Minecraft’s upcoming Player Chat Reporting feature meets an outpouring of rage from fans fearing its misuse

[Xx_CreeperKiller69_xX]

Summary

It’s not just Realms — Minecraft’s upcoming Player Chat Reporting feature in Java Edition is attracting major pushback from the game’s community for plans to restrict players from joining servers temporarily or entirely if a global suspension is issued. Players say the system is ripe for abuse.

Player Chat Reporting

About a week ago, Minecraft Snapshot 22w24a (a weekly development snapshot leading up to the Java 1.19.1 release) introduced a Player Chat Reporting system in the Social Interactions menu (accessed with the ‘P’ key). It allows players to report others for a wide variety of reasons. According to an official help document, it initially only seemed to apply to Realms (a type of server available to rent from Mojang, the game’s developers) and select Featured Servers. (Source)

 

But as of the 1.19.1 Pre-Release 1 snapshot, we can see that the system also applies to independently-operated servers. In this snapshot, players on ordinary servers — not just Realms — have found themselves able to report one another, and this is corroborated by the change log in the official blog post. (Source)

 

Until 1.19.1 is released, reports made with the system may not be reviewed since it is still under development.

After selecting a player to report in the Social Interactions menu, the user is presented with some reasons to report:

 

(images courtesy of Alco_Rs11)

 

The user is then able to bring up a chat log to select the messages to report. There’s also a text field for adding additional detail to include with the report.

Here are some strings extracted from the latest snapshot, showing a few of the related messages that may be shown: (Source)

"gui.banned.title.temporary": "Account temporarily suspended"
"gui.banned.title.permanent": "Account permanently banned"
"gui.banned.description": "%s %s Learn more about your case at the following link. %s"
"gui.banned.description.reason": "We recently received a report for bad behavior by your account. Our moderators have now reviewed your case and identified it as %s, which goes against the Minecraft Community Standards."
"gui.banned.description.unknownreason": "We recently received a report for bad behavior by your account. Our moderators have now reviewed your case and identified that it goes against the Minecraft Community Standards."
"gui.banned.description.temporary.duration": "Your account is temporarily suspended and will be reactivated in %s."
"gui.banned.description.temporary": "%s Until then, you can’t play online or join Realms."
"gui.banned.description.permanent": "Your account is permanently banned, which means you can’t play online or join Realms."

The announcement thread on r/Minecraft for Pre-Release 1 was widely downvoted, and sits at 0 points with hundreds of comments — many of them critical.

The official Feedback forum for Pre-Release 1 has met similar reception, with most responses critical of the Player Chat Reporting feature.

 

1.19.1 Pre-Release 1 update overviews on YouTube, such as slicedlime’s, are also filled with negative comments.

 

Starting in version 1.19, cryptographic signatures are associated with every message sent in chat. Modrinth user Aizistral has created a mod, No Chat Reports, to strip these cryptographic signatures from chat messages. This disables the inbuilt Microsoft chat telemetry, and by extension, Player Chat Reporting functionality.
 

My thoughts

I recommend reading the comments on the Reddit thread. I think it’s wrong to impose new rules on communities which for years have had their own unique rules and moderation procedures. I don’t think this will go over well with anarchy servers or authority figures. Mass reporting is an issue all across video gaming, especially games with ranked modes.

 

I’m mostly disappointed in the implementation. If it were opt-in for servers, or even opt-out, that’d be a huge improvement over having no control.

 

I find it silly that you could be suspended for such things as discussing alcohol between people over 21, or swearing impulsively at a cheater in a minigame, or sarcastically breaking one of the reportable criteria, only for someone to take it seriously and get offended by it.

 

I feel like this was not something Mojang wanted to do. I think that this, or at least the current implementation, was a strategic corporate decision. I can’t blame them for wanting to improve player safety. I can however blame them for being overly controlling.

 

Sources

1) Minecraft.net official blog post about Snapshot 22w4a:

MINECRAFT SNAPSHOT 22W4A

 

2) Minecraft Help page about Player Chat Reporting from when the feature was initially introduced:

Why Have I Been Banned from Minecraft?

 

3) 1.19.1 Pre-Release 1 announcement thread on r/Minecraft:

A 5-Minute Dance - Minecraft 1.19.1 Pre-release 1 Is Out!

 

4) Minecraft.net official blog post about 1.19.1 Pre-Release 1:

MINECRAFT 1.19.1 PRE-RELEASE 1

 

5) The official feedback forum page for 1.19.1 Pre-Release 1:

Let's talk about the latest Java Pre-Release! (1.19.1 Pre-Release 1)

 

6) A mod to block chat telemetry:

No Chat Reports

[Salv8 (sam)]

i really do recommend readding the reddit thread, they are NOT happy about this.

i would not be suspirsed if the big minecraft servers (e.g hivemc) disable this due to how flawed the system is.

users that do jack all could be randomly banned with barely any appeal preventing them to join even private servers.

 

now thats not fair.

[Forbidden Wafer]

Dosn't surprise me that is MSFT doing this shit. Another good reason to split up this company. 

[Supreme Calamitas]

Played minecraft for 8 years, only the pot pvp community needs this. Just leave the rest to servers.

 

I quit a long time ago but there's really no solution to hackers,spammers, "verbal abusers" (tip: just turn off chat xd) besides client side anticheats like Badlion client, lunar client and the rest who died before they came into existence. 

 

You can't have only mods & watch dog moderate a 60k player server. Mojang/Microsoft needs to implement something like EasyAntiCheat (for example) to mc, the key is Mojang adding it directly to minecraft, make it a necessity.

 

I also dont remember what it was but there was something Mojang wanted to do/planned to do that would reduce the amount of mc alts out there in the world, but I don't remember what it was...

 

Hopefully the game continues to thrive as its still great, well before Hypxel's game comes out (if ever)-Hytale xd

[Arika]

People play minecraft with randoms in multilayer?

[da na]

I bought the bedrock edition on PC instead of Java 6 years ago so this is my first taste of Java (MS just now made it free if you already own bedrock on PC) and if this is how it's going... 

Used to love Minecraft but the excessive limitations being introduced are, well, needless. 

[jagdtigger]

8 hours ago, Marko1600 said:

Mojang/Microsoft needs to implement something like EasyAntiCheat (for example) to mc

Hell no! I think we seen enough of those fail rather quickly and spectacularly. Seen enough games go down the toilet because they rely entirely on these placebos' (*cough* Ark *cough*)....  Not to mention minecraft is multi platform meaning there is no way to implement any of the existing junk.

[Dreckssackblase]

I would totally get this for Mojang owned or controlled servers and somewhat for public realms, but it is just a horrible decision that this also applies to private servers and realms. The kind of moderation I want on my private server should be up to me entirely and if I want previous abusers to be able to join my server then that should be possible. also kinda weird to have the word pornography in the game itself. whats the chance some children will be like: what does that word mean, lets put it in google.

[WereCat]

Microsoft chat filter is the worst. 

 

Trying to say "Attack French" in AoE IV to my teammate but it gets censored... 

 

not surprised people don't like it 

[HomeBoi]

13 hours ago, Arika S said:

People play minecraft with randoms in multilayer?

I think they are called sadomasochists.

[Forbidden Wafer]

14 hours ago, Arika S said:

People play minecraft with randoms in multilayer?

Yes. There are servers with minigames that are pretty fun.

 

TNT Cannon wars, hunger games, etc. 

[Kisai]

On 6/22/2022 at 6:43 AM, Xx_CreeperKiller69_xX said:

 

My thoughts

I recommend reading the comments on the Reddit thread. I think it’s wrong to impose new rules on communities which for years have had their own unique rules and moderation procedures. I don’t think this will go over well with anarchy servers or authority figures. Mass reporting is an issue all across video gaming, especially games with ranked modes.

 

It does seem like this is missing the context.

 

I'd assume that privately run Java servers, including heavily modded ones and so forth would not have a report feature, or the report feature only goes to the server administrator. There's not exactly a way to block people from connecting except them not knowing where the server is. I no doubt there are private ERP minecraft servers.

 

That said, it's probably intended for Minecraft (bedrock), such as the console/Windows version where you're more likely to have children present in a controlled setting. To which, so what?

 

If you are opening a minecraft server, streaming it, and letting anyone and their dog connect to it, it's going to be abused. This is where I can accurately predict the abuse, from people wanting to troll the streamer, to the streamer wanting to troll the people playing on THEIR server.

 

So the fairest way to implement this to in fact have servers mark themselves with how they want the reporting mechanic to work

- Reporting ignored

- Reporting goes to (private) server operator

- Reporting goes to Microsoft (Microsoft controlled realms/servers)

- Reporting harassment goes to server operator, all others ignored.

 

This is one of those situations where I would also point out that microsoft's linking of your microsoft and xbox accounts was a mistake and ripe for abuse. Let's say you linked your 2002 hotmail account and 2007 skype account, and 2009 Xbox account to your Windows 11 microsoft account, and some crybaby in minecraft reports you for ... oh I don't know, telling them to GTFO. Microsoft suspends the "microsoft" account for profanity, subsequently kicking the player out of their Windows computers, Xbox consoles, Skype accounts and emails.

 

At any rate, I don't necessarily think it's a bad idea to have the reporting mechanic if the server operators have the option to opt out of it.

[AlTech]

Last I checked we don't need Microsoft acting as our mommy and daddy. This infantilization of users using services needs to stop.

[AlTech]

22 hours ago, Marko1600 said:

Played minecraft for 8 years, only the pot pvp community needs this. Just leave the rest to servers.

 

I quit a long time ago but there's really no solution to hackers,spammers, "verbal abusers" (tip: just turn off chat xd) besides client side anticheats like Badlion client, lunar client and the rest who died before they came into existence. 

 

You can't have only mods & watch dog moderate a 60k player server. Mojang/Microsoft needs to implement something like EasyAntiCheat (for example) to mc, the key is Mojang adding it directly to minecraft, make it a necessity.

Many game servers for Minecraft have their own anti cheat engine built in. Doesn't mean we need anti cheat in the game client.

 

They also have chat filtering engines built in. Again, not something that needs to be in the game client.

22 hours ago, Marko1600 said:

I also dont remember what it was but there was something Mojang wanted to do/planned to do that would reduce the amount of mc alts out there in the world, but I don't remember what it was...

 

Hopefully the game continues to thrive as its still great, well before Hypxel's game comes out (if ever)-Hytale xd

 

[Xx_CreeperKiller69_xX]

On 6/23/2022 at 8:17 AM, Kisai said:

the report feature only goes to the server administrator

Sorry, but that currently isn’t the case. For authentication, the game uses Mojang’s AuthLib library, which isn’t obfuscated. If you hunt down any version’s library you can easily decompile it and view its source. For last week’s snapshot, that library is available at https://libraries.minecraft.net/com/mojang/authlib/3.6.42/authlib-3.6.42.jar.

 

The game interacts with the API at https://api.minecraftservices.net, and the report function accesses https://api.minecraftservices.net/player/report:

(images courtesy of Allink)

 

Reports are planned to reach a team of “highly-trained moderators” for judgement. I’m not sure if appealing is possible. It’s entirely possible that reports can be forwarded to server admins instead in the future but that currently isn’t the case.

 

On 6/23/2022 at 8:17 AM, Kisai said:

it's probably intended for Minecraft (bedrock)

This feature is planned to come to Java 1.19.1 and is already implemented in snapshots.

[TetraSky]

Moderation should be left to the individual servers. Not to Microsoft/Mojang to do with the entire account. Someone might be trolling in one server while being perfectly fine in another. This is stupid. I hope it can be disabled on a per server basis to prevent abuse of idiots taking banter as anything worth getting permanently banned over.

[Supreme Calamitas]

1 hour ago, AluminiumTech said:

Many game servers for Minecraft have their own anti chest engine built in. Doesn't mean we need anti cheat in the game client.

 

Minecraft needs a client side anticheat. Those Anticheats you're talking about are server side, which means the more players you have the less accurate it will be. If you're cheating your client is built into you're game/client, meanwhile the anticheat trying to catch you is built into the server. 

Server side anticheats are ancient technology vs modern client side hacking clients.

[Jtalk4456]

I literally never play multiplayer outside of lan with my own family, and I don't even do anything worthy of banning anyways, so this will never affect me. Having said that, I don't mind moderation or client side anticheats as an option, but only as an option. Choice has to be involved or they will lose a significant portion of their userbase. I can see some basic mandatory moderation in company owned realms servers likely to have lots of children, but it should have no effect on private servers and should be an opt in for anyone wanting to use it and not have to implement their own server side solutions.

[williamcll]

The minecraft account market is so large you can get alts for dirt cheap so this is not that useful. 

 

Microsoft has a bigger concern to deal with ToS breaking servers and vigilante griefers. 

[RoseLuck462]

Meh, this would be a good thing 

[Kisai]

13 hours ago, Xx_CreeperKiller69_xX said:

Sorry, but that currently isn’t the case. For authentication, the game uses Mojang’s AuthLib library, which isn’t obfuscated. If you hunt down any version’s library you can easily decompile it and view its source. For last week’s snapshot, that library is available at https://libraries.minecraft.net/com/mojang/authlib/3.6.42/authlib-3.6.42.jar.

 

The game interacts with the API at https://api.minecraftservices.net, and the report function accesses https://api.minecraftservices.net/player/report:

...

 

(images courtesy of Allink)

 

Reports are planned to reach a team of “highly-trained moderators” for judgement. I’m not sure if appealing is possible. It’s entirely possible that reports can be forwarded to server admins instead but that currently isn’t the case.

 

This feature is planned to come to Java 1.19.1 and is already implemented in snapshots.

And, what is to stop a server operator just replacing it? Or for that point, from a client mod to remove it.

[Xx_CreeperKiller69_xX]

38 minutes ago, Kisai said:

And, what is to stop a server operator just replacing it? Or for that point, from a client mod to remove it.

By the changelog of snapshot 22w17a:

• Chat messages between players are now cryptographically signed
• Players are given a Mojang provided key-pair on startup
• Servers can require players to have a Mojang-signed public key by setting enforce-secure-profile=true in server.properties
  • Enforcing secure profiles will prevent players without a Mojang-signed public key from connecting
  • By default this is set to false, allowing players to connect without a Mojang-signed public key

So, if a server owner strongly supports global bans, or naively enables the above setting because it has the word “secure” in it, that will prevent such players from joining.

 

Speaking of which, in the original post, I linked to exactly such a mod! It works in different ways depending on if it is installed to a client or a server.

 

For now, it serves as a viable unofficial way of opting out, unless you would like to connect to a server which enforces secure profiles. Under the guidance of MS, Mojang could be liable to patch its methods at any time, but we can only hope they won’t. There’s no official opt-out and Mojang has stayed silent as the aggressive community response has ramped up. It’s good to be optimistic, but bearing in mind the scale of Minecraft multiplayer, it’s really, really, not enough — assuming you oppose the way the feature was implemented.

 

This will create another major distinction between server configurations, much like offline mode and online mode. Servers that support the global bans and those that don’t.

[Taf the Ghost]

This feels like a liability lawsuit MSFT is going to lose for a billion dollars.

[ComradeIT]

Great, now my friend is gonna report his brother for "terrorism" when he nukes his house on my home server again.

[cretsiah]

On 6/24/2022 at 4:28 AM, Caroline said:

Get woke, go broke. I unironically hope everyone starts pirating this game.

 

I already did but I'll never play multiplayer or update (because it breaks the savegame, nice) the game though.

no need to pirate it just get Minetest https://www.minetest.net/

 

works on windows, linux, android bsd https://www.minetest.net/downloads/

 

i only just seen this crap they want to pull on FitMC vid

 

Given the issues I had with change of email accounts nonsense, trying to get my kids and myself able to play local lan servers, Ive dumped Minecraft

 

what a waste of money it has become

 

there is only so much invasive stuff im willing to put up with