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:

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.

Hello, all! I have a few things I'd like to share about posting DNCs, to keep everyone safe and out of trouble. First and foremost- if you are actively angry with the user you must DNC, I recommend messaging a mod to read over the DNC you typed out to make sure it isn't too mean- as if you are rude in your DNC request, you can get in trouble yourself- the other person is a player too, after all, and should be respected. Sending a DNC while fueled by anger really just has the potential to throw gasoline to a fire, and you don't really want to do that, as everyone could get burnt in that scenario. Second, if you have a DNC placed against you, be sure you are polite when acknowledging it- I am going to post a template below for this, just like I am for a DNC request, as sometimes, if you're angry, upset, or whatever, it's best to use a pre-made template to ensure nothing rash is said. Another thing I'd like to make sure is covered well, is if you have to DNC a user and the user is rude in acknowledging or refuses to acknowledge and keeps contacting you- this would count as harassment, and every single time they try to contact you after you place a DNC is a report-worthy offense- Don't be scared to report them if they keep doing this! However, do not try to get the other user in trouble. If they acknowledge the DNC request politely, and then follow your wishes, that should be the end of it. If you have placed a DNC, or have one placed against you, you should be very sure to not post about it in public forums- this may count as vaguing, and DNCs should be kept private! Let's say for the sake of this example, I have DNC'd Doug. (as in, the guy who runs the market- not a user!) I would not be allowed to go to my journal and say anything like "Oh I just love DNCing people", "I have sent Doug a DNC", etc. etc. And Doug would not be allowed to go to any place on site and say "Jay DNC'd me for xyz reasons!". Any way of posting publicly about a specific DNC is disallowed, as it could stir up drama, upset people, etc. And again- you need to remember that people you DNC or who have DNC'd you are still players and deserve to be respected as such! Please do remember, that if you contact the user you have placed a DNC against in any way aside from community-ran posts, like a type race thread, then your DNC is therefore nullified, and contact can resume. DNCs will ALWAYS go both ways- after you place one, or if someone places one against you, be sure to follow it. Anyways, here's a template for a DNC- stay safe, everyone! (Please note, I will likely be adding to this later- with more DNC templates, and with DNC acknowledgements.)

Guide updated to explicitly state that a DNC between a Type Race Discussion host and a user on the same team does not bar the user from participating in the event or the thread. The user may request to be added to the clicklist for the team, though they should avoid referring to the host by name. The host can acknowledge the addition, but should not address the user specifically. Example interaction (OK): User: May I be added to the clicklist please? Host: Everyone has been added. Example interaction (Not OK, User in the wrong): User: (Host Username), please add me to the clicklist. Host: Everyone has been added. Example interaction (Not OK, Host in the wrong): User: May I be added to the clicklist please? Host: I added you to the clicklist, (Username). A few formatting changes were also made -- namely the usage of ul lists for a few things rather than just using hyphens.

I'm assuming it's discourged (but strictly not against the rules) for someone to have an actual DNI in their Trainer Card? I noticed a member of my Type Race team last month has something along the lines of "if you're a bigot DNI, if I clicked you it was accidental lol" in their Trainer Card. Should I give PM them letting them know that it can't be enforced, or would that be mini-modding? (I imagine it would, but I figured I'd ask anyway)

DNCs/DNIs placed in public places are unenforceable because there's no guarantee that the intended recipient(s) see(s) them, and at worst if they're done wrong they can even break rules on vaguing or blacklisting. Heck, I url navigate the site half the time, so I legit go up to the address bar and write something like "https://pokefarm.com/pm/read/USERNAME" so I skip a few clicks and just end up where I want to be. This would make a Trainer Card useless if it were aimed at me. The only way to make sure that the recipient has a reasonable chance of seeing it is to PM it to them, and that's the only way we'll recognize it as legitimate. I truly don't recommend sending them any manner of PM about it unless you're *just* offering a friendly link to this thread itself, since this is where they can see the guide and this is where they can ask questions regarding it if they wish to make sure they're doing things correctly. This makes sure they get correct answers and that you don't get anywhere near the line on minimodding even though your intentions are good. Thank you so much for asking here, and I really appreciate your patience!