Code of Conduct
Be sure to read through this page, since these are the terms you agree to every time you log into the game. They are the rules of the game and breaking them can get you in trouble or even result in getting banned from the game.
The Knight's Code of Conduct is a plain English explanation of the Terms of Service and outlines the kinds of behavior that are acceptable in Spiral Knights and the ones which are not. The four most important rules are:
  • Have Fun
  • Respect your fellow Knights!
  • Be sensible! (Don't give out your login information)
  • Keep it clean!
If you keep these four things in mind, we're sure you'll have a great time. If you need to know more, read on!
Behaving and Misbehaving
The most important part of Terms of Service relate to behavior: Common sense, consideration, and reasonable behavior are expected in the game. Together, they make Spiral Knights an enjoyable game for everyone. When a report is received about a knight who is behaving badly, a Game Master will resolve the situation as they deem appropriate for the good of the community.
Scamming and stealing
Don't take what's not yours! - Stealing is defined as taking the in-game property of another knight without the knowledge and permission of that knight. Scamming is stealing from another knight through misrepresentation - examples would be stating that an item can make you invincible, impersonating an administrator or tricking another knight into giving out items or account information.
Stealing will often involve logging in someone else's account. One way to prevent theft is to choose a strong password and to never share your account information with anyone. Read the section about account security below to find out how you can protect your account. Regardless of the form they take, stealing and scamming are against the rules and are very likely to result in an account being banned from the game.
Harassment
Play nice! - There is no place in Spiral Knights for deliberately harassing other knights, either by being offensive, by 'stalking' them, sending repeated requests or chat messages or in any other form.
Swearing and inappropriate content
Keep it clean! - Using or linking to vulgar, obscene or offensive language or material is considered swearing. This includes any racial, sexual, unlawful, religious slurs, insults or other deliberately offensive remarks directed at another knight. While there is a chat filter present in the game, this does not excuse offensive language or behavior. Misspelling or mis-spacing words to get around the filter will be treated as swearing and dealt with accordingly.
Foul language used outside the chat, for example in Knight names, guild names, on the forums or elsewhere is likewise not acceptable.
Exploits and abuse of bugs
Do not abuse broken game mechanics! - Sometimes bugs or oversights in the game design may occur. An example would be a situation that allowed a knight to generate free money within the game. If a bug is found, you are expected to report it immediately and not take advantage of it. Exploiting, publicizing or encouraging others to exploit bugs, design oversights or other issues is not acceptable.
Spamming
Don't spam! - Use the chat client sensibly, just like you would when talking to someone in person. Spamming is defined as repeatedly sending letters, messages or nonsense in a way that makes it difficult for other knights to communicate. Spamming is not acceptable in any form.
Account Security
Keep your account safe! - No one except you should ever know your password or have access to your account. It is forbidden to share passwords or accounts, grant someone else access to your account or access another knight's account. You are responsible for the security of your account data and are likewise responsible for everything that happens on your account, including rule violations of any sort. You can find more information on how to protect your account in this article about account security.
Terms of Service
By registering and creating an account with Grey Havens, LLC ("Grey Havens") you agree to comply with all these terms. If you do not agree with these terms, do not create an account and do not continue to use the www.spiralknights.com site or other Grey Havens site. If you have an existing account and do not agree with these terms, please do not use the existing account and do not continue to use the www.spiralknights.com site or other Grey Havens site. 1. Services. Spiral Knights is an internet service that allows you to play an online game in which the places, characters, plots and other content may be created by you, other members, Grey Havens or other parties. In addition the Spiral Knights web site provides bulletin boards and other game related services. The www.spiralknights.com web site, game, and other services are collectively referred to as Spiral Knights. 2. Age Requirement. You must be at least thirteen (13) years of age to use Spiral Knights. You represent, warrant and covenant that you meet this age requirement. 3. Access. You must have access to the Internet in order to use Spiral Knights. It is your responsibility to select, obtain and pay for any equipment or services necessary for access. 4. Registration. If you accept the terms, Grey Havens will process your registration form and establish a user account. You must select a user ID to identify you to Grey Havens and other users of the Spiral Knights web site. You may not select as your User ID the name of another living person (unless it is also your name), a name for the purpose of fraud or disparagement, or a name that violates any third party's trademark right, copyright, or other proprietary right, or which Grey Havens deems in its sole discretion to be vulgar or otherwise offensive. Grey Havens reserves the right to delete any vulgar or otherwise offensive User ID, or to require you to change your User ID. You must also select a password for your account. Grey Havens recommends that you choose a password with letters and numbers, and do not use your User ID as your password. The registration form will ask you for other information about yourself ("Registration Data") which you represent and warrant is at all times true, accurate, current and complete, and which you agree to update in order to maintain as such. If you breach this representation, or Grey Havens has reasonable grounds to suspect that you have, Grey Havens has the right upon notice to suspend or terminate your account and this agreement and to refuse your current or future use of Spiral Knights (or any portion thereof). 5. License. Subject to all of the Terms, Grey Havens hereby grants you a personal, non-exclusive, non-transferable license to access the Site and to use Spiral Knights only on the Site solely for your personal entertainment purposes. Grey Havens may revoke this license at any time and for any reason. Specifically if you breach the terms of service we will ban your account. The terms of such terminations are explained in section 9. 6. Restrictions. You agree not to do any of the following prohibited actions: 1. reproduce, distribute, publicly display or perform, translate, modify, adapt, create derivative works from, deconstruct, reverse engineer, decompile or disassemble in any manner Spiral Knights or any portion thereof, including but not limited to any character, graphic, associated software or proprietary communications protocol used by the software or any utilities, applications, emulators or tools derived therefrom; 2. permit any other person (including but not limited to a former member whose account Grey Havens has terminated) to access Spiral Knights, or create or provide any other means through which the Games may be played by anyone besides you (e.g., through server emulators); 3. upload, post, email or otherwise transmit through Spiral Knights any material that (i) is unlawful, harmful, threatening, abusive, harassing, tortious, defamatory, vulgar, obscene, libelous, invasive of another's privacy, hateful, or racially, ethnically or otherwise objectionable; (ii) you do not have a right to transmit under any law or contractual or fiduciary relationship (e.g., inside information, proprietary information from an employer or confidential information subject to a nondisclosure agreement); (iii) infringes any patent, trademark, trade secret, copyright or other party's proprietary rights; (iv) is unsolicited or unauthorized advertising, promotional material, "junk mail," "spam," "chain letters," "pyramid schemes," or any other form of solicitation; or (v) contains software viruses or any other computer code, files or programs designed to interrupt, destroy or limit the functionality of any computer software or hardware or telecommunications equipment; 4. harm minors in any way; 5. impersonate another user or administrator; 6. forge headers or otherwise manipulate identifiers in order to disguise the origin of any materials you or another party transmit through Spiral Knights; 7. disrupt the normal flow of dialogue, cause a screen to "scroll" faster than other members of the Services are able to type, or otherwise act in a manner that negatively affects other members' ability to engage in real time exchanges; 8. interfere with or disrupt the Services or servers or networks connected to the Services, or disobey any requirements, procedures, policies or regulations of networks connected to the Services; 9. intentionally or unintentionally violate any applicable local, state, national or international law, including, but not limited to, regulations promulgated by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, any rules of any national or other securities exchange, including, without limitation, the New York Stock Exchange, the American Stock Exchange or the NASDAQ, and any regulations having the force of law; 10. "stalk" or otherwise harass another; or 11. collect or store personal data about another member without the express permission of such member. 12. reveal personal data about another member--including but not limited to personally identifiable information about the member, administrative role of the member within a game, and information about game characters associated with the member--without the express permission of such member. 13. modify any files or use any game hacking/altering/cheating software or tools, including scripting or macroing software, or attempt to disassemble the game client and/or decipher the data transmissions between Spiral Knights' client and server. These activities will result in immediate termination of the Player's Account and may subject you to civil and/or criminal liability. 14. engage in any behavior that is contrary to the 'spirit of the game' as defined by Grey Havens in its sole discretion. This includes the manipulation of the game environment. 15. play Spiral Knights on any server or service that is not provided or authorized by Grey Havens. 7. Content. 1. Participatory Content. As part of our interactive approach, Grey Havens provides you with certain opportunities to submit your own ideas, text, graphics, plots, characters, feedback and other materials while you participate in the Games, bulletin boards, chat rooms and other activities in the Site or Services (collectively, "Participatory Content"). By submitting any Participatory Content, you represent and warrant that you are the owner of or have the right to post your Participatory Content, and your Participatory Content does not infringe the rights of any third party. You hereby grant Grey Havens a perpetual, irrevocable, non-exclusive, sub-licensable, worldwide, royalty-free license to use, reproduce, modify, adapt, publish, distribute, publicly display and perform any and all of your Participatory Content in all media now known or later developed. You, and not Grey Havens, are entirely responsible for all of your Participatory Content that you upload, post, email or otherwise transmit via the Site, Services or Games. 2. Third Party Content. You acknowledge and agree that the Site, Services and Games contain materials owned by Grey Havens and its licensors (including other members), and you agree not to interfere the copyrights, trademarks and other proprietary rights of such parties. You agree that these rights are valid and protected in all media existing now or later developed, and that except as is explicitly provided otherwise, your use of such materials shall be governed by the copyright laws of the United States and other applicable laws. 3. Content Monitoring. As a matter of policy, Grey Havens does not manually pre-screen or monitor the content that you or other members may post to the Spiral Knights site or game. Grey Havens does use automated mechanisms as necessary to filter obscene or vulgar language, mechanisms which are under user control (see the Options panel). Grey Havens does reserve the right to monitor all such content, and reserves the right to remove without notice any and all content that Grey Havens, in its sole discretion, finds offensive or otherwise objectionable. You are solely responsible, and bear the risk, for evaluating the accuracy, integrity, quality, completeness or utility of any content. Grey Havens makes no representations or warranties about the content appearing in Spiral Knights. Under no circumstances will Grey Havens be liable in any way for any content, including but not limited to, for any errors or omissions in any content, or for any loss or damage of any kind incurred as a result of the use of any content posted, emailed or otherwise transmitted via Spiral Knights. 4. Mature Content. Grey Havens has adopted a "MATURE" rating, and parts of the Site, Services and/or Games contain adult or mature content that some users may consider offensive, indecent or objectionable. While Grey Havens has established a list of restrictions (section 6) and may in some instances choose to monitor and take action upon inappropriate game play, chat or links to the Services, it is possible that at any time there may be language or other material accessible on or through the Site, Services or Games that may be offensive or objectionable to some users. 5. Content Transmission. You understand that the technical processing and transmission of the Services, including your Participatory Content and Public Content, may involve (i) transmissions over various networks; and (ii) changes to conform and adapt to technical requirements of connecting networks or devices. 6. Links. The Site, Services and Games may provide links to other sites for your convenience only. Grey Havens does not control, is not responsible for, does not necessarily endorse and makes no representation about the materials contained at any linked site. If you choose to visit any linked Sites, Grey Havens recommends that you review the other site's terms of use. Grey Havens is not responsible for webcasting or any other form of transmission received from any linked site. 7. Names. In creating your character in Spiral Knights we ask that you use names appropriate for the setting. Do not use names that violate these terms, that might be offensive to other players, or that include copyright or trademark characters or products. Avoid names that are from or imply popular media and culture. Grey Havens will arbitrarily change any names it considers unsuitable, or ban the accounts associated. Other than in these circumstances, names will not generally be changed. 8. Auctions and Sales. It is against Grey Havens policy to allow accounts, characters, items, or money to be sold for real money on auction sites or otherwise. We will ask auction sites to respect this policy. We will terminate accounts that we believe are in violation of this policy. 8. Idea submission policy. Grey Havens and its employees do not accept or consider unsolicited ideas, including but not limited to ideas for advertising campaigns, technology development or product names. Please do not send Grey Havens or any of its employees any unsolicited materials, including any artwork or demos. If any area of the site, services or games invites you to submit material, such as a portfolio URL for a job application, such submission shall not be deemed to be unsolicited for purposes of this section 8 ("Idea Submission Policy"). The purpose of this policy is to avoid potential misunderstandings or disputes if Grey Havens' products or marketing strategies might seem similar to ideas submitted to Grey Havens. Please note that any material you submit to Grey Havens in any manner, aside from examples of prior work as part of a job application, will be deemed your "Participatory Content" and subject to the terms of section 7.1 ("participatory content"). 9. Your Account is Your Responsibility. You are solely responsible and entirely liable for all activities conducted through your account and/or your User ID, even if your account has been compromised through no fault of your own. Grey Havens encourages you to maintain the confidentiality of your password, and reminds you that you do not have a license to let others use your account. You agree to notify Grey Havens immediately in the event your password is lost, stolen, disclosed or compromised. It is not Grey Havens' policy to ask for your password online, and Grey Havens suggests that you never respond to an on-line request for your password. You acknowledge that although the Site, Services and/or Games may offer a feature that allows you to "remember" your password and thereby bypass the password protection, this feature makes it possible for third parties to access your account and User ID. Grey Havens strongly discourages the use of the password bypass feature, which will in any event be at your own risk. 10. Privacy. You understand that you have no expectation of privacy with respect to your use of the Site, Services or Games, and that all communications made by or received from you may be monitored, preserved and disclosed by Grey Havens representatives. You hereby consent to the extraction of hardware system profile data and any data related to operation of the software from any computer that logs on to the Site, Services or Games using your account. You acknowledge and agree that Grey Havens will report to law enforcement authorities any actions which may be considered illegal, as well as any reports it receives of such conduct. Grey Havens will cooperate fully with law enforcement agencies in any investigation of alleged illegal activity. Specifically, Grey Havens may disclose information about you or your Participatory Content if Grey Havens has the good faith belief that such disclosure is reasonably necessary to: (a) comply with legal process; (b) enforce the Terms; (c) respond to claims that any of your Participatory Content violates the rights of a third party; or (d) protect the rights, property or safety of Grey Havens, its members or the public. These Terms are also subject to Grey Havens' general Privacy Policy, which is incorporated by this reference as if set out in full. 11. Charges for Service. Grey Havens charges an optional fee for services ("Premium Services") for the use of Spiral Knights. The current prices may be found in the Billing System (https://billing.spiralknights.com/billing/). You may be eligible to play for free during a Free Trial or Beta test period. YOUR FEES ARE PAYABLE IN ADVANCE AND ARE NOT REFUNDABLE IN WHOLE OR IN PART. YOU ARE FULLY LIABLE FOR ALL CHARGES UNDER YOUR ACCOUNT WHETHER OR NOT AUTHORIZED BY YOU. If your use of Spiral Knights is subject to any use, sales or other taxes, or if Grey Havens offers any additional services for a fee as noted on the Site and you choose to partake in such additional fee-services, then Grey Havens may also bill you for any such charges, which will be in addition to the rates noted here. Grey Havens reserves the right to change its fees and billing methods at any time effective thirty (30) days after notice of the changes are posted on the Site. You are responsible for regularly reviewing these Terms to obtain timely notice of such changes. If any such change is unacceptable to you, you may terminate your account and this agreement as provided in Section 18 ("Termination"). Your continued use of the Games or Services seven (7) days after the changes are posted on the Site will constitute your acceptance of such change. If you pay for the Games and/or Services by credit card, you represent and warrant that you are the authorized user of such credit card. You agree to promptly notify Grey Havens of any changes to your credit card account number, its expiration date and/or your billing address, and you agree to promptly notify Grey Havens if your credit card expires or is canceled for any reason. 12. International Use. Recognizing the global nature of the Internet, you agree to comply with all local rules regarding online conduct and acceptable content. Specifically, you agree to comply with all applicable laws regarding the transmission of technical data exported from the United States or the country in which you reside. 13. Ownership. Grey Havens and its licensors shall at all times retain all right, title and interest in and to the Site, Services and Games, except to the extent of the licenses granted to you hereunder. Grey Havens, Spiral Knights and other products referenced herein are either trademarks or registered trademarks of Grey Havens. 14. Disclaimer of Warranty. TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW, GREY HAVENS, ITS AFFILIATES, LICENSORS AND SUBCONTRACTORS DISCLAIM ALL WARRANTIES, EXPRESS, IMPLIED OR STATUTORY, INCLUDING ANY WARRANTY OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE OR NON-INFRINGEMENT. GREY HAVENS PROVIDES THE SITE, SERVICES AND GAMES (AND ANY RELATED SOFTWARE OR HARDWARE USED OR PROVIDED BY GREY HAVENS IN CONNECTION THEREWITH OR ANY CONTENT INCLUDED THEREIN) "AS IS" AND ON AN "AS AVAILABLE" BASIS, AND MAKES NO WARRANTY OF PERFORMANCE OR QUALITY OR THAT THE SITE, SERVICES OR GAMES WILL BE ERROR-FREE OR UNINTERRUPTED. SOME JURISDICTIONS DO NOT PERMIT THE EXCLUSION OF IMPLIED WARRANTIES, SO SUCH EXCLUSION MAY NOT APPLY TO YOU. 15. Limitation of Liability. NOTWITHSTANDING ANYTHING TO THE CONTRARY, GREY HAVENS' AND ITS AFFILIATES', LICENSORS' AND SUBCONTRACTORS' TOTAL LIABILITY TO YOU ARISING FROM OR IN RELATION TO THIS AGREEMENT, THE SITE, SERVICES OR GAMES SHALL BE LIMITED TO THE TOTAL PAYMENTS MADE BY YOU TO GREY HAVENS UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WITHIN THE TWELVE (12) MONTHS PRIOR TO THE OCCURRENCE OF THE INCIDENT WHICH GAVE RISE TO SUCH LIABILITY. THE FOREGOING LIMITATION SHALL NOT APPLY TO DAMAGES ARISING FROM DEATH OR PERSONAL INJURY TO PERSONAL OR TANGIBLE PROPERTY IN ANY JURISDICTION WHERE SUCH LIMITATION IS PROHIBITED BY LAW. 16. Consequential Damages. IN NO EVENT WILL GREY HAVENS, ITS AFFILIATES, LICENSORS OR SUBCONTRACTORS BE RESPONSIBLE OR LIABLE TO YOU FOR ANY CONSEQUENTIAL, SPECIAL, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, EXEMPLARY OR PUNITIVE DAMAGES OF ANY KIND, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO ANY LOSS OF USE OR COSTS OF SUBSTITUTE SERVICES, HOWEVER CAUSED, WHETHER FOR BREACH OF REPUDIATION OF CONTRACT, TORT, BREACH OF WARRANTY, NEGLIGENCE, STRICT LIABILITY OR OTHER THEORY OF LIABILITY, WHETHER OR NOT GREY HAVENS, ITS AFFILIATES, LICENSORS OR SUBCONTRACTORS WERE ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH LOSS OR DAMAGES AND NOTWITHSTANDING THE FAILURE OF ESSENTIAL PURPOSE OF ANY LIMITED REMEDY STATED HEREIN. IN JURISDICTIONS THAT DO NOT ALLOW THE EXCLUSION OR LIMITATION OF INCIDENTAL OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES, GREY HAVENS', ITS AFFILIATES', LICENSORS' AND SUBCONTRACTORS' LIABILITY IS LIMITED TO THE EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW. 17. Indemnification. You agree to defend, indemnify and hold harmless Grey Havens, its affiliates, licensors and subcontractors from all liabilities, claims and expenses, including attorneys' fees, arising from or related to your breach of this Agreement or portion hereof, you Participatory Content or Public Content or any act or omission by you relating the Site, Services or Games. Grey Havens reserves the right to assume its own defense and/or control of any matter otherwise subject to indemnification by you hereunder. 18. Termination. Either you or Grey Havens may terminate your account and this agreement upon notice at any time without further obligation to the other. Further, Grey Havens reserves the right to terminate the Site, Services and/or Games, or any part thereof, at any time without notice and without further obligation to you. IN NO EVENT SHALL YOU BE ENTITLED TO A REFUND OF ANY FEES OR PRORATION THEREOF. UPON TERMINATION OF THIS AGREEMENT, YOUR ACCESS PRIVILEGES TO THE SITE, SERVICES AND GAMES WILL TERMINATE AND YOU WILL FORFEIT ANY UNUSED SERVICES THAT YOU PURCHASED OR RECEIVED PRIOR TO TERMINATION. A member whose account Grey Havens has terminated may not access the Site, Services or Games in any manner or for any reason without Grey Havens' express, prior, written permission. Termination of this agreement shall have no effect on any payment obligation accrued prior to the effective date of termination. The following sections shall survive termination: 7(1) and (2), 8 and 14-21. 19. Amendment. Grey Havens may amend the Terms in its sole discretion at any time by posting revised Terms on the Site, and you agree to regularly review the Terms. If any such revision is unacceptable to you, you may terminate your account and this agreement as provided in Section 18 ("Termination"). Your continued access and use of the Site, Services and/or Games seven (7) days after posting of the revised Terms shall constitute your acceptance of the same. Except as expressly set forth herein, the Terms may not otherwise be modified or amended. 20. Reservation of Rights. Grey Havens hereby reserves any rights not expressly granted herein. 21. General Provisions. You may not sublicense, rent, sell, assign or otherwise transfer the rights or obligations granted to you in this agreement, and any such attempted transfer shall be void. If any provision of this agreement is held to be unenforceable for any reason, such provision shall be reformed only to the extent necessary to make it enforceable, and such decision shall not affect the enforceability of: (i) such provision under other circumstances, or (ii) the remaining provisions hereof under all circumstances. Grey Havens' failure to enforce at any time any provision of this agreement shall in no way be construed to be a present or future waiver of such provision, nor in any way affect the right of any party to enforce each and every such provision thereafter. The express waiver by Grey Havens of any provision, condition or requirement of this agreement shall not constitute a waiver of any future obligation to comply with such provision, condition or requirement. Notwithstanding anything to the contrary, no default, delay or failure to perform on the part of Grey Havens shall be considered a breach of this agreement if such default, delay or failure to perform is shown to be due to causes beyond Grey Havens' reasonable control. This agreement is governed by and construed under California law without regard to its conflict of law principles, and you agree to submit to the jurisdiction of the courts located in San Francisco County, in the State of California, U.S.A. for the resolution of any dispute arising from or related to this agreement. In any action to enforce this agreement, the prevailing party shall be awarded its costs and fees (including reasonable attorneys' fees), including such fees and costs incurred in enforcing and collecting any judgment. All notices given by you shall be sent via email to tos@spiralknights.com. Our telephone number is 617 682 9585 but we do not provide telephone support and discourage you from calling this number. Grey Havens may give notice to you at the e-mail address you provide in the Registration Data. This agreement represents the entire agreement between you and Grey Havens with respect to the subject matter referenced herein. Changes to the Terms of Service Grey Havens may update the terms of service. We will notify you about significant changes by placing a prominent link on our site. Questions and Suggestions If you have questions or suggestions, please email us at tos@spiralknights.com.