Xbox Live Code of Conduct

Camping: Legitimate strategy?  Or cheap, annoying pseudo-tactic?

The Code of Conduct outlines the rules that you need to follow to help ensure that Xbox.com, Xbox Live, and Games for Windows Live are fun for everyone.

A. Using Xbox Live and other services

What you can and should do:

Be polite and treat others with respect. Just because you’re online doesn’t mean you should be a jerk.

Make friends. If you find players you enjoy gaming with, put them on your preferred gamers list.

Be good at a game. You will NEVER be suspended because you are too good.

Have fun!

Privacy and Family Settings:

Know your privacy settings and use them to help create and control the experience you want.

If you're a parent, you can use Family Settings to control the activities and experiences available to your children. For example, you can prohibit voice and video communications, block purchasing, and choose whom your children are allowed to play with online.

Complaint System and Player Feedback:

If you encounter an enjoyable player:

Send a Friend Request

Give positive feedback

If you encounter an obnoxious player:

File a complaint if you believe the player is violating the Code of Conduct.

Give negative feedback and/or Avoid This Player. This can be done by selecting the player’s profile and choosing the Feedback option.

Use the Block Communications feature.

Do not retaliate. If you act out, it could be considered harassment.

Mute the player.

File a complaint if you believe the player is violating the Code of Conduct.

Give negative feedback and/or Avoid This Player. This can be done by selecting the player’s profile and choosing the Feedback option.

Use the Block Communications feature.

Do not retaliate. If you act out, it could be considered harassment.

Mute the player.

For how-to information, visit enforcement.xbox.com.

B. Harassment

Do not harass, abuse, bully, spam, scream at, threaten or stalk other users or encourage other players to do so.

Do not encourage harm or violence against people or animals, or promote self-harm in any manner.

Do not give out personal information of other users (such as real name, physical address, IP address, email address, phone number, credit card number, etc.) in any way. This information could be used by others for illegal or harmful purposes.

Any non-game-related conversation that takes up a substantial amount of the forum, chat, or in-game chat space and prevents users from finding game-related information may be considered a violation of the Code of Conduct.

C. Communications & User Created Content

Do not create a Gamertag, profile content, Avatar content, in-game content, videos, or any other content that other users may be offended by. This includes, without limitation, anything related to or suggestive of:

Profane words or phrases

Topics or content of a sexual nature

Hate speech

Illegal drugs or controlled substances

Illegal activities

Controversial religious topics

Notorious people or organizations

Sensitive current or historical events

Any “sound-alike” or “lookalike” words, phrases, or puns that reference these topics

Do not create or share any content that is offensive or discriminatory; that advocates discrimination, hatred, or violence; or that promotes organizations devoted to those purposes based on considerations of:

Race

Ethnicity

National origin

Language

Gender

Age

Disability

Veteran status

Religion

Sexual orientation or expression

Do not create or share content that requests or includes instructions to injure or otherwise harm a person, group of people, or animals.

Do not create or share content that glorifies crimes against humanity such as genocide or torture.

Do not create or share content that depicts violence or gore of an illegal or excessive nature.

Do not create or share any content that is illegal under applicable local law, obscene, or indecent.

Do not distribute, post, publish, disseminate or discuss defamatory, infringing, obscene, sexual, or unlawful materials in any format (images, audio, video, text, etc.). Prohibited materials include, without limitation, child pornography or illegal drugs.

Do not post links to materials that could harm other users’ devices or would allow others to inappropriately access software or websites.

Do not post links to content or websites that facilitate or encourage the violation of the Code of Conduct or Terms of Use.

D. Expression of Relationship Orientation

You may use the following terms to express your relationship orientation or gender identity in your profile or Gamertag:

Lesbian

Gay

Bi

Transgender

Straight

Other terms regarding relationship orientation are not allowed. In addition, you may not use these terms in a negative or inflammatory fashion or use them in reference to a third party.

E. Impersonation

Do not impersonate, harass, or defame anyone, including:

Microsoft employees

Moderators

Staff members

Employees of game developers, publishers, or other Xbox partners

Other support staff

F. Cheating & Tampering

Do not cheat in a game unless the developer has deliberately enabled cheats.

Do not use unauthorized hardware or modifications.

Do not exploit game vulnerabilities or glitches.

Do not make unauthorized modifications to your account profile or its contents, including but not limited to tenure, Avatar, saved games, Gamerscore, or achievements.

Do not intentionally play with someone who is using unauthorized software or methods.

Do not play any illegitimately obtained software or pirated games.

Do not take any action to cause degradation of service for Microsoft or other users, including but not limited to network interference or manipulation.

Do not play a game before it has been authorized for play on the service.

G. Protecting your account and personal information

Protecting your account information is extremely important; do not give out your own personal information, including but not limited to: phone numbers, email addresses, physical addresses, etc.

Use discretion when deciding to share your name and location in your profile and when recording or sharing content you create. If you wish to share any other personal information with another player, please do so by a non-public method.

Do not lend, transfer, sell, or otherwise provide access to your account.

Failure to properly secure your account could result in loss of access to the Xbox Live service.

For additional information about making your account more secure, visit our account security page.

H. Fraud & Commerce

Accounts and Gamertags are non-transferable. Do not purchase accounts or Gamertags from third parties.

Do not access or attempt to access accounts that you do not own.

Do not purchase Xbox Live Gold memberships, games, Microsoft Points, or any additional content from unauthorized third parties.

Do not attempt to use or share fraudulent methods to obtain content or Microsoft Points.

Do not use your account to trade services or in-game content for currency or Microsoft Points.

Do not use Xbox Live for any commercial purpose:

You may only create an account for yourself as an individual.

You may not create or use an account for your corporation or any other business entity.

You may not advertise any product or service in your profile or by any other means on Xbox Live.

Do not resell or redistribute any part of the Live Service or access to the Live Service.

I. Adult-Related Content

Do not create or share any of the following:

Anything of a sexual or provocative nature

Content that a reasonable person would consider to be adult or borderline adult in nature

Content that generally falls under the category of pornography

J. Illegal Activities

Do not use the services to do anything illegal. You, not Microsoft, are responsible for your actions on the services and the consequences of your actions.

Any content that facilitates or promotes illegal gambling, illegal content, pornography, piracy, illegal online pharmacies, illegal drugs, or criminal activities is prohibited.

Do not create or share any content that instructs users how to make bombs, weapons or drugs, or solicits involvement in behavior that is violent or illegal under applicable laws.

Unauthorized use of another entity’s intellectual property is not allowed, including but not limited to: software, music, art, and other copyrighted, trademarked, or patented materials or trade secrets.

Any content that facilitates or promotes underage drinking, consumption of illegal drugs, or socially irresponsible behavior due to alcohol or drug consumption (e.g., drinking and driving) is prohibited.

Do not create or share any content that facilitates, promotes, or contains terrorist threats or activities.

Do not create or share any content that facilitates, promotes, or contains references to viruses or malware.

Do not create or share any content that facilitates or promotes identity theft.

K. Consequences of Violations

If you violate the Code of Conduct or the Terms of Use, action(s) may be taken against your account and/or console, including but not limited to the following:

Some offenses warrant an immediate permanent suspension, including but not limited to:

Hacking

Modding

Profile tampering

Fraud

Marketplace theft

Buying, selling, or theft of Gamertags or accounts

Severe racial remarks

Impersonation of Xbox staff

Nudity

Repeated creation of inappropriate Gamertags or profile content

Posting viruses

Posting URLs to phishing sites, malware, or viruses

Trying to avoid a suspension by creating alternate new accounts may result in a permanent suspension of the new user account and a possible escalation of punishment to the original account, all related accounts, and any device you are using to connect to the service.

Repeated violations of the Code of Conduct may result in a permanent suspension of your account or a permanent ban of any device you are using to connect to the service.

If you create a Gamertag that has been determined to violate the Terms of Use or Code of Conduct, the system will automatically choose a new Gamertag for you.

If you create content in violation of the Terms of Use or Code of Conduct, it may be deleted and enforcement actions may be issued.

If you are abusing the voice or message features, your ability to use the voice and messaging system will be subject to enforcement action.

MICROSOFT IS NOT OBLIGATED TO SEND YOU A WARNING BEFORE THESE ACTIONS OCCUR. If your account is suspended while you are participating in a tournament or competition, Microsoft assumes no liability in the loss of any potential prizes or recognition related to the tournament or competition. Microsoft is not obligated to monitor every post or activity, but has the right to remove any post or take action against any user.

Microsoft reserves the right to remove at any time, without notice, any user-created content, account, or device from the Services for actions determined to be in violation of this Code of Conduct or Terms of Use. Microsoft also reserves the right to immediately terminate or suspend a user for violations.

UPON RECEIVING A PERMANENT SUSPENSION, ALL CONTENT LICENSES, GOLD MEMBERSHIP TIME, AND MICROSOFT ACCOUNT BALANCE ASSOCIATED WITH THE SUSPENDED ACCOUNT ARE FORFEITED.