messages aren't ours to read. Send the relevant part, not the whole conversation.

Can I discuss the rules publicly? Always. #policy-discussion is for exactly that. What stays in tickets is individual cases.

Do Discord's and Minecraft's own rules apply here too? Yes, alongside Cozy's. Discord's Terms of Service and Community Guidelines cover the Discord; Minecraft's Usage Guidelines and Community Standards, and the Xbox Community Standards, cover the game and every account on it. Cozy's rules are stricter than any of them, so following Cozy's keeps you inside theirs — and a platform can act under its own rules whether or not Cozy does, which is why the Reporting page says serious conduct can also be reported to Discord, Mojang, or Xbox directly.

I sent the word and nothing happened. That's expected — AutoMod hides the message. If you joined the Minecraft server with that account first, then sent the word, one space, and your exact Minecraft username, wait up to 24 hours. You're verified when you can break blocks, pick up items, and use in-game voice. If you sent the word before ever joining the server, join now and send it again.

I switched from Java to Bedrock. Join the server with the new account, then verify again with that username.

Why is Cozy run by an LLC? Two reasons, and they pull the same way. Cozy costs money to run and takes in none — no payments, no donations — so someone has to sign for the servers it runs on, plugins, the domain, and the mail. Under Cozy MC, LLC, Cozy signs for its own things under Cozy's name, and no private person's real name sits on every account and contract behind the server; that's the same privacy the rules give every member, applied to the owner. And an LLC is a public legal entity with a registered agent, so Mojang, Discord, a parent, an attorney, or a court can always reach the operator — most servers are run by a username that nobody can reach — and it can make commitments and be held to them. It also keeps the server's legal risks separate from a person's, which is what limited liability means and why small clubs and leagues are set up the same way. It's a one-person LLC with no board, investors, or revenue; it isn't a nonprofit because a nonprofit needs a board, bylaws, and annual filings, more structure than a server with no income can justify. The entity is public and the owner's name isn't, for the same reason yours doesn't have to be — the difference is that Cozy's obligations to you are written down: the Privacy Notice, the Staff Code, and the Safety Reporting page, which includes the route for a report about the owner.

How is Cozy paid for, and why doesn't it take donations? The owner pays for it. It's a passion project, and it always has been. Cozy doesn't take donations or payments because money changes what a place is: a payment creates an obligation and an expectation, a refund becomes a dispute, and a server where many members are under 18 shouldn't be asking anyone for anything. With nothing for sale and nobody owed anything, the rules can be about conduct and nothing else.

How can I support Cozy? Not with money — Cozy doesn't take donations or payments. Videos and streams are welcome and help more than anything: record and post your gameplay freely, following the Recording & Posting rules (never record voice chat, no other players' nametags outside Cozy, nothing from DMs, and post as yourself, not as Cozy). Beyond that, the things that help most are the ordinary ones: welcome new players at spawn and show them around, report what feels off, build things others can use, vote when a petition comes up, and bring a friend who'd like it here.

How do I become a moderator or admin? There's no application, and asking doesn't count against you. Now and then the owner invites a member who has been here a while. Staff have to be adults — every staff member has confirmed that in writing, as the Staff Code says — so an invitation asks you to confirm you're 18 or older, yes or no, with no proof and nothing more; it's the one time Cozy asks anything about age, and only of someone being invited. The way to be considered is the way to be a good member anyway: know the rules and why they're there, be the person new players are glad to run into, report what feels off, and build things people enjoy. Most of what keeps Cozy cozy isn't done by staff.

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