Evidence Handling & Ban Appeals
Chapter 6 — How to capture, store, and document evidence so every punishment survives review.
Every punishment you issue may eventually be appealed, reviewed by an Admin, or questioned by the player involved. Good evidence handling protects both the player (from an unfair outcome) and you (from being second-guessed unfairly). Treat this as a required habit, not an optional extra step.
What Counts as Evidence
- Screenshots of chat logs or inventory contents.
- Screen recordings of in-game behavior, PvP clips, or the screenshare session itself.
- LibertyBans
/historyand/blameoutput for the player at the time of investigation. - Player reports, including their original wording — do not paraphrase a report before saving it.
How to Record and Store It
- Capture evidence at the time of the incident, not from memory afterward.
- Save recordings and screenshots to the shared staff evidence folder/drive immediately, named with the date, player name, and offense (e.g.
2026-08-03_PlayerName_griefing.mp4). - Log the punishment in the staff logging channel or system with: player name, offense, evidence link, punishment given, and your name.
- Never store evidence only on your personal device with no backup — if you go inactive, the record must still exist for the team.
Writing a Ban Reason That Survives an Appeal
A good ban reason is specific enough that an Admin reviewing it a month later, with no memory of the case, understands exactly what happened and why the punishment fit. Compare:
WEAK
Banned for cheating.
STRONG
Permanent ban — modified client with kill-aura module confirmed active during voluntary screenshare on 2026-08-03, recording on file, reviewed with [Admin name].
GOLDEN RULE
If your evidence would not make sense to someone who wasn't there, it isn't complete yet. Write it as if you will have to defend it to the whole team six months from now — because you might.
Quick Review — Q&A
Q: When should you capture evidence relative to the incident?
A: At the time it happens, not reconstructed from memory afterward.
Q: What four things should every logged punishment include?
A: Player name, the offense, a link to the evidence, the punishment given, and the staff member's name.
Q: Why shouldn't you store evidence only on your personal device?
A: If you go inactive or lose the device, the record for the team disappears with it — evidence needs to live in shared, backed-up storage.
Q: What makes a ban reason 'strong' rather than 'weak'?
A: Specificity — naming exactly what was found, how, and when, so someone with no memory of the case can understand and defend the decision later.