Zcash Community Forum Code of Conduct

Last updated: October 2025

Community Values

The Zcash Community Forum empowers open, respectful discussion about Zcash and supports a global community of learners and builders.

Members of the Zcash Community Forum are expected to be kind, respectful, and constructive.

Your participation should improve the experience for everyone by encouraging teamwork and collaboration.
In our community, we look out for one another. Don’t just aim to be technically correct—strive to be your best self. Avoid off-topic, offensive, or sensitive remarks that can lead to conflict, hurt feelings, or broken trust. These behaviors damage the community and may drive people away.

New members may not know where to find information; please be as helpful as possible.
Assume good intent—if something seems unclear or off, seek clarification before escalating.

Respect the privacy of private messages; do not share or publish them without the sender’s consent.

When correcting misinformation, focus on the issue, not the person.

When moderators act in their official role, they will use a yellow post color indicator.

Rules

The Zcash community is global and diverse. We are committed to fostering thoughtful discussion and respectful interaction, free of harassment or discrimination, regardless of:

  • Experience level
  • Gender identity or expression
  • Sexual orientation
  • Disability
  • Personal appearance or body size
  • Race or ethnicity
  • Age
  • Religion
  • Nationality

Unacceptable behavior includes:

  • Personal attacks (ad hominem)
  • Trolling, insults, or derogatory comments
  • Harassment of any kind (public or private)
  • Off-topic posts (outside the off-topic lounge)
  • Doxxing (sharing personal information without consent)
  • Soliciting web domain sales (even Zcash-related)
  • Posting phishing links, spam, or advertisements
  • Creating or using multiple accounts to mislead, evade restrictions, or manipulate discussions i.e. sockpuppet accounts
  • Promoting illegal services under U.S. law
  • Posting links to online gambling operations
  • Posting political endorsements or campaign content (ZF is a 501(c)(3) and is legally prohibited from political activity)
  • Using sexualized language or imagery
  • Using AI to make automated responses to topics
  • Other unethical or unprofessional conduct, at moderator discretion

Etiquette

To keep the forum organized and respectful, please do not:

  • Start threads with little or no content
  • Bump your own threads without new information
  • Derail discussions from their original topic
  • Post the same content repeatedly across threads
  • Provoke arguments or unrest
  • “Brigade” by piling on when others violate the Code of Conduct
  • Repost closed or removed topics
  • Abuse the flagging system (spite-flagging or excessive minor flags)

Failure to follow these rules may result in flagged posts and account suspension.
Not-Safe-for-Work (NSFW) content (e.g. explicit images, violent content) may be removed at moderator discretion. Explicit sexual material or excessively violent content is strictly prohibited, even if Zcash-related.

Links to NSFW Zcash-relevant content must be clearly labeled and:

  • Include a warning
  • Avoid explicit previews
  • Not constitute spam

Moderation

Moderators may hide, edit, or reject posts that violate this Code of Conduct, following the three-step moderation process.

  • Step 1: If a user is acting in a way that directly violates the Code of Conduct a moderator will send the user a private message (PM) politely asking them to change their post or stop their behavior. In addition to a PM the moderator may post a public notification in the original or another thread notifying the user what the violation was. The moderator who sends the message to a user also informs the rest of the moderators (via private channels) that a warning has been sent and why.
  • Step 2: After a moderator has posted a warning to a user for behavior (Step 1). If the same moderator or another moderator observes that the user is continuing the same behavior they were already warned about, then that moderator has the discretion to suspend a user’s account for up to two weeks. The length of time chosen is up to the individual moderator depending on how severe they feel the second infraction is and that moderator will notify the other moderators of the Step 2 suspension.
  • Step 3: If the “Step 2” suspension period passes (regardless of which time duration was chosen by the individual moderator) and a user violates the Code of Conduct a third time then a full month or permanent ban can be decided. If by chance a user is given a full month suspension on their third step instead of a ban, and that user comes back and violates the Community Guidelines again in any way then it is automatically a permanent ban.
    In cases of severe violations (e.g., threats of violence, child exploitation, etc.), moderators may immediately suspend or permanently ban without prior steps.

Moderators will publicly share the rationale for non-personal administrative actions where appropriate and are expected to model higher standards of behavior.

Moderators commit to:

  • Acknowledging their responsibility and trust within the community
  • Upholding the values of this Code of Conduct
  • Taking action against all violations, including those by other moderators
  • Distinguishing personal opinions from official Zcash Forum moderation positions
  • Treat all parties respectfully, even when enforcing rules.

Moderators who fail to uphold these guidelines may be removed from the moderation team.

Reporting

To report abuse, harassment, or other violations:

  • Flag the post or comment
  • Contact a moderator directly
  • Message the @moderators group.

If you are not comfortable doing the above, email: contact@zfnd.org.
Reports will be reviewed confidentially and handled appropriately without retaliation against the reporter of the violation.

Copyright

Do not post material owned by others without permission. Do not share methods for stealing intellectual property or breaking laws. See the Terms of Service for details.

Legal

By participating in the Zcash Community Forum, you also agree to comply with applicable local laws in addition to the forum’s Terms of Service. Forum account data and activities are governed by our Privacy Policy.