In the PvE server, my friends and I came across a perfect area for building, the only bad part was that there were these really bad looking dirt "buildings" everywhere. They seem abandoned, and aren't actual structures, looks more like someone built them to get away from mobs. Is it still bannable if I destroy them completely?
That's a great question. I've asked this myself often before to be honest, but not because I wasn't sure if it's griefing or not, actually more specifically because the rules are unclear in such a scenario. See below.
It's only griefing if they claimed the structures with signs or regions that you can somehow access.
From
hc.to/rules
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Claiming a structure
Abandoned structures of
inactive players can be claimed. You can check for inactivity by looking a sign containing the owner's name and using the lastlogin command (/lastlogin <playername>). Inactivity is generally defined as not logging in for a period of one month or more. If the player is inactive
or there is no sign on the structure, the following procedure applies.
- Place a sign in a visible location with your name, date you placed the sign, and intent to claim. (Do not remove this sign, as it is used to confirm the claim date by admins/mods)
- Wait one week from the date on your sign.
- Submit a petition (/pe new <message>) with your request to confirm the claim. Be sure to include coordinates of the building. A Staff member will check your claim. They have the final say in all claiming requests, and have the authority to deny you.
The purpose of the petition is to ensure the structure is truly abandoned. Many times players will have notified staff they will be on an extended vacation or military leave, and wish their structure to be protected.
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Marked the problem with
red here.
The question is, how far can one go, when not claiming a structure via petition and basically "destroying" crappy and random structures to get free space for "true structures & buildings" or just to remove them in order to "
retain the environment". Because according to the rules, you'd actually have to claim it the way it's described in the rules, no matter a sign or not, through a confirmation from a staff member personally and via /pe.
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Griefing
- Mindlessly destroying the landscape.
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In my opinion the rules do not properly describe the word "structure" here. I've had the same scenario many times, when I was traveling through the world and found random dirt blocks placed together to a completely weird looking "thing", which did not look like a "structure" to me. In such situations I simply decide to leave them there and move on, because:
- I don't want to create a petition, to get the permission to remove this "structure", because it's an unnecessary request in my opinion, though the rules would force me to do it.
- It's dirt. Though the urge is there to just remove it, I am not allowed to remove it just so.
The thing is: what if a player placed them there on purpose? As a mark for a later building?
There should be clearer instructions according to "structures", what can be tolerated as building,what can be removed without penalty?
Why? Does the staff want people to write /pe's just to get the permission to remove like 10 dirt blocks? Guess not and I find that procedure for claiming such random structures, which is built on a quite unclear rule, rather annoying myself.
Also: When is one mindlessly destroying the landscape? Does placing and removing random blocks in the wild lead to that? There are no examples defined.
I think the rules should be slightly rewritten here or more examples should be added to clarify such things to players, who actually do read the rules. This could lower the amounts of in game petitions too.
As answer after all, I'd say tear them down and place something better instead, it's "just dirt" and the guy who placed them there is most likely not around anymore or doesn't care anyway.
@Yavool @Kainzo
