Code of Conduct

The following rules will be strictly enforced on the server:

Use English in the main chat. If you wish to speak in non-English to other users, then use PM.
Do not ask for battles in the main chat. If you want to find someone to battle, please use the Find Tab located near the top left-hand side of the main screen.
Blatant rudeness, hate, or offensive comments are not allowed. There is no rule against cursing, but do not be lewd. All forms of racist or bigoted commentary and slang is forbidden.
No Smogon bashing. CAP community members are Smogon's ambassadors on Pokémon Showdown!. As a result, we request that you please display a positive attitude about Smogon. If you have negative things to say about Smogon, then keep it to yourself.
No Pokémon Showdown! bashing. Some people have issues with the Pokémon Showdown! program and/or the Pokémon Showdown! programming team — but that doesn't mean you can complain about it on our server. Zarel wrote Pokémon Showdown! and had the generosity to allow CAP to implement its Pokémon on the server. Without it, we'd still be playing theorymon with our Pokémon. Out of respect for that extraordinary contribution to competitive Pokémon, hateful statements about Pokémon Showdown! or its programmers are not tolerated.
In general, all forms of discussion of sex, flirting, or otherwise suggestive commentary is discouraged. common technique for pedophiles and other sexual predators to find victims, is to lead online chat conversations into the sexual arena. This is a Pokémon server, so it's best to avoid sexual conversations altogether. A certain amount of bawdy "guy talk" is inevitable, but comments will be moderated if it gets out of hand.
Linking or advertising other websites is generally not a good idea. Smogon links and refs are totally cool, obviously. If it's purely for a Pokémon reference, a link to Serebii or similar, that's OK. But, blatantly referring or linking people to other servers and other forums is not acceptable.
No chat flooding. Intentionally flooding the chat with excessive posts and/or excessively long posts will be immediately regarded as an attack on the server and will be dealt with swiftly and harshly.
Chat scrolling is discouraged. Please make one decent post instead of several little posts, each containing a fragment of a sentence or thought. It's annoying to read, and it scrolls the chat unnecessarily.
Chat stretching is discouraged. Maybe you think it's cool to type the same letters over and over like thiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiisssssssss!!!! Well, it isn't. It's annoying as hell to everyone else. So don't do it.
Excessive use of capital letters is discouraged. For the same reason as the previous two moronic posting behaviors listed above.
Please use one username on the server Preferably use the same name as your Smogon username. For users that really feel the need to have alternate usernames (aka alts), keep them to a minimum. We'd like to develop a sense of community on the server. It's hard to do that if people log in under different alts all the time.
Do not make offensive usernames. If you do so, you will be asked to log in under a new name. If you continue to use the offensive name, then you will be banned.
No noob talk on the server. This is not a "Welcome to Pokémon" server. This a server for competitive Pokémon players. Asking noob questions about the game is not allowed. It makes the server look bad to advanced players. Ingame discussions are allowed, but not basic stuff. "How do I beat the Elite Four?" is a noob question. "Here's how I beat the Elite Four with a single level 40 Starly" -- that's worth talking about. Basic questions about the CAP project and Pokémon are expected and encouraged.
Cut the nonsense. It's amazing how much unintelligible crap people post in the chat. No one likes to read idiotic non-discussions of pure stupidity. Long strings of smileys, l33t speak, random utterances unrelated to the current chat -- keep all that to yourself. Also, dumb back-and-forths are really unnecessary. "I pwned you that battle!", "No u didnt", "U suck", "No u suck", "lol", "lol back atcha", ":-P" "o_O" --- chat streams like that are ridiculous and will be moderated.
Abusing or insulting a moderator is a really bad idea. Questioning a moderator's decision is fine. But, once the moderator has explained a decision, then let it go.
Children under age 13 are not allowed. Because of COPPA, we strictly enforce our age policy. If we somehow determine, or if you announce that you are under the age of 13, you will be banned immediately. No exceptions.
Follow any other rules that Pokémon Showdown! has. The Pokémon Showdown! staff has kindly opened their doors for the Create-A-Pokémon Project. At the end of the day, their rules are final while you are on the Pokémon Showdown server.

Punishment

If you break the rules, punishment is meted out at the discretion of the moderators and will depend on the severity and circumstances of the offense. The general procedure for punishment is the first offense gets a verbal warning from the moderator, second offense will get you kicked (forcibly logged off) from the server, a third offense will get you banned. The length of the ban is variable at the discretion of the moderator. If the offense is serious, you may be straight kicked or banned with no warning.

A permaban is a ban that lasts forever.

Chat logs are reviewed by server administration. A retro-ban is a ban that is put in place long after an offense occurred, usually as a result of chat log review.

If you feel you have been unjustly punished, PM a different mod and save the log of the situation. Just stay calm, and do not start a public fight in the main chat.