Server

A server, world or W is a computer which hosts RuneScape. Servers are maintained by Jagex and are distributed across the real world. Each world allows 2000 players to be connected at once.

List of worlds
This is the list of worlds and their respective activities.

Isolation of worlds
For the most part, events that occur in one world will not affect any other RuneScape world. For example, buying an item in a shop will only decrease the inventory for the shop in that world. Shop inventory, character and item respawns, and ore regeneration are all managed individually for each server. Additionally, players (along with chat messages) contained in one world will not be visible to players in another world.

World hopping
Because each world has its own shop inventory, players will often change worlds rapidly to buy from one store many different times. Also, players often switch worlds to find more favourable conditions (e.g. more populated) for minigames, player killing or trading. This technique is known as world hopping.

Interaction between worlds
The only possible ways of interaction between RuneScape worlds is private chat using the Friends List or through Clan Chat.

Persistence of character state
When a user logs off of a world, all settings particular to that character are saved to the player's account profile in a global database. Therefore, when logging into a different world, the character's skills, inventory, etc. will be restored to the same state, regardless of which server the character last logged onto.

Themed servers/worlds
In August 2007, Jagex added a new column to the world select screen highlighting those worlds with associated activities, especially those team-based events like Trouble Brewing, to make it easier to find people with similar ideas.

Skills

 * 314 - Dorgesh-Kaan Agility
 * 336 - Running - nature rune
 * 341 - Running - law rune
 * 346 - Agility Training
 * 375 - Barbarian Fishing

Minigames

 * 304 - Trouble Brewing
 * 306 - Barbarian Assault
 * 322 - Duel Arena
 * 323 - Volcanic Mine
 * 329 - Clan Wars - Members
 * 333- Games Room, Rogues' Den
 * 334 - Castle Wars 1
 * 344 - Pest Control
 * 350 - TzHaar Fight Pit
 * 354- Castle Wars 2
 * 358 - Blast Furnace
 * 362 - Pyramid Plunder
 * 370 - Fishing Trawler
 * 377 - Mort'ton temple, Rat Pits
 * 383 - Clan Wars - Members
 * 393 - Clan Wars - Free

Player killing

 * 308 - Wilderness PK - free style
 * 316 - Wilderness PK - free style
 * 318 - Bounty World
 * 325 - PVP World
 * 337 - PVP World - High Risk
 * 365 - High Risk World
 * 369 - Wilderness PK - members

Trading

 * 301 - Trade - Free
 * 302 - Trade - Members

Skill total worlds

 * 353 - 1250 skill total
 * 366 - 1500 skill total
 * 373 - 1750 skill total
 * 349 - 2000 skill total
 * 361 - 2000 skill total

Free-to-play total worlds
Note that the total level is calculated from the free-to-play skills, and does not included member skills, which means that you need a total of 508 and 758 respectively to enter the worlds if the player has never trained member skills.
 * 381 - 500 skill total
 * 385 - 750 skill total

Deadman worlds

 * 317 - Deadman Seasonal
 * 321 - Deadman Seasonal
 * 345 - Deadman

Miscellaneous

 * 305 - Falador Party Room
 * 330 - House Party, Gilded Altar

High-risk worlds
High Risk worlds (currently World 65 and PVP World 37) are worlds where the Protect Item prayer is disabled. Whilst on these servers, Protect Item is inactive, and if you die while skulled, you will lose ALL your items. Otherwise, if not skulled, you will get to keep three items per the Items Kept on Death system. Going onto these worlds can be a risky, but good way to make money if you have gotten a high Combat level with good armour and weapons and are proficient in player-versus-player combat. It is strongly recommended that you only take items that you are prepared to lose! With the Protect Item prayer being disabled, caution is to be taken into great consideration throughout. Also, note that World 65 is a "safe" world unless you go into the Wilderness as it is not a PVP world.

You will always get the items your opponent was wearing if they are skulled, wielding and carrying upon killing them, unless the item(s) is (or was) untradeable, in which case will usually turn into a stack of gold coins according to its value. There are currently two high-risk worlds—these are worlds 37, which is a dangerous PVP world, and 65 (non-PvP) for Pay-to-Play (members).

Warning
A warning is shown on attempting to log-in to a high-risk server from the log-in screen. If using the World Switcher instead, a confirmation will appear. Upon logging into a PvP world, a second notification in the form of a message in red will appear in your chatbox informing you that players may attack you.

Player worlds
Certain worlds have become specialised by the player-base for particular tasks. These guidelines are useful for tasks that require a lot of people (e.g. minigames), as they define a meeting place for people hoping to work together with others.