Chat & Safety
Every message you send on PetalMC is checked by the server before other players see it. We use modern safety mechanisms to analyze every message before it’s shown to other players, for this reason messages you send may take a few seconds to reach other players. If you’ve ever seen a player’s message arrive after they’ve logged out, this will be why.
A message that looks like it shares your own personal details, or touches real-world politics, is held until you confirm you meant it. More importantly, a message that breaks the server rules is not delivered, and it counts against your standing. Continued abuse may limit your access to communication features on the server.
On top of the checks, you control how reachable you are with /safety, and
you can bring anything to staff with /report. This page explains the
mechanics, Safety & reporting has the interactive version of the
safety dial.
Commands
| Command | What it does |
|---|---|
/safety | Show your chat safety level, your standing and your trust list |
/safety high, /safety medium, /safety low | Set your chat safety level. Medium is the default |
/trust <player> | Add a player to your trust list (up to 100 players) |
/untrust <player> | Remove a player from your trust list. |
/msg <player> <message> | Private message. Checked before delivery, like all chat |
/report <player> <reason> | Report a player to staff. A reason of at least a few words is required, one report per minute |
/discord | Get a one-time code to link your Discord account |
Your safety level
| Level | Who can reach you | Global chat |
|---|---|---|
| Low | Everyone | Unchecked, instant. You may see a message that doesn’t meet our safety criteria |
| Medium (default) | Everyone | Checked before it reaches you, small delay for uncommon phrases |
| High | Only players on your trust list | Checked, and only from trusted players |
At High, private messages, summon requests, gold transfers, party invites and visits to your pocket also narrow to your trust list. Clan chat is the one exception, as joining a clan is the association. Nobody is told you have a wall up. Players you have not trusted simply never get an answer, and their actions towards you are refused with a plain notice that they are not on your list.
Your own messages are never held back by your level. If you are on High with nobody trusted online, the server reminds you that replies cannot reach you.
What happens to a message
You always see your own message the moment you send it. Everyone else sees it once the check is done, which normally takes about a second.
| Outcome | What you see | What others see |
|---|---|---|
| Sent | Nothing extra | Your message, a short moment later |
| Check first | A gold notice with [Send anyway] and [Withdraw] | Nothing until you choose |
| Blocked | A quiet grey line: That message wasn’t delivered | Nothing |
Check first
The notice reads, That message looks like it shares personal information or a sensitive topic. Only you have seen it so far. You have 60 seconds to click one of the two buttons. Sending anything else just moves on, and the held message stays unsent.
It appears when a message looks like it contains your own street address, school, workplace, full date of birth, phone number or email address, or when it looks like real-world politics or elections. Your country, your city and your age are fine and never trigger it. A held message is never a mark against you, whichever button you click.
Blocked
A blocked message is one the checker judged to break rule 4: slurs, hate, harassment, sexual content, threats against a real person, or another player’s personal details. It is not delivered to anyone, and it is recorded with your name so that staff can review it.
Ordinary in-game aggression is not blocked. Threatening to raid someone’s base or take their diamonds is Minecraft, and the checker is built to let it through.
When the checker is unavailable
If the check cannot complete, the message is not delivered and you see That message couldn’t be delivered. Try again in a moment. Failing safe is deliberate, this way server raids that overload the chat filter result in chat being turned off, instead of subjecting all players to potentially harmful content.
Standing
Standing is the server’s record of how you treat people. It is assigned,
never chosen, and it is separate from your Sentinel standing, which is
about how you play. Neither affects the other. /safety shows both.
| Standing | How you get there | What changes |
|---|---|---|
| Evergreen | Recognised long-standing players | Nothing restricted |
| Trusted | Established players with a linked Discord | Nothing restricted |
| Normal | Where everyone starts | Nothing restricted |
| Limited | Three blocked messages in seven days | You can place signs, but their text is wiped |
| Heavily limited | A staff decision only | No chat, private messages, gold transfers, summons, party invites or sign text |
How Limited happens
Three blocked messages inside a rolling seven days move you to Limited automatically. The moment it happens you are told, and the three messages are shown to you, so there is never any mystery about what did it. Staff can see the same list, which is what makes a demotion reviewable.
A message that suggests you are struggling rather than attacking someone is never a strike.
Getting back to Normal
Seven days without another blocked message restores you automatically. You are told when it happens.
A second demotion within 30 days of the first sticks until a member of staff reviews it. That is the only way Limited ever lasts longer than a week.
What is recorded
Chat is retained for moderation review, including private messages that were delivered. Blocked and held messages are kept with the sender’s name so a person can check the filter’s work. You agreed to this on the welcome screens the first time you joined, and this page is the plain-language version of that agreement.
Sentinel’s evidence snapshots never include chat. See Sentinel for what those cover.
Reporting
/report <player> <reason> sends staff a case with the surrounding context
attached automatically. The reported player is never told a report exists
or who filed it. Reports are read by people, not by the filter, so say what
actually happened.
Filing false or bad-faith reports is itself a breach of the rules. The full picture is on Safety & reporting.