Ironman Mode

For tips on how to train Ironmen accounts, please see Ironman guide or Free-to-play Ironman guide

Ironman Mode is an account-type, released on October 13, 2014, that encourages the player to be entirely self-sufficient. Ironmen are locked out of most forms of interactions with other players such as trading, the Grand Exchange, most group minigames, PvP, and almost all other group activities.

Ironman mode can only be enabled at the end of Tutorial Island by speaking to either Adam, Juan, or Paul before being teleported by the Magic Instructor. There will be an option to toggle it off at any point the player wishes after the tutorial, but they won't be able to be turned back on after that.

Players may also choose to permanently stay an Ironman, and these restrictions cannot be removed in-game, and they must contact Customer Support to have it removed.

Standard ironman and Ultimate ironman were both released on October 13, 2014. Hardcore ironman was later released on November 10, 2016.

Distinctions
There are three types of ironmen accounts: A standard ironman, a hardcore ironman, and an ultimate ironman. Each type has their own armour (equivalent to iron equipment) and a chat badge to denote their status:

There are also three hiscores for Ironman mode: One highscore table displays all Ironman accounts, while the other two highscore tables solely display hardcore and ultimate ironman accounts.

Standard
Ironman players are able to do the following:
 * Trade with other players (except certain quest items from Shield of Arrav and Heroes Quest)
 * Pick up drops from other players' kills, including PvP
 * No loot will drop whatsoever if another player has dealt damage to that monster. Even one point of damage dealt by another player will prevent the ironman from getting any loot. This does not apply if that monster was weakened by other monsters. In addition, if the monster attacks other players too much, the ironman will not get loot to prevent tanking.
 * Gain experience from player-versus-player encounters (base Magic experience from casting spells is still gained, however)
 * Use the Accept Aid feature
 * Enter another player's player-owned house
 * Buy items from other players through overstocked shops or take advantage of higher sell prices of understocked shops
 * Receive items via balloons in the Falador Party Room
 * Stake in the Duel Arena
 * Group activities in Nightmare Zone, and resource rewards from the reward chest (excluding scroll of redirection)

Hardcore

 * For a list of first Hardcore Ironman Accomplishments, see Ironman mode/Hardcore ironman firsts.

Hardcore Ironman players will only have one life, in addition to the standard restrictions given to all ironmen. If a hardcore ironman dies, they will be converted to a standard ironman. In addition, their experience and total level on the Hardcore Ironman highscore table will be locked, with their name slashed across like this.

Safe deaths, such as those in minigames, will not cause the player to become a standard ironman. The following activities are deemed safe:


 * Duel Arena
 * Castle Wars
 * Death within a player-owned house
 * Clan Wars
 * TzHaar Fight Cave
 * TzHaar Fight Pit
 * Pest Control
 * Random Event Areas
 * Barbarian Assault
 * Nightmare Zone
 * Fishing Trawler
 * Magic Training Arena
 * Rogues' Den (maze)
 * The Fremennik Trials - 4th phase of the duel with Koschei the Deathless
 * PvM Arena
 * Zulrah - Resurrection reward from Elite Western Provinces Diary only
 * Dream World during Lunar Diplomacy
 * Camelot training room

Ultimate
Ultimate Ironman players are not able to do the following, in addition to the standard restrictions given to all ironmen:
 * Use the banks of RuneScape (they are still able to use noted items on bank booths to unnote them)
 * Create item sets using the Grand Exchange
 * Receive resources from Managing Miscellania
 * Send their Servant to the bank or the Sawmill
 * Keep any item on death nor use the Protect Item prayer

Ironmen and Bonds
Ironmen can get bonds as gifts from other players or through the official OldSchool website. However, it is less expensive to purchase one month of membership than it is to purchase bonds (with real-world money), so this should be considered when purchasing membership on an ironman. They can also turn untradeable bonds into tradeable bonds, but ironmen cannot use bonds on any other players.

Trivia

 * Prior to the introduction of ironman mode, players who played without trading any other players, with the exception of Shield of Arrav and Heroes' Quest, were called purists.