Minecraft Reporting System: How To Avoid Getting Banned

Aside from the Warden and the Deep Dark biome, the Minecraft 1.19 update also adds a reporting system to the game, for the first time ever. This is a very easy to abuse system that might cause more harm than good to the game. It can lead to a lot of innocent players getting banned.

The community is really angry about this addition. In this article, Gurugamer is going to showcase everything you need to know about the Minecraft Reporting system, how to avoid getting banned and how to appeal your Minecraft ban.

1. What is Player Reporting in Minecraft 1.19

Since there is no in-game voice chat option, players can only use the in-game chat to communicate with each other.

And with the new reporting system, if someone offends you using the in-game chat feature, you can now report players for textual abuse.

What are the Punishments for getting reported in Minecraft?

Depending on your offense, the system can punish you in the following ways:

Soft Ban: If your offense is considered a minor one, Minecraft will ban you from all Realms and online servers for a limited time. It can last for a few minutes to a few hours.
Permanent Ban: Repeated offenses and serious remarks can get some players banned for life. You will be blacklisted from joining all servers and Realms in Minecraft.

A permanent ban might seem not that bad at first, but unlike countless f2p games out there, Minecraft cost $26.99. If you get banned, you must buy a new copy of the game on a different account to play online again.

Does Minecraft Need a Player Report System

Moreover, almost half of Minecraft’s player base comprises teens or children. Since adults can join the servers, the situation can become very complicated with inappropriate content or even crime.

With Minecraft being one of the biggest video games in the world, it is actually rather weird that they haven't added a Report system into the game until now. While the system can misfire, it would serve very well to discourage and remove the toxic players.

2. Can players abuse the report system?

While the reporting feature is intended for serious actions like hate speech or bullying, people can report each other for literally anything.

Griefing and attacking other players and their bases? Report. Stealing items from players? Report. Using mods to exploit servers? Report.

Since the ban is checked by a bot and not a real person, there is a chance that the person who was reported would get banned unfairly.

Why is there a backlash against Minecraft's Report System?

Protesting players have quoted multiple reasons to roll back the new reporting system. And some of them raise important concerns about the future of Minecraft:

Adult Servers: Some players use private servers as a place to have uncensored discussions. The new report system would put this at risk.
Lack of Context: Because the Minecraft chat reporting only depends upon messages, the lack of context can make simple messages offensive. For example, in a PVP server, a simple message about the game can be reported for violence.
Privacy: This new policy means Mojang now has access to all players' chat content. This might be a break of privacy, as some players don't want the content of their conversation to be exposed.
Roleplay: Based on the guidelines, players can be banned for making conversations about alcohol and impersonation. This can be an issue in Roleplay or RP servers, where people role plays as another person.

3. How to bypass the Report system in Minecraft?

As the player report system in Minecraft 1.19.1 is currently limited to the in-game chat, players can bypass it by being creative. Below are the most commons alternative ways to spread toxicity:

Using slang, foreign language, and symbols to send undetectable offensive texts
Adding mods to Minecraft to send offensive texts or images
Promoting external links that might redirect to offensive content
Placing blocks to create offensive words or imagery
Using signs, books, and nametags to send offensive texts

The easiest way to do this is to not use the in-game chat system. Just communicate with each other using a third-party app or something. While this method is a bit annoying at first, it gets better once you are used to it.

How to Turn Off Chat Reporting in Minecraft?

Currently, only the server owner can do that with the help of third-party mods. There is no official toggle or setting to turn off the new player reporting system in-game.

How to unban your account in Minecraft?

If your account is banned after a false report, it is possible to unban by submitting an appeal on Mojang's official support channel. Afterward, try to explain the scenario and context of the reported content for which you were falsely banned.

Then, the final call will be with the developers to revert or maintain the decision.