You may only have one account, second accounts are not allowed under any circumstances, and will be banned. This may also lead to your first account also being banned. If you forget your password, use the lost password finder here. If you are still unable to log in, contact the mods.

You cannot play a public game with players that you know outside of the site. In doing so, you create an unfair environment for other players by giving yourself the opportunity to form alliances for reasons outside the game. This includes playing public games with family, friends, relatives, coworkers, or even joining a game with any player of a previous game with a predetermined intent to ally with or attack certain players. Additionally, you cannot make deals based on any factors outside of the game.

Because Diplomacy is a social game, we always encourage playing with friends. However, you should always do so in a private game with an invite code and make sure that every player knows about any real life connections before the game begins.

If you enter a game with limited press/messaging (such as global-only) then you can't use other methods such as the forum, email, or PM to bypass this.

If you are playing in a gunboat (no press/anon game) do not post anything about your game in the forum and refrain from posting in any threads you feel might be referencing your game.

Using the Pause or Cancel buttons as signals to other players is violating the press rules. For example, voting pause to signal the desire for a smaller draw is not allowed. If you need a pause in a gunboat game contact the moderators (see below for the contact details) and explain why.

Posting in the forum about an ongoing gunboat (no press) game or a limited press game is not allowed for anyone. This includes offering advice to game participants or predicting the outcome of a game. All questions about a gunboat game must wait until the game is completed.

Diplomacy is a game of many strategies and your discussions with other players can sometimes be hostile, impolite, and even uncivilized. These press strategies are all permissible on webDiplomacy and in Diplomacy in general. However, your press with other players should never include the following:

-Messages of sexual nature
-Overt racism or sexism of any kind
-Doxxing (revealing any real life information) of another player

This rule also applies to game titles.

First offenses will result in a warning in some circumstances but may result in a severe point dock and removal from the game in question if the offense necessitates such action. Second offenses may result in a temporary or permanent ban from webDiplomacy.

Lying is fine in Diplomacy except when it gives mods/admins unnecessary work to do!

Falsely accusing someone of being a multi-accounter/meta-gaming to rally others against them in a game, or claiming that your orders didn't come out the way you entered them to cover up your motives, means mods/admins spend time looking for cheaters/bugs which were made up.

All accusations against other players must be made directly to the mod/admin team directly as specified below, in private, for this reason, and software bug claims must be genuine, even if only told to another player. Avoid making cheating accusations in game, via pm, or on the forum.

The pause is there to stop players from missing their orders, but is not part of the game.  As such pausing or unpausing should not be used for diplomatic gain, such as refusing to unpause unless other players will draw the game.  If it is being abused staff may step in to sort it out.

The pause button cannot be used as a diplomatic tool and should not be used for anything other than indicating the need for a pause. If you need a pause in a gunboat game that was not agreed upon before the game, email the moderators before voting to pause. The moderators will post in the global press asking for a pause. The other players are not obligated to pause in this situation, and force pauses will not be granted except in emergency situations until the moderators can find someone to watch your account. Please try to plan ahead and avoid the need for pauses if possible.

In general, account sitting (getting someone you trust to log on as you and issue orders when you are unable to) is encouraged.  However, you must not get a sitter or sit for somebody you share games with. Also, anything done by the sitter whilst on your account is your responsibility, so make sure you're happy with that before you give them your password.
It is also your responsibility to change your password after allowing someone to use your account.

You are welcome and indeed encouraged to join in with the community but be sensible. Try to keep replies relevant to the conversation and don't start too many threads at once. Before posting a question relating to the software please read the FAQ.

You must answer any warnings or other messages sent to you by the moderators, because if you don't reply it will be assumed you have something to hide, and your account may be closed.  As part of this, you must make sure that the email address provided is one you still check, because this normally how staff will communicate with you.

The rules above are mainly ones which might not be obvious; just because a specific rule isn't given here doesn't mean moderators can't stop people ruining the server for others!

This is a Diplomacy site, and no members should ever have to worry about actions being taken against them in real life. The forum will always remain a fun and welcoming part of webDiplomacy where discussion is encouraged, and it should always be safe for members who participate and post in it.

Creating threads or posting replies that target a member, group of members, or group of people is prohibited. While some discussions on our forum can become heated, attacking another member is not permitted on the forum. Players who post a reply in a discussion attacking another player may be warned and/or silenced depending on the severity of the offense. Consistently harassing another player or going out of one’s way to attack another player, instead of contributing to discussion, may also classify as grounds for a silence or further action depending on the surrounding circumstances.

Likewise, bigotry toward another member or a group of people is not permitted. Our site hosts players from around the world and is intended to be a welcoming and open place for all. Sexism, racism, homophobia, and other forms of bigotry both hamper discussion and also threaten our reputation; as a result, they carry only negative consequences for our site. We will take a zero tolerance approach to any examples of such behaviour.

Each and every member has a right to privacy and to remain as anonymous as they wish. As such, posting any personal information of another member, including but not limited to: their name, address, picture, phone number, email, social media information, etc., or making reference to their personal information is prohibited.

Of course, you are welcome to post as much or as little of your own personal information on our forum. Please be aware that our forum is public and can be viewed even by those who do not own an account and are not logged in. Once you hit “post,” your post will not be deleted.

Posting multiple threads on the same topic, advertising an irrelevant product or service, posting threads in order to help another user bypass a forum silence, reposting threads that have been silenced, and posting appeals of moderator decisions on behalf of oneself or on behalf of other players on the forum all classify as spam. Please try to keep replies to a thread relevant to the intended topic of discussion and please do not start too many threads at once. Using self-restraint is critical.

Please consult the FAQ before posting a question relating to the site’s software.

Because press in gunboat games, rulebook press games, and public press games is restricted, discussing them on the forum while they are being played can jeopardise the fairness of the game and, if done by a player in the game, can classify as working around press restrictions. Even in an effort to draw or cancel a game, posting about an ongoing gunboat game is prohibited. If a player is stalemated and refuses to draw or refuses to unpause a paused game, please email the moderators at diplo-mod@kaffelport.net.

Cheating accusations should not be made publicly on the forums, in games, or via PM. Instead, reports of potential cheating should be sent directly to the moderators at diplo-mod@kaffelport.net with a specific summary of the situation and the players you believe are working around the rules.

While the moderators reserve the right to take an active role in forum moderation, we are not babysitters, and our priorities are catching cheaters and making webDiplomacy the best Diplomacy site around. As such, a user-driven approach is generally recommended to forum moderation:

• You can mute any other user that you do not want to see in the forum or receive PMs from.
• You can mute any forum thread that you aren’t interested in or do not wish to contribute to.
• You can participate on our forum constructively instead of aggressively.
• You can be as open or restrictive about the content that you see as you like.

While a user-driven approach to moderation is generally sufficient, the moderators will step in as they believe is necessary in accordance with these rules.

Silences are a last resort for forum moderation and should not be worked around. If a thread has been silenced, do not create a new one to follow on from where it left off. If a thread had gone off topic before the silence, you may request permission from a moderator to start a new one with the original topic.

If another user has been silenced then you may not work around their silence by posting messages for them. Silences are designed to force users to cool off; allowing them to post via proxy negates that.

If you have been silenced, you must wait out your silence. Evading a silence via creating a new account would be a violation of the multi-accounting rule and would likely result in your ban from the site.

The moderators reserve the right to lock or silence any thread or user that is consistently breaking any of these rules or otherwise disrupting the regular flow of the site on the forum. The webDiplomacy community at large is always our utmost concern and we may have to take action in certain scenarios that are not covered by these rules. Furthermore, all forum rules also apply to PM's or any other form of communication on the site.

The forum is intended to be fun and open, but that ultimately depends on what you make of it. By following these rules, the forum should operate smoothly, but in the end, that responsibility falls to all of the members of webDiplomacy.

We will consider cancelling games when there are two or more cheaters in the same game. We will encourage the remaining players to cancel on their own at the conclusion of an investigation; and give them 24 hours to do so before doing it ourselves.

The players should take care of this themselves as much as they can. If they have agreed to pause, then they should have agreed when to unpause. If the unpause doesn't happen by said date, then they can email us and we will look into it.

If a player has to leave at short notice then they may email us and we will pause the game for them - however, if anyone objects to such a pause then we will unpause the game, and let the requester know. This is also how pauses should be requested in limited press games where they cannot be otherwise arranged.

We do not draw any games due to cheating. We will only force games to draw if they are at a stalemate with no SC's changing hands and no possible sign of a breakthrough. If alerted to such a scenario; we will email the player(s) holding the game up and ask them how they plan to break through. If we deem their plan to be unrealistic, or it includes hoping for misorders or for players to miss phases, then we may force a game to draw.

While the moderators always exercise appropriate discretion and discuss various options with one another prior to acting, there are sometimes no other options than to take immediate action on the forum. The moderators retain the right to issue varying penalties including shorter or longer silences based on the severity of the offense. The moderators also retain the right to lock forum threads, remove forum posts, or remove enter forum threads with or without penalty to offending users.

Upon a first offense, a user will either receive an official warning OR a 48 hour forum ban. Subsequent offenses may result in further and lengthier forum bans. Constant or more severe rule infractions could result in harsher penalties at the discretion of the site moderators and the site owners. The moderators will record each action taken on the forum with an email to the offending user’s registered email. You are always welcome to appeal any moderator decision by emailing diplo-mod@kaffelport.net, which will prompt a different moderator or administrator to handle your case. The results of that appeal are final.

Some details regarding forum bans can be found below:

• A forum ban prohibits a user from posting on the forum or sending private messages as well as viewing the forum while logged in.
• The details of a forum ban, including the reason and length, are always sent to your registered email.
• Locked threads or deleted posts are indefinite. Most forum bans expire. Only the most severe are indefinite.
• Locked threads can still be viewed. Removed threads cannot be viewed.
• Forum bans do not prevent a user from playing in games.

When in doubt about whether posting something is allowed, remember your first responsibility is to use common sense and respect other players. Please contact us with questions if you have any.

As users have their own set of responsibilities, so does the moderator staff. As representatives of the WebDiplomacy users, the moderators will be held accountable for disciplinary decisions. While judgement regarding forum rule violations remains at the sole discretion of the moderator staff, users will be provided with a clear warning regarding rules violations in either a forum post or private message. Users can appeal any moderator's decision by sending an email to diplo-mod@kaffelport.net specifying the grounds for the appeal. The appeal will be dealt with by one of the admins who was not involved in the original decision or by the site owner. Appeals made on behalf of other members will not be considered. The outcome of an appeal is final.

Please keep all appeals to email. When multiple forum threads are made about a moderation decision the resulting confusion becomes a frustration for members and moderators alike. There may be a formal explanation and discussion on moderator decisions in the forum, but the moderator staff will never disclose information that may contain personal information about members or about the methods used to enforce the rules. In situations where multiple threads are opened on a specific topic the site administrators may close the duplicate threads and open an official thread to explain the issue and give the final determination on the appeal.

See our contact us page for more on mod and admin contact details.

webDiplomacy is more than happy to host school groups to play games as part of the regular curriculum, a club, or just for fun. Many of our most frequent users, including some of the site moderator team, got their start on webDiplomacy as students. Diplomacy is a wonderful tool for learning history, geography, logic, philosophy, rhetoric, strategy, and many other skills that are often hard to come by. As teachers, you are doing your students a wonderful favor by showing them Diplomacy, and we are more than happy to accommodate you and your students.

Using webDiplomacy in a classroom setting, however, comes with some stipulations that teachers should be aware of when using our site:

• Please let us know when you sign up.
  

  We are happy to host you and want to know when you arrive. Send us a quick email at diplo-mod@kaffelport.net so that we can make sure you are properly set up.

• Students should only play private games with invite codes with classmates.
  

  webDiplomacy prohibits our players from playing in public games with people they know outside of our site, including students. While not everyone cheats or leverages outside relationships to their advantage, students are very susceptible to this when playing with classmates. When creating a new game, it is very easy to add an invite code, which prevents other players on our site from unknowingly joining your school game and allows your students to play freely among each other without concerning themselves about crossing that line. When they are not playing with their classmates, students are free to play any games.

• Students only need one account.
  

  There is never a scenario where anyone needs more than one account to enjoy webDiplomacy. All new accounts are given 100 points, which is enough to enter up to 20 games if the bets are low. If a player loses a game and falls under 100 points, our site automatically tops off their points when the game is concluded, so our players never fall beneath 100 points. Likewise, we have multiple map options, or variants, so that games can start with as few as 2 players and as many as 17. If a student ever needs help recovering their account, they should contact us.

• Students need to register with an email they actually check regularly.
  

  webDiplomacy moderators are very active to ensure that our site remains free of cheating and fun for everyone. That means that we take on a lot of work and expect prompt replies when we contact players. If we need to reach out to a player, we will do so via their registered email. We require prompt replies to our communications within 72 hours. Failing to do so will result in a ban.

• Ask the moderators to be made a game director for your class games.
  

  webDiplomacy has a feature that allows a teacher to be set as the game director over all of the games your class or club is playing. As a game director, you can pause the game, replace players that have given up or are not submitting orders, and keep the game on track. Simply email diplo-mod@kaffelport.net with your username and the full URL to each of your class games to be set as the game director, and if you need any help as a game director, we will always be there to assist.

• Monitor your students' gameplay and habits on webDiplomacy.
  

  We understand that students, especially teenagers, are often not at the peak level of maturity. On the internet, where the things they say are anonymous, students may say or do things that are not becoming of them. Keeping an eye on your students' games, messages with one another, and posts on our forum will help ensure that they are respectful and not acting in ways that you would not expect or welcome in your classroom.

Keeping these guidelines in mind is critical in order to ensure that playing Diplomacy online is a good experience for you and your students. If you have any questions or concerns, feel free to send us an email any time.

Diplomacy is a fun game that both students and teachers love. Whether you are playing for class, in a club or extracurricular, or just with your friends, webDiplomacy is the best place for students to play Diplomacy online. There are, however, some things that students need to know and be aware of pertaining to the site rules:

• Your games with friends and classmates should have an invite code.
  

  Our rules prohibit our players from playing with people they know outside of our site in games that do not have an invite code in order to prevent cheating. We don't think that you will cheat, but in order to make sure that the site is fun for everyone and games are not tainted by cheating and poor sportsmanship, only create games to play with your classmates with an invite code. This way, you can simply share the code with one another and ensure that you can play without concern. Likewise, if you are invited to a game by one of your classmates that doesn't have an invite code, simply tell them that they need one in order to play within the rules.

• You will never need more than one account.
  

  webDiplomacy has games you can play with as few as 2 players and as many as 34. You can always find a way to play on our site regardless of how many of your classmates or friends can play. Likewise, you're given 100 points when you register your account, and you will never fall below 100 points. That is enough for 20 games playing with the minimum 5 point bet. If you bet more, you may win more, and as long as you have enough points to enter a game, you can play as many as you want. As such, there is no reason for you to ever create more than one account. Doing so will result in a permanent ban from webDiplomacy. If you ever forget your password and need help recovering your account, you should contact us and we will help you.

• Please register with an email you actually use!
  

  If the moderators ever need to contact you, we will do so by emailing your registered email address. This should not be a throwaway or spam email because if we email you and do not hear back within 72 hours, your account will be banned. Having registered an email that you actually check every few days at a minimum will help you in the event that we need to contact you. You will never receive spam emails from us, nor will your email address ever be sold or added to any list anywhere.

• If the moderators email you and ask questions, tell the truth.
  

  In the event of an investigation, the moderators will email you. The webDiplomacy moderators are very good at spotting instances of cheating and our members are very diligent in reporting anything they find suspicious to us. If you or your friends are breaking rules, we already know by the time we've emailed you. Telling the truth and being calm with us makes things go much more smoothly and may allow us to find a resolution without banning your account.

• Please be respectful of our community.
  

  webDiplomacy is big with well over 100,000 registered players, but we are also a tight-knit community. If you are respectful of the community, you are more than welcome to join it and stay in it. Many of our most esteemed members and even some of the moderator team got their start on webDiplomacy as students, but the common denominator between all of us is that we all respect each other and expect the same in return. Follow our rules, be kind, and enjoy our site.

Keeping these guidelines in mind is critical in order to ensure that playing Diplomacy online is a good experience for you, your friends, and your classmates. If you have any questions or concerns, feel free to send us an email any time.