[2022] Guidelines: Bans & Reporting

Players can report each person they play with once a day, using the in-game journal. This system will prevent people from spam reporting against someone they may not like or have an issue with.

Every report is viewable by the development team and filtered in a way so that we can ban people accordingly to their offenses and the number of reports received. We can also see who reported them, at what time, and much more.

You won't be banned because one party decided to “troll report” you for being bad at the game.




When banned, you will be notified in-game with an error message alongside the remaining duration of your ban. Bans will stop players from entering the multiplayer part of the menu, but they may continue to play Single player games.

Bans are progressive, and the duration will increase with each offense, ultimately ending with a permanent ban. Being banned for something more extreme (eg hacking) will fast-track you to a more extreme ban.

Nothing in our ban system is automatic, meaning we have full control over bans and can cancel them at any time.



Below, we’ve provided some examples of things you can look out for when reporting a player, and things to avoid doing so you’re not banned from the game.

Different players may have different preferences, (for example swearing) so it would be wise to check with players before ruining everyone's experience.

These are only examples and are not a complete or exhaustive list of bannable offenses.

Hacking / cheating

• Exploiting the game
  
  • Entering the house via a glitch to exploit the ghost
    
  • Duplicating items
    
  • Using spots that make you unkillable
• Third-party tools
  
  • Speed hacks
    
  • Adjusting the ghost’s behaviour
    
  • Killing other players instantly
• Game files
  
  • Modifying your game files
    
  • Texture or model replacements (Excluding post processing such as Reshade)

Hate Speech / verbal abuse

• Racism
  
  • Racial slurs
    
  • Discrimination
• Sexism
  
  • Kicking players because of their gender
    
  • Insults based on gender
• Harassment
  
  • Following a player between lobbies
    
  • Kicking the same player over and over
• Offensive language
  
  • Swearing profusely
    
  • Insulting other players
    
  • Homophobia

Griefing

• Ruining games
  
  • Holding games hostage by not entering the truck
    
  • Hiding useful items from other players
    
  • Joining a game then going AFK for long periods
    
  • Purposely wasting all camera photos
    
  • Breaking Cursed Possessions straight away
• Abusing the report system
  
  • Reporting people for no reason
    
  • Spam reporting the same person each day

Username

• Offensive in-game name
  
• Inappropriate in-game name
  
• Circumventing the in-game banned names

If you feel your ban is unjust, you may join the Phasmophobia Offical Discord (discord.gg/phasmophobia) and submit a ticket to our Modmail service. Provide as much evidence as you can, and we can review your reports and ban as necessary.

We're looking to make public Phasmophobia lobbies a more fun, safer space for everyone, not to ban people for the sake of it. We hope these changes will put many players at ease, and make Phasmophobia multiplayer lobbies a more enjoyable experience.

Thanks,
The Kinetic Games Team