Player Moderator
Player Moderators (colloquially pmods or just mods) are 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 added to the game on 14 June 2004 and since then the team has grown to about 2000. Other types of moderators include Forum Moderators and Jagex Moderators. All RuneScape Player Moderators are automatically FunOrb Player Moderators & vice versa.
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. The crown 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 using the report abuse menu.
A Player Moderator has two direct approaches to rulebreakers. The first is through priority abuse reports. All abuse reports filed by Player Moderators are directed to a separate group of Jagex staff members. The second way is through administering temporary, 48-hour, mutes with their report. Occasionally when a player is being particularly defiant towards the rules, a mute is required so that other players can no longer see his or her 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 freely talk. 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 Moderator regularly mutes without proper reason, his or her 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. Players muted by Player Moderators are able to use quick chat.
The messages written by a Player Moderator can be seen even by players who have turned their public chat off. Private messages sent by a Player Moderator are also visible when private chat is turned off, though Player Moderators are unable to send subsequent messages or see that the player is online via his/her friends' menu. However, players will not see text written by a Player Moderator if they are added to that player's Ignore List.
Player Moderators have access to additional forums and the P-Mod Room, in which they can discuss moderator issues with Player and Jagex Moderators. They also have access to the Player Moderator Centre, which can be reached from within the Moderators article in the Game Guide. 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
Player Moderators are chosen specifically by Jagex staff based on their truthfulness, maturity, involvement in the 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. Recently there has been a greater focus on involvement within the community. However, recently after a livestream with Mark Gerhard, he stated that they were looking to expand the Player Moderator team from 2,000 to 10,000, stating that he wished P-Mods to be more ambassadors, with a broad community mind and evidently willing to help other players.
Players with black marks 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 given moderator status. It is mentioned that being on the forums helps being noticed.
Jagex will only contact the player via the Message Centre system to inform him or her that he/she has been selected to become a Player Moderator. The player is then able to accept or decline the position. New moderators are required to register certain contact details with Jagex before they receive access to any moderator tools. When a Player Moderator logs into the game for the first time with the silver crown, they are unable to use their mute for the first 2 weeks. Once the 2 weeks are up, the Moderator will have full access to the P-Mod tools.<ref>In-Game Safety</ref> Jagex will never private message you in-game and tell you to go to an external website and enter your username and password. These people are phishers who steal account logins, and they can be reported for staff impersonation.
Surgeries and the P-Mod room
The player moderator room is a special area within the game that can only be accessed by Player Moderators. Previously, Jagex Moderators were required to be present to open the room for P-Mods, but this has since been changed. Only current player moderators can give the command to enter. According to Jagex, the P-Mod Room is "effectively a blank room that's a direct copy of an existing dungeon found elsewhere. That's to ensure that mods don't have access to anything that the rest of the community doesn't. I should also point out that it's not possible to practice skilling or anything while in the room as this could be considered an unfair advantage". In this quote, the "existing dungeon found elsewhere" is the Varrock West Bank's basement just stripped of most furniture and the wall and gate in the middle. The room is used for surgeries, which are scheduled question and answer sessions where Player Moderators ask for advice from the Jagex Moderators. All discussion during a surgery is strictly confidential. Before the December 2007 updates, surgeries would often be followed by a "Bot busting" session.
The player moderator room is entered by the Lumbridge Guide.[source needed]
"Bot busting"
Before the 2007 updates made macroing unprofitable, macro users were very common. There would be a "bot busting" session once or twice a day, during which Jagex Moderators checked on places where bots were commonly located. Player Moderators regularly attended, although normal players were welcome to assist in the hunts as well.
Players interested in helping with the fight against bots are welcome to follow these steps:
- Go to a popular bot location. Advertising bots might be found outside of Lumbridge or in the middle of the Grand Exchange, for example.
- Once a bot has been discovered, you may report the bot under "Macroing".
- In the case of advertising bots, which should be reported under "Advertising other websites" instead of Macroing, kindly informing nearby players that visiting the advertised website is dangerous to their account security is advised.
Misconceptions
There are many misconceptions regarding Player Moderators and their abilities. In simple terms, they are the same as regular players, but the ability to temporarily mute other players. 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. 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. |
| 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; 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 "Could we please talk about something else?" |
| 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 may have combat levels exceeding 120, but there are also many who have levels as low as 3. |
| Player Moderators must have absolutely no offences on their record. | Having a clean record can help your case however this is not true - everyone has 'off' days and getting an offence isn't the end of the world! We learn from our mistakes, and as such, it is important that if you do have offences, you have learned from them. The only offences which will effect your chances are serious ones, such as cheating. |
| Player Moderators have to help someone in need. | Player Moderators are not obliged to help anyone as their cooperation is entirely voluntary. This even means that reporting and muting is optional as well, just as it is for others. |
| 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 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 instead of working to make that money. | Just like every other player, Player Moderators have to find their own ways of making money. |
Trivia
- Player Moderators on RuneScape are also Player Moderators on FunOrb. However, Forum Moderators on RuneScape are not always Forum Moderators on FunOrb.
- Player Moderators' crowns are not shown on the RuneScape Forums because they don't have any abilities there. This is also one of the reasons that Player Moderators are not allowed to reveal their status on the RuneScape Forums.
- In circumstances that cause a Player Moderator to speak out loud without typing, such is 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.
- Player Moderators previously had the exclusive ability to report players by right-clicking their names in the chat box. This was given to all players following the anti-bot update on 25 October 2011.
- Player Moderators previously had the ability to submit reports without a 60-second timer. This has now been enabled for all players following 25 October 2011 , including the right click 'Report' option.