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A Guide to DNCs

What They Are

Under the protection of Site Rule 2: Respect Each Other, you can ask for another player not to contact you and they are obligated to respect it. Should they fail to do so, it's a reportable offense and is considered harassment. DNC is short for Do Not Contact, and is the shorthand for it that will be commonly used. The DNC itself is the message you send to another user in order to ask them to cease contact with you.

DOs and DON'Ts

Do not use "Do Not Interact" or DNI. This is because clicking someone is called "making interactions," and there is an interactions page named the same thing. People may click whoever they want, so a DNI that could be taken as "don't interact with me" or "don't click me" is not enforceable. Use DNC and "Do Not Contact" instead. Don't be rude to someone when you are sending them a DNC. Don't send threats, call them names, or send any further messages after the DNC is sent. If you resume contact with them after the DNC, then the DNC is nullified. A DNC has to go both ways, so you must cease contact with them as well. Don't post who you've DNC'd in public. Don't post you DNC'd "a user" or "someone" for XYZ reason, either. These would be blacklisting and vaguing respectively, which are both against our Site Rules. Don't use vague language when issuing a DNC. "I'd prefer if you didn't contact me again," isn't enough. It leaves room for interpretation and what-ifs or buts. Instead, make it polite but firm and nonflexible. "Please do not contact me again," is much better. Don't expect a Trainer Card, About Me, Forum Signature, or a trade decline message to be a sufficient DNC. Not everyone will see your Trainer Card, About Me, or Forum Signature since they can navigate to PM you from their PMs page, or navigate to trade you through their Pokemon's Summary or through their own Trade Centre. Likewise, trade decline messages can be deleted. In order to give the best chance that your DNC is seen, you need to PM the user that you are wanting to cut contact with. If they don't read your PM and continue past that point, you've done your due diligence and it's on them at that point. Do not ask your friends to pass messages between you and someone who has sent you a DNC. This is something that can get both you and your friend in trouble, because it is circumventing the request.

How To Do It Right

Now, I understand there's a good number of DON'Ts above, so I'll give a quick explanation of the process. PM the player and simply ask them not to contact you anymore. That's it. Here's a DNC template for you if you don't know how to write your own:

Do Not Contact (Example)

Hello, Please don't contact me any further. I don't want to receive PMs or trades, and I don't want you to talk to me anymore. Thank you.

Did They Break The DNC?

If the player who you sent a DNC to has sent you another trade, PM, or addressed you directly in a forum post, report it. Do not say anything to them or PM them again. The best thing you can do is keep yourself out of it and let the moderation team know via the report system so we can tell the person that your request is to be respected, and that it isn't optional. It's a complex matter since it has to do with people, but here's a basic outline of what is considered a DNC breach:
  • They sent you a PM, trade, or spar after the DNC was placed, and the contents of that PM are more than an acknowledgement of the DNC.
  • They posted in your trade thread or shop with an offer addressed at you.
  • They got their friend to tell you something on their behalf.
If you're in doubt as to whether or not it's been broken, you can report it as an inquiry and a moderator will let you know. We take harassment very seriously, so we'd rather take the time to look at it. Don't worry about being a bother, either! You're not a bother at all. It's the moderation team's job to help and we're happy to do so, and we can't help if we don't know what's going on.

What's Allowed After a DNC?

If you've DNC'd a user, understand that there's still some spaces on the site that are more community-based in nature, and that you may not be able to fully escape seeing them around. There are a few things that don't qualify as DNC breaches:
  • They are allowed one response to the DNC message, and only to acknowledge that a DNC has been placed.
  • You own a Suggestion, Discussion, Guide, Type Race Discussion (TRD), or other important community-heavy thread and they posted in it to counter some points, ask questions, clarify something, or otherwise participate in the community in general. They're allowed to do this as long as they're not talking directly to you. They should avoid quoting you, directing what they say at you via using your name, and so on.
    • As an example: For TRDs, they can ask to be added to the clicklist even if the TRD thread host DNC'd them, because this action is related to the event. However, they should avoid referring to the host by name, etc., and the host's response should be along the lines of a general "everyone has been added" rather than a direct response to the individual.
  • They post in your co-owned shop and make an offer to the co-owner. They're allowed to do this as long as they don't direct any offers to you.

What About On Discord?

The Discord is a communal area where users can chat with one another, but if you have a DNC against someone who is in the Discord server as well, the expectations are fairly simple. It's a heavily community-based area, so you can't expect them to completely go away.
  • They are allowed to take part in current conversations, though they may not address you by name, @ you, or use the Reply function in response to your messages.
Usage of Discord settings to prevent DMs from people who aren't on your friends list is recommended. As an alternative, you can also block them on Discord.

Can You Take Back A DNC Later?

If you've decided that you are okay with being contacted by the user again, you may PM them and let them know. This will dissolve the DNC, and it will no longer be a valid DNC once you've done so. Any PM you send them after the DNC will nullify it as a matter of fact, so keep this in mind. Do your best to avoid on again off again types of DNC situations, because that does make it a bit confusing to handle. If someone has made you want to cut contact with them multiple times, then it's for the better that you make that a permanent arrangement and cut contact for good. If someone DNC'd you and later took it back, you may choose to keep the DNC in place. Simply respond to the message they sent you taking it back, and tell them you're not okay with there being contact and that you want to keep the DNC. After that point, they may acknowledge it since it is a new DNC, and then things carry on as usual from there.

Can You DNC A Moderator?

Yes and no. Moderators still have a job to do. If they have a valid reason to contact you in order to do said job, then your DNC holds no ground to stop them. If you DNC a Moderator, they're only prohibited from contacting you for personal reasons. As with anyone else, casual conversation, trading, and so on would be disallowed. It should be mentioned that in cases where Moderators have been DNC'd in the past, some effort is made to have a different Moderator handle the DNCing user's rulebreaks. If you would prefer a different Moderator to handle a case involving you, you may request it -- however, if nobody else is available or that Moderator is the primary expert on a given situation, this request may have to be rejected or you may be asked to wait until another Moderator can be caught up on everything.

Do You Have Any Other Options?

Yes and no. In terms of options that are enforceable via the site's rules, this is the main and only procedure for cutting contact with another user and ensuring that they're not allowed to contact you further. Anyone who breaches a DNC is subject to being site locked if they don't stop, after all. A DNC is how you actively protect yourself. However, if what you want is for that person to be mostly invisible to you rather than for the rules to back you up, then there is a Userscript. The Block Users script by Dr.Who will hide PMs, trades, and their forum posts. It will likewise anonymise them on the Multi-Profile view and interactions / clickback pages, as if they were a user with a censored username. There is nothing that can be done from a rules standpoint if a blocked user has contacted you if you have not sent them a proper DNC. This is considered more of a band-aid solution for this reason, but it's enough if you simply want to ignore them.

Anything Else?

That's it! If you have any questions, you can ask here or send a PM to any member of the moderation team. We'll do our best to help you out and address any concerns.
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