Trust and Safety
The Trust and Safety systems in VRChat are designed to protect users from nuisance users, objectionable content, and enhance the overall experience in VRChat.
VRChat's internal moderation process is based on 
VRChat's Terms of Service, last revised on November 22, 2023. All moderation actions are interpreted and judged according to this document, making it the absolute reference for all content and behavior expected on the platform.
Guidelines
VRChat's Community Guidelines provide a more casual interpretation of the Terms of Service and extend upon scenarios not covered by the Terms of Service. These guidelines are excellent resources for navigating your personal experience on the platform.
The Creator Guidelines for VRChat offer detailed information regarding world and avatar content. They also provide guidelines for VRChat users who create video content for platforms, like YouTube and Twitch. These guidelines include content warnings for various mediums within VRChat.
Personal safety
Safety is a crucial aspect of the VRChat experience. The following options help keep everyone's experience safe and customizable. Advanced safety settings can be configured in the Settings section. Please refer to the Settings article for more details.
Safety Shield 
The Safety Shield is the first line of protection when meeting new users and their avatars. It enables or disables certain features based on the Trust Rank of the user or their avatar.
There are several pre-set configurations you can select in the Safety menu. These are available for quick access in the Menus.
For new users, we recommend using Normal or Maximum settings to start. If you want to fully view someone's avatar, click on them and select "Show Avatar".
Using the Custom section allows you to configure how a user of each Trust Rank will appear to you.
Here is a list of options available for customization:
| Option Name | Impacted Feature |
|---|---|
| Voice | User |
| Avatar | Avatar |
| User Icons | Social |
| Emojis, Sharing, Stickers | Social |
| Audio | Avatar |
| Lights & Particles | Avatar |
| Shaders | Avatar |
| Custom Animations | Avatar |
| Animated Emojis | Social |
Multiple Presets are available depending on your preference for security and comfort.
Maximum Safety 
This preset is the safest and only allows all features to be enabled for friends. It is ideal for newcomers or when in unfamiliar public spaces.
| Option Name | Visitor | New User | User | Known User | Trusted User | Friends |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Voice | On | On | On | On | On | On |
| Avatar | Off | Off | Off | On | On | On |
| User Icons | Off | Off | Off | On | On | On |
| Emojis, Sharing, Stickers | Off | Off | Off | Off | Off | On |
| Audio | Off | Off | Off | Off | Off | On |
| Lights & Particles | Off | Off | Off | Off | Off | On |
| Shaders | Off | Off | Off | Off | Off | On |
| Custom Animations | Off | Off | Off | Off | Off | On |
| Animated Emojis | Off | Off | Off | Off | Off | On |
Normal Safety
This preset is suitable for everyday use.
| Option Name | Visitor | New User | User | Known User | Trusted User | Friends |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Voice | On | On | On | On | On | On |
| Avatar | On | On | On | On | On | On |
| User Icons | On | On | On | On | On | On |
| Emojis, Sharing, Stickers | Off | Off | Off | Off | On | On |
| Audio | Off | Off | Off | On | On | On |
| Lights & Particles | Off | Off | Off | Off | On | On |
| Shaders | Off | Off | Off | Off | On | On |
| Custom Animations | Off | Off | On | On | On | On |
| Animated Emojis | Off | Off | Off | Off | On | On |
No Safety 
Use this preset with caution. It disables most safety features regardless of Trust Rank. Ensure you are in a safe, familiar environment before using this preset.
Custom Safety 
You can set up your own safety settings based on the features you want to enable or disable.
Safe Mode 
If you feel overwhelmed or if VRChat is lagging, an emergency Safe Mode "
" button is accessible at any time in the Quick Menu. This feature disables most avatars, users' voices, and anything that can cause lag or be the source of an emergency. Performance should return to a usable state while in Safe Mode. Friends are not affected by Safe Mode.
Safe Mode can also be quickly activated by pressing both triggers and both Quick Menu buttons at the same time in VR, or by pressing Shift + Esc at the same time in desktop mode.
To exit Safe Mode, open the Quick Menu and click the Safe Mode button again. Alternatively, click the Go Home button to leave the instance.
User moderation tools
VRChat relies on self-moderation to handle most cases involving users, worlds, avatars, and groups. VRChat offers personal moderation tools to use at your disposal, to help curate your experience through methods of muting, blocking, hiding, and reporting.
Managing users
There are various tools to be able to manage users around you. You can select users to moderate, that are present in the instance with you, or pre-emptively moderate users by searching their username in the Search tab of the Main Menu. It's also possible to browse users in the Recently Played With section on the Launch Pad of the Main Menu and manage further actions.
Muting a user 
When a user is being annoying or too loud, select that user to lower their microphone volume or mute them entirely. If you are in the same instance as a user you muted, they will be able to see a "deafened" indicator
over your nameplate, signaling that you have muted them.
Alternatively, you can decrease their volume, to a minimum of 5% volume, which will not have any indicators.
Blocking a user 
Should the user continue to be annoying, you can block them. This will prevent you from seeing the user, and they will not be able to see you. A user will be unable to tell that you have blocked them unless they have moderation capabilities for the instance. You can browse your list of blocked users, by going to the Social tab of the Main Menu and scrolling down to Blocked, to either report or unblock them.
Note: Any global Udon scripts or prefabs may still network your presence globally, including to users blocked.
Reporting a user 
If necessary, you can report a user, by selecting them or searching their name, and reporting their specific behavior. When a report is submitted, the user is flagged to the VRChat Trust & Safety team, who may take further action. To protect user privacy, the results of any moderation actions will not be disclosed to the reporter.
Kicking a user 
A user can be evicted from an instance, by initiating a vote-kick prompt. Everybody in the instance, with a Trust Rank of New User or above, will receive a notification with options for "yes" or "no" regarding the vote-kick on the user. If a majority of users in the instance vote "yes", then the disruptive user will be disconnected from the instance and will be unable to re-join for one hour.
Users who can moderate an instance, can skip the vote-kick process, and remove a user at will. In group instances, users who have administrative permissions also have the option to immediately kick or ban somebody from a group or instance, pre-emptively barring them from any future instances hosted by the group.
Managing avatars 
It is also possible to curate the avatars around you. You can use options, like showing, hiding, globally hiding, or reporting avatars.
Showing, hiding, and blocking an avatar
If an avatar is causing annoyance or performance issues, you can hide the avatar itself. You can also globally hide an avatar, which blocks the avatar by its blueprint ID; preventing you from seeing it again, even if another user uses it.
Avatars may be shown or hidden to you, based on your shield level, and your avatar performance preferences. You can change these preferences, using your Settings.
Showing an avatar
When selecting a user, it's possible to show another version of their avatar by clicking on the "Eye" icon of the Avatar Display section. This will change a fallback, impostor, or shielded version of their avatar into the fully rendered version of the avatar that they are using.
Hiding an avatar
By clicking on the "slashed eye" icon, on the Avatar Display section, it will change any variant of the avatar they are using, to a version of a leg-less variant of a Robot, called Utility BLOCKED.
Globally hiding an avatar
Choosing Globally Hide Avatar will blacklist the avatar's blueprint ID, and you will be unable to see the avatar when anybody changes into it. This is the equivalent of "blocking" an avatar.
Note: If a friend is using an avatar that you have globally hidden, it may display for you. Changing their avatar visibility to "Shielded avatar" will hide the globally hidden avatar for you.
Shielded avatar
The "Shield" icon on the Avatar Display section of the user menu, will revert their avatar to a variant set by your safety shield, and avatar performance preferences.
Reporting an avatar
This option should be selected to report any content that is retained on an avatar. Clicking View Avatar Details after selecting a user can be done, to report an avatar. If there is uncertainty if the content violates Community Guidelines, please consider flagging a 'Content Warning' when reporting the avatar instead, or if the content warning isn't properly declared.
Managing groups 
Groups may be overwhelming, but there are a few ways to manage your experience with different VRChat groups. These methods can involve reporting or blocking groups, unsubscribing from group announcements, or hiding group banners from nameplates.
Reporting a group
By searching for a group, or by browsing through a user's group list - you can report a Group that violates Community Guidelines, when on the group page to VRChat Trust & Safety.
Blocking a group
When receiving an invitation to a group, you can block a group from soliciting you any further invite notifications. However, you will still be able to see the banner on users' nameplates.
Unsubscribing from announcements
If you are part of a group, and you do not wish to see notifications for announcements or posts, you can navigate to the group's page, go to the Settings cog at the top right, and click Unsubscribe From Announcements. To re-enable announcements, go back to the group's page and choose Subscribe To Announcements.
Disabling group banners on nameplates
It is possible to stop group banners from showing up on nameplates.
- Navigate to the User Interface tab of the Main Menu. Under the Nameplate section, you can disable the toggle for Show Group Banner.
- Alternatively, by opening the Action Menu, you can navigate to Options, where there is a sub-menu for Nameplates. From there, you can disable Group Banners.
Reporting a world 
Most worlds are not going to contain content that violates Community Guidelines. All worlds that are uploaded are placed through a Community Labs program first before being made publicly available. However, should one find content in a world that may be deemed uncomfortable, a world can be reported. If there is uncertainty if the content violates Community Guidelines, please consider flagging a 'Content Warning' when reporting the world instead.
Instance moderation
Instance Moderator actions are available when you are the owner of an instance, or the owner, moderator, admin of a group instance. They allow you to moderate your instance by the following methods...
- Warn User: Send the user a message telling them they have been warned.
- Kick User: Remove the user from the instance. They will not be able to join for 1 hour.
Force Mic Off: Mute the user's microphone. The user can unmute their microphone freely.- Ban From Group: Bans the selected user from the group that owns the instance. The user will be unable to join group instances from that group and won't be able to join that group.
See also
