Player Moderator

Player Moderators, also known as 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 over 5,000 with current player moderators around 2,000. Other types of moderators include Forum Moderators and Jagex Moderators. All RuneScape Player Moderators are automatically FunOrb Player Moderators and vice versa. In more recent times, they can also be known as champions of the community.

Player Moderators can be recognised by having a silver crown visible next to their name when they speak in-game. However, it is not present in their username when right clicking. Also, the crown cannot be disabled or hidden. In addition, there is no way to identify a Player Moderator on the Runescape forums as their posts appear the same as a regular player.

Player Moderators have access to the Player Moderator Centre, which contains links to the Player Moderator forums, information and up-to-date guidelines. These features allow Player Moderators to have the guidance and advice they need, while allowing Jagex to collect valuable feedback.

When reporting, Player Moderators have an additional ability to add a mute for more serious issues. All abuse reports made by Player Moderators are directed to a separate group of Jagex staff members who monitor and review all the reports as a matter of priority to ensure the actions taken by a Player Moderator are correct.

Being a Player Moderator is a volunteer role and they gain no advantages, such as free membership or any in game advantages.

Moderator Abilities
Player Moderators can be recognised by the silver crown or the silver star visible next to their name when they speak in-game (but not in their username when right clicking) or when they are sending messages. This image 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 (for staff impersonation) using the 'Report Abuse' menu. While acknowledged as not actually being hired members of the Jagex Staff (only regular players with extra entrusted tools), the rule is still applicable to impersonation of them.

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 mutes (for up to 48 hours) with their report.

However, new Player Moderators are given a "Suggest a mute" instead of a temporary mute option. This is to settle in new moderators into their role as part of a training period. Once Jagex has assessed the judgement of the moderator and the reports marked for muting would have been applied correctly, then the moderator would be given the normal mute option. According to Mod Stevew on a podcast:

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 talk freely. 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 Player 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.

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 forum sections 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. 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.

Players with black marks may still become Player Moderators if Jagex feels that they have learned their lesson. Although you do not have to play a certain amount of time, most moderators have played one year or more before being asked to join the team. 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. Jagex will never private message you in-game and tell you to go to an external website and enter your username and password. People messaging that are phishers who steal account logins, and they can be reported for staff impersonation.

Any player asking in-game for your login details should be reported immediately so Jagex can punish them accordingly. Also, if you are asked by a player in in-game chat to log out into the lobby as you have been chosen to become a moderator, report them promptly, as this is a phishing attempt as well.

How to increase chances of becoming a Player Moderator
In order for a player to become a Player Moderator or a Forum Moderator, they must:


 * Be kind to other players, members, etc.
 * Help look out for bugs ingame and around the site.
 * Refrain from using inappropriate language. Remember, children play this game as well.
 * Report bad threads and naughty players to a moderator.
 * Be community engaged and focused.

It's worth remembering that these above guidelines does not guarantee you a moderator status by any means. Following the guidelines increases your chances of been chosen in the near future.

Player Moderator Teams
Player Moderators have the choice of extending out into one or more of the three teams. They are the Game Helper Team, Social Media Team, and the Events Team. It is not required for a Player Moderator to become a member of any of the teams. There is also another group of Player Moderators, Mentors, who are help to new moderators with numerous things.
 * 1) The Game Helper Team is designed to allow like minded moderators to help players with various game information.
 * 2) The Social Media Team is designed for moderators who use media such as Twitter and Facebook to interact with the playerbase.
 * 3) The Events Team is designed for moderators to organize events with various purposes as well as attending events created by other players.

Surgeries and the P-Mod Room
The player moderators' 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 through the Lumbridge Sage.

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 basement 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.

Misconceptions
There are many misconceptions regarding Player Moderators and their abilities. In simple terms, they are the same as regular players, but with the ability to temporarily mute other players and access special Moderator forums. Some myths about Player Moderators and their abilities are, in fact, true for Jagex Moderators, however. Here is a list of myths about Player Moderators, along with the truth:

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 forbidden to reveal their status on the RuneScape Forums.
 * In circumstances that cause a Player Moderator to speak out loud without typing, such was 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 which does have to be enabled for players to use it.
 * It is a common misconception that Player Moderators have priority reports in all the reports they give; however, they only have priority reports if it is chat related.
 * On 5 August 2009, Jagex opened up a forum thread called "Are You Community Focused?". Said thread allowed players to submit their interest in becoming a Player Moderator or a Forum Moderator, but it failed to fulfill its purpose as well as other moderator recruitment methods used by Jagex although it was open for several months accumulating thousands of posts.