Screensharing Procedure & Ethics

Screensharing is the most serious and most sensitive tool available to staff. It means a player voluntarily shares their own screen (or remote access to their PC, depending on your server's chosen method) so staff can check for unauthorized client modifications after strong suspicion of cheating. Because it involves a player's personal device, it must always be handled with structure, consent, and restraint. Federal SMP's approach is built on the same ethical foundation taught in the wider Minecraft anti-cheat community (the RedLotus framework), adapted to our own rules.

Core Ethical Principles

• Consent first. A screenshare is only ever voluntary. Ban evasion suspicion or a refusal to cooperate is handled through normal evidence-based punishment, never through pressure or threats to force a screenshare.
• Minimum necessary access. Only look at what is relevant — installed Minecraft clients, mods folders, recently modified files, and running processes tied to the game. Staff must never browse personal files, photos, browser history, messages, or anything unrelated to Minecraft.
• Two-person integrity where possible. For anything that may lead to a permanent ban, a second staff member should observe or review the recording before the final decision is made.
• Always record. Every screenshare is recorded from start to finish. The recording is the evidence — not your memory of it.
• Respect and professionalism throughout. The player is a person having a stressful moment, not a suspect being interrogated. Explain each step before you take it.

Who Can Screenshare

Only Moderator rank and above may conduct a screenshare. Helpers may witness or assist but must never run one independently until promoted. This restriction exists because screensharing requires judgement that comes with experience, and because it is the highest-trust interaction a staff member can have with a player.

Standard Procedure

1. Confirm there is a genuine reason for suspicion — an anti-cheat flag, a clear in-game pattern (see Chapter 2), or a credible player report with supporting detail.
2. Contact the player privately, explain why they are being asked, and explain that participation is voluntary.
3. Start a recording before any screen or remote access begins.
4. Ask the player to open Task Manager (or Activity Monitor on Mac) and walk through currently running processes together — look for unfamiliar or renamed executables, unusual background processes tied to the game, and anything the player cannot explain.
5. Check the Minecraft installation: the launcher in use, any custom or alternate clients, the mods/resource pack folders, and recently modified files inside the game directory.
6. If something suspicious appears, ask the player to explain it before drawing conclusions. Many odd-looking files have innocent explanations.
7. Close the session, thank the player for their time regardless of outcome, and immediately write up your findings while they are fresh (see Chapter 6, Evidence Handling).
8. For anything that could lead to a ban, have a second Moderator or an Admin review the recording before finalizing the punishment.

Manual Screensharing: Sources & Further Reading

Federal SMP's screenshare procedure draws on publicly available community frameworks that document this process in far greater depth than a single handbook chapter can. Every Moderator is expected to read these in full before conducting their first screenshare:

• The RedLotus Guide (community screenshare/hack-check reference) — itzicehere.gitbook.io/redlotusguide — covers ethical framework, artifact review, and general procedure in depth.
• Community screenshare-assist tooling repositories (e.g. Miphy's screenshare-tools project on GitHub) — process and file inspection helper utilities used by many Minecraft server staff teams. Review any such tool's documentation and source before use, and only run tools you understand.

Ban Reasoning

A screenshare-based ban reason should be specific and factual: what was found, where, and why it constitutes a violation — for example "Modified client (Y) with combat-assist module found active in mods folder, confirmed by player during voluntary screenshare on [date]." Vague reasons like "cheating confirmed" are not acceptable; the next admin reviewing an appeal needs to understand exactly what happened without you present to explain it.

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Quick Review — Q&A

Q: Who is allowed to run a screenshare independently?

A: Moderator rank and above. Helpers may assist or observe but not run one alone.

Q: What is the very first ethical rule of screensharing?

A: It is always voluntary — a player can decline, and that refusal is never treated as an automatic confession or forced by pressure.

Q: What should staff never look at during a screenshare?

A: Anything unrelated to Minecraft — personal photos, browser history, private messages, or unrelated files. Only game-related files and processes are in scope.

Q: Why must every screenshare be recorded?

A: Because the recording is the actual evidence used for the ban reason and any later appeal — memory alone is not sufficient documentation.

Q: What should you do before finalizing a ban that could be permanent?

A: Have a second Moderator or an Admin review the recording before the decision is made final.