Battlefield Hardline Rules of Conduct

Players are expected to abide by the EA Online Terms of Service (“TOS”) while playing on Battlefield Hardline Servers. You agreed to the TOS when you established your EA Origin Account.

The purpose of these Rules of Conduct is to illustrate how the TOS apply when you play on Battlefield Hardline Servers. Multiple or critical violations (to be determined at EA's own discretion) of the TOS may result in the loss of online play or the reset of your stats and/or awards. TOS violation may also result in the termination of your Origin Account and the loss of anything associated with it (including but not limited to points, tokens or in-game items).
 
There are four server types in Battlefield Hardline, together “Battlefield Hardline Servers”:

“Official Servers” only allow access to a few server settings which are very restricted. Server admins cannot kick or switch players around. Missions can only be tracked here. Awards, scores and unlocks will also be recorded. Players land on these types of servers when using Quick Match.

“Ranked Servers” allow mixed game modes and are more flexible with setting ranges. Server admins are allowed to kick and switch players around as well as change ticket totals. Ranked Servers record awards, scores and unlocks. Players cannot Quick Match into Ranked Servers, but they can find them via the Server Browser.

“Unranked Servers” do not track awards, scores and unlocks to be applied towards players' career progressions. This allows for a much wider range of settings to adjust giving players the chance to have freedom on the server. These servers will only be visible via the Server Browser.

”Private Servers” can apply the same rules as unranked but passwords can be set. These servers are used for team warm-ups, training grounds, team wars etc. These servers only show up in the Server Browser.

The following are some examples of conduct not permitted by the TOS:

• You are not permitted to use offensive soldier names or tags.


• You must not actively encourage other players to violate the TOS.


• You must not organize any platoons or groups that are based on, or espouse, any racist, sexist, anti-religious, anti-ethnic, anti-gay, or other hate-mongering philosophy.


• You must not attempt to interfere with, hack into, emulate, modify, redirect or decipher any files, data streams or transmissions to or from EA services, or use any cheats, automation software (bots), hacks, mods or any other third-party software that have not been approved by EA.


• You must not facilitate, create or maintain any unauthorized connection to the Battlefield Hardline service.


• You must not exploit the Battlefield Hardline service for any commercial purpose, including but not limited to:


• Gathering in-game currency, items or resources for sale outside the Game; or


• Performing in-game services in exchange for payment outside the game environment, e.g., power-leveling.


• You must not exploit any bug or abuse any game system (such as the scoring or award systems) in an EA product or service including but not limited to:


• Intentionally using or sharing any bug found within any Battlefield Hardline games, real or fictitious, regardless of whether or not it grants an unfair advantage.


• Directly or indirectly communicating the existence of any such bug to any other user of EA's games or services.


• Examples of abuse in Official Servers and Ranked Servers in violation of the TOS include, but are not limited to:


• Taking turns killing, reviving, receiving ammo etc.


• Abusing world geometry to your advantage without risk


• Exploiting vehicle damage to repair indefinitely


• Creating a play environment which, by definition or action, creates an inflated scoring scenario such as 'flagrun'


• You must not engage in any activities in connection with our services that violate any applicable laws or regulations.

This is not a complete list of prohibited behaviors, and you should refer to the TOS for further details.

Server Administrators:

If you are an administrator of a Battlefield Hardline Server (referred to below as a "Server Administrator"), you must also comply with the TOS.

Please note that Server Administrators should not ban players for conduct that is not in breach of the TOS, for example, just because they are winning the round, have killed you, etc. The player being banned must be in violation of the TOS (which may include violation of the particular server's rules, provided these rules are in accordance with the TOS).

For the avoidance of doubt, Server Administrators will also violate the TOS if they (i) use offensive server names, server art or tags; or (ii) encourage other players to violate the TOS while in game.

PunkBuster and FairFight are mandatory for all Official Servers and Ranked Servers.
 
Exploit/Abuse Reports:

• For more information and help, please see:


• http://help.ea.com/en/battlefield/battlefield-hardline/


• Please utilize the Report feature on Battlelog to report a player, profile, platoon etc. for violating the TOS.


• Find the offending player/profile/platoon. To the right of the name you will see a grey exclamation point. Click this exclamation point and select the appropriate action (Report Possible Cheat / Report Profile).


• You can also report unapproved software or applications which provide an unfair advantage or manipulate the game in a way it was not meant, to the PunkBuster staff at: research@evenbalance.com


• To report a Battlelog avatar for violating the TOS, please right click the offending avatar and select Copy Image URL/Link.


• Go to http://en.gravatar.com/site/abuse/ and insert the avatar link in the "Offending URL" section.

In all cases, please provide as much information as possible when making reports. EA's support staff will be the final decision makers regarding investigations. Intentional submissions of misinformation or false abuse reports can be considered a violation of the TOS.