# Staff Powers

## Our staff members have numerous powers to assist them in moderating effectively.

## Staff Powers

We believe it's important to be transparent with our community about what our staff can see and do. To do this we've created this web page to explain all the things staff can see/do and why.

We store a lot of information, basically everything you do on Altitude is logged. We only use this data to moderate, we will never sell it or give it to anyone who isn't an active staff member. Any misuse of the data we store by staff members results in their immediate removal from the team.

This is not a complete list of all powers the staff team has, these are just a list of the commands that could be misinterpreted as giving staff members an advantage or are related to your data.

If you have a concern about any of the powers talked about on the rest of this page, or you feel like something is missing. Please get in contact with head staff through the AltitudeBot on Discord or by submitting a contact form with a valid email.

## Staff Rooms

Staff rooms are places where staff may need to go to handle a variety of staff-related tasks. We don’t want staff to seem unresponsive when working on a task if a player sees them unmoving on the server somewhere when sorting through logs, coreprotect data, or sending mails to players. Often, secure ‘physical’ space is needed by staff to deal with an issue on the server (For example, storing stolen items in one organized place, where all other mods can safely access them so they can be returned to the player who owns them as quickly as possible). Staff meetings also often occur in these rooms so that the server isn’t left unattended during the meeting, while the team can still remain engaged in the meeting.

Previously, staff rooms were placed under server spawns for quick access by that server’s staff team. Now, staff rooms have been removed from the survival world and exist in a dimension similar to the nether and the end.
Concerns have been raised in the past that this space is not accessible to players. Due to the purpose of the space (solely to handle staff-related tasks/player issues, and host meetings), this space will forever remain inaccessible to players as that access would eliminate the purpose of the space.

## Spy (seeing DMs & PartyChat)

Staff members are able to see all private messages and messages sent in party chats. This is vital for protecting our players, we would not be able to moderate effectively without also being able to see private messages.

We will never purposely spy on your private conversation for personal gain, the only time we will interfere with these messages is if we see a severely concerning conversation happening; harassment, bullying, suicide/self harm discussion, sexual discussion, etc. We will almost always step in through just a simple DM to check in on things. We will take relevant private messages into account when collecting evidence on a player.

Please keep in mind, this does not mean staff are constantly moderating your DM’s in the way they do chat. If you are experiencing an issue in DM’s and need help, please reach out to a member of staff.
Altitude staff are not trained mental health professionals, and we are not qualified to counsel through suicide and self harm, but we value our community members deeply and will do our best to give you some official resources that you can use.

## Player Data (IPs and logs)

All staff members have access to your IP through /whois and /iphist. They will never use this information outside of moderation, and it will never be shared outside of our staff team. Everytime you visit a place on the internet, your IP is used to share data back to you. If we did not have access to your IP, you would not be able to play on Altitude. The only times we will use your IP for staff purposes is to compare your IP to an account we may think is an alt (this is also why we have a history of your previous IPs you’ve logged in with).

Almost every single action taken on Altitude is tracked through some sort of log. We’ve created a very detailed logging system to help ensure that we are always well informed when dealing with different staff scenarios, and these logs help us tremendously. We do not share these logs outside of the staff team and we will never use them for anything unrelated to staff. We will not list everything we log because it’s not necessary and would be too long of a list, but just beware that basically anything you do on Altitude is logged in some way. This is not only to protect Altitude, but you as well.

## CoreProtect

Coreprotect is a log on the server that allows staff to see a variety of interactions on the server- From block deletion to buttons pressed to commands issued. 90% of the time, staff use coreprotect when dealing with issues related to blocks/entities, such as griefing and theft. Staff may use coreprotect in conjunction with our database logs if a situation is bigger than coreprotect can support us with. As a result, staff may take a bit of time when investigating a player issue due to the searching they must do with coreprotect, especially if there is a lot of related data to search through!

Many servers use coreprotect as it is the most reliable source of this information, is well organized and is extremely well documented. Coreprotect data is considered confidential, and staff will not release or share any coreprotect data with players. The only exception to this rule is cases of theft under trust - where staff will share the name of the thief with the claim owner for the purpose of them being removed from their claimlist and not being re-trusted in the future.

Coreprotect also allows us to fix some serious problems using a tool called Rollback. Rollback allows staff to reverse the interactions done with blocks/entities/containers within a selected period of time, and helps us fix things quickly for you after griefing occurs!

## Head Staff

Head staff (everyone above mod) have access to a lot of things depending on their exact job. The most relevant things they have access to are: creative, worldedit, and invload. These powers can be used to restore items we can't properly restore with coreprotect and remove/move/restore builds as needed.

### /fly

Fly allows staff members to freely do their job without having to worry about being limited to just the ground. There are a lot of instances where they need to be able to check out something high off the ground or they just need to be able to travel more efficiently, and flying allows them to do this. We allow our staff members to use fly for their own personal builds, sort of as a thank you and to help make up for the time they lose through all of their moderation. We do not want any staff members to be openly flying around in front of players, and they will never use it for anything other than building (looting, exploring, etc. is not allowed).

### /god

God mode allows staff members to work on something in game without being physically disturbed or harmed. This is a tool that is only ever used for moderation purposes, to allow staff to focus on their job without being interrupted by outside elements.

### /ignoreclaims

The ignore claims command is extremely helpful when a staff member is tracking down stolen items, checking trustlists, helping players with other miscellaneous issues, etc. This command is very powerful and all of our staff members acknowledge this, it will never be used outside of a staff related incident.

### CoreProtect

Coreprotect is used to track and view information on block/item/etc placements and gives us the ability to restore these actions. This is only used to fix and track damage done by stealing/griefing/etc.

### /vanish

Vanish is used to check on what players are doing. This allows us to ensure all players are following the rules. We hide ourselves while doing so to avoid disrupting the player experience.

### /patrol

This command allows mods to teleport to each player one by one without missing anyone. This helps staff to moderate all players equally and efficiently.

### /invsee - /ec

These commands allow the inventory/enderchest of a player to be viewed and edited. This is only used in situations where a player breaks a rule by taking items from someone else and refuses to return them.

### /whois - /whowas

Whois is a command that shows a lot of player information, namely IP, UUID, player balance, number of homes, etc. Your IP is kept private and will never be used maliciously, and your UUID is public information. This command will never be used for anything outside of moderating purposes. Whowas is a command that lists all previous usernames of a specific player, as well as your UUID again. This information is public information that can easily be accessed through a number of different websites.

### /flag

We use flags as an internal tool to inform other staff members of things a player has done, these are usually in the form of short notes.

### /alts - /iphist

These commands can be used to show if a player has other players on the same ip as them. This is necessary to make it harder to bypass punishments. Your ip history is kept private and will never be shared outside of staff related incidents.

### /spy

All staff usually have /spy on, this allows them to see all conversations in DM's and party chat. This is important to ensure people aren't using our server to harass players without staff being able to see and respond to it.

### /cuff

This command is used when a player is being uncooperative or not listening to staff after being instructed to do something. When a player is cuffed, they cannot move, they cannot teleport, etc., but they can still chat or message players. This is mainly used in cases where a player is attempting to interfere with a staff situation (Ex: theft). This command will only be used for moderation purposes.

### /afklist

This command lists everyone who has been marked as AFK by our plugin. It also notifies us if a player gets marked as AFK. This is used to check if a player isn't going AFK near farms which might give them an advantage over other players.

### /heal - /feed

These commands are only used during moderation to deal with unexpected situations where a player might need to be healed. They are not used by any staff member while playing on the server.

### /tp - /tphere - /spawn

These commands are used to get a player away from a situation that requires staff intervention such as attempted player killing or if they are in a place they aren't allowed to be in anymore. Tp can be used while in vanish to check on a player or to easily and quickly get to a player who's asking for help.

### /cmi invlist

This command is used to see all of a player's recent deaths. It allows us to see your death inventory, your levels, the time of your death, location, cause, etc.

### Ability to see emails during appeals, contact forms & staff applications

(Head-Staff only)

When you send in a ban appeal, a contact form, or a staff application, we will be given your email (if you send in an anonymous contact form we cannot see your email). We will never use your email for anything besides replying. Head-staff are the only staff members who are able to see your email.