Player Moderator

"Moderator" redirects here. For Jagex employees, see Jagex Moderator. For RuneScape Forums moderators, see Forum Moderator.

Player Moderators (colloquially PMods or just mods) are Old School RuneScape players chosen specifically by Jagex staff due to their commitment to the in-game community. They are ambassadors of the game and help to maintain an enjoyable in-game environment. They were introduced to the original game on 14 June 2004, and since then the team has grown to 2,364 player moderators as of 30 December 2019.

Other types of moderators include Forum Moderators and Jagex Moderators. Player Moderators hold their status on both games: Old School RuneScape and RuneScape 3. Back when FunOrb and RuneScape Classic existed, Player Moderators held their status there as well.

Moderator abilities

Player Moderators can be recognised by the silver crown - - visible next to their name when they speak in-game (but not in their username when right clicking), or when they are sending messages. This image cannot be disabled or hidden. On the RuneScape forums, however, there is no visible differentiation between Player Moderators and regular players. Anyone who claims to be a Player Moderator without a crown can be reported (for staff impersonation) using the report abuse menu. While acknowledged as not actually being hired members of the Jagex Staff (only regular players with extra entrusted tools), the rule is still applicable to impersonation of them.

Player Moderators can tick the "Mute player (Moderators only)" option.

A Player Moderator has direct approaches to rulebreakers. To safeguard other members of the community from disruptive or offensive players they have the ability to issue a priority abuse report which will, with an immediate effect, temporarily mute the reported player to give Jagex staff members some time to review the incident.

However, new Player Moderators are given a "Suggest a mute" instead of a temporary mute option. This is to settle in new moderators into their role as part of a training period. Once Jagex has assessed the judgement of the moderator, the in-game behaviour as well as social and forum posts, and the reports marked for muting would have been applied correctly, then the moderator would be given the full responsibility with the normal mute option.

Occasionally when a player is being particularly defiant towards the rules, a mute is required so that other players can no longer see their text. A Player Moderator's mute is a safety precaution to help prevent the player in question from causing any more harm to themselves or others, as it will effectively stop any attempts to talk freely. Jagex provides Player Moderators with muting guidelines, and mutes are, according to Jagex, checked to ensure that they are correct. Any incorrect mutes may be lifted, and if a Player Moderator regularly mutes without proper reason, their moderator status may be removed. As soon as a Jagex Moderator checks the report, the mute is lifted and a subsequent punishment is then applied if it is needed.

Private messages sent by a Player Moderator will remain visible when private chat is filtered to friends, or turned off, by the recipient player. Player Moderators cannot send messages, or view the online status of, players who do not have them added to their friends list and have their private status set to 'friends'. If the other player has their status set as 'offline', Player Moderators cannot see their online status, or send messages to the player, even if they are mutually added.

If a player adds a Player Moderator to their Ignore List, they will not see any additional messages from that player.

Player Moderators have access to additional forum sections, in which they can discuss moderator issues with other Player Moderators and their dedicated Jagex Moderator curators. Jagex states that content discussed within these areas is strictly confidential, and any Player Moderator who reveals content within these areas will lose their moderator privileges.

How Player Moderators are chosen

A player becomes a player moderator and has it removed afterwards.

Player Moderators are chosen specifically by Jagex staff based on their truthfulness, maturity, involvement in the Old School RuneScape in-game and forum communities, and by the accuracy of abuse reports (therefore, not reporting someone for extremely minor reasons, or just because you can). They must also have a secure account .

Mod SteveW explained the process of the player moderator selection on the /r/2007scape subreddit as followed:

“	Our data science team draw account names from a pre-defined criteria that we supply, this usually include things like game bias, time zone, activity, pillar points, Authentication / Bank PIN equals true and so on. We vary the raw trawl of accounts from time to time to fit our needs, for example we have recently focused on OS game bias from Australian time zones. Once we have that list we review each account for reports made about it, display name history and linked accounts to identify rule breaking on undesirable behaviour on alternative accounts. We then do some due diligence checks to see if any of the accounts are linked to cheating communities or have any links or concerns in relation to Community Safety issues. Once we have that list we extract any accounts that log in from countries whose Authorities provide public searchable *** offender records and, where possible, run a sense check against public records. We then run a hijacking check to see if the account user is involved in account phishing or other activity such as name selling or account selling and then finally a check of any payment fraud history. We sometimes do a few further adhoc checks such as removing accounts with a lot of public wi-fi or proxy access. Once we have that final list the players can be invited and if they accept the invite they will move into a state where they can't mute anyone and their reports are closely monitored for about 2 months. Once we are happy that the reporting is of a good standard we move the account to a full P Mod status which means they can mute and also that the accounts are then checked weekly for security, activity and mute accuracy. Hope that helps.	”
	— Mod SteveW on Reddit

Players with old, expired offences may still become Player Moderators if Jagex feels that they have learned their lesson. Though you do not have to play a certain amount of time, most moderators have played 1 year or more before being asked to join the team. It is mentioned that being on the forums helps being noticed.

Senior Player Moderators are able to put forward players to become new Player Moderators, although this only fast tracks them being noticed by Jagex and does not cause them to face any less scrutiny.

Jagex will only contact the player via the Message Centre system to inform them that they have been selected to become a Player Moderator. The player is then able to accept or decline the position. Jagex will never private message you in-game and tell you to go to an external website and enter your username and password. People messaging that are phishers who steal account logins, and they can be reported for staff impersonation.

Any player asking in-game for your login details should be reported immediately so Jagex can punish them accordingly. Also, if you are asked by a player in in-game chat to log out into the lobby as you have been chosen to become a moderator, report them promptly, as this is a phishing attempt as well.

Player Moderator teams

Player Moderators are split into two "teams": community-oriented and moderation-oriented. Each of these teams have their own dedicated Jagex Moderator to refer to.

There is also another group of Player Moderators, the Player Moderator Mentors: an experienced group of Player Moderators who have been chosen to help guide newer Player Moderators. They work with Jagex on processes such as recruitment and communicating changes to the other Player Moderators.

Misconceptions

There are many misconceptions regarding Player Moderators and their abilities. In simple terms, they are the same as regular players, but with the ability to temporarily mute other players and access special Moderator forums. Some myths about Player Moderators and their abilities are, in fact, true for Jagex Moderators, however. Here is a list of myths about Player Moderators, along with the truth:

Myth	Truth
Player Moderators are given free benefits, including free items, experience, or membership.	Player Moderators do not receive any type of reward for being a Player Moderator, and have to pay for membership and work for their items and experience like any other player. Before Jagex allowed qualifying free players to post on the forums, player moderators were able to use them regardless of their membership status. However, Jagex has said that it was an accident, so at the time, asked player moderators not to post in any forums besides the Player Moderator Forums. Now, though, any mod can post on the forums as part of the "qualifying free players".
Player Moderators can change their levels whenever they want.	Player Moderators cannot change their levels except through training like normal players. However, Jagex Moderators can change their own levels for testing purposes.
Player Moderators can get any item they want.	Player Moderators cannot generate any items they want and must work towards obtaining items like any other player. However, it has been shown on various occasion that Jagex Moderators can generate any items they want for testing purposes.
Player Moderators are invited to the Player Moderator team in-game or by e-mail.	Jagex will only notify a player that they have been invited via that player's RuneScape inbox. If there are any unread messages in a player's inbox, a red "X" will be shown in that section of the lobby and in the information box will be a message containing the number of unread messages as well as a link to the player's inbox. Anyone telling you in-game or via email that you have been selected to become a Player Moderator is likely attempting to steal your password and should be reported for staff impersonation.
Player Moderators are told updates before they are publicly released.	This is not true in most cases, as there is a chance that information will be leaked, thus ruining the surprise for everyone. Occasionally, Jagex will allow moderators to give advanced input on moderation-related updates, such as an update to a game rule, or the reporting system.
Only members are allowed to become Player Moderators.	Any player may become a Player Moderator regardless of membership.
Player Moderators are chosen primarily based on the number of reports they make.	Quality of reports is far more important than quantity, and making large numbers of reports in the hope of becoming a Player Moderator is actually counterproductive. If a situation is doubtful, you may send a report, but keep in mind that there may be a better solution like asking "Could we please talk about something else?" or simply ignoring the other player. There are also several other factors besides the quantity/quality of reports that affect which players are chosen to become Player Moderators.
Players are chosen for modship because of their high Combat level or how long they have been playing the game.	Player Moderators are not simply high combat levelled players nor are Player Moderators necessarily chosen for their time devoted to the game, though the more good information on a player Jagex obtains, the better. Many Moderators have combat levels of 126, but there are also many who have combat levels as low as 3.
Player Moderators must have absolutely no offences on their record.	Although having no offences may help your chances of becoming a Player Moderator, you do not have to have a shiny clean offence list to become one. Everyone has 'off' days, and we learn from our mistakes, and as such, it is important that if you do have offences, you have learned from them. Offences will typically only affect your chance of becoming a Player Moderator if you continuously violate the rules, or if they are serious offences, such as scamming.
Player Moderators have to help someone in need.	Player Moderators are not obliged to help anyone and their cooperation is entirely voluntary. This even means that reporting and muting is optional as well, just as it is for normal players.
Player Moderators can either appeal offences for someone else, remove them entirely, or request them to be removed.	They cannot lift any bans or undo Jagex actions against an account. The owner of the account in question is responsible for appealing the offence.
Player Moderators can ban other players.	Player Moderators can only mute other players, not ban them.
Player Moderators are obligated to report players they see breaking the rules.	Just like regular players, it is the Player Moderators discretion as to whether or not they choose to report a player breaking a rule. In fact, Jagex encourages their P-Mods to only report if it's absolutely necessary.
Player Moderators are given money to train skills and buy items instead of working to make their money.	Just like every other player, Player Moderators have to find their own ways of making money.
A Player Moderator's silver crown does not show up on clan chat, public chat, or private chat.	A Player Moderator's silver crown will always appear, regardless of type of chat, origin of chat, and destination of the chat nor can a Player Moderator turn off their crown temporarily. When someone is a Player Moderator, their crown will show up in every message everywhere and always. This is so that players cannot claim they have 'turned it off' for a while and possibly scam others.

Trivia

• Player Moderators will lose their moderator status when not logged in with a good play session within a 3 month period.
• Player Moderators on RuneScape were also Player Moderators on FunOrb. However, Forum Moderators on RuneScape were not always Forum Moderators on FunOrb.
• In circumstances that cause a Player Moderator to speak out loud without typing, such was the case with random events, the crown does not appear next to their name.
• Moderator crowns were not visible on RuneScape Classic until September 2009.
• At RuneFest 2014, attending Player and Forum Moderators were given mugs for the team or teams they represented.
• Until 12 April 2018, messages in Old School RuneScape written by Player Moderators could be seen even by players who have turned their public chat off.

External links

• Player Moderators by Mod Gambit
• Moderators and Community Helpers - Jagex Support Centre