General Handbook

This handbook is an overview of resources available to all staff members as well as guidelines they are expected to follow. Please read all the way through if you are currently staff or intend to join the staff team.

Prerequisites

All staff members are expected to meet these base criteria in order to join the team:

  • Be at least 16 years of age.
  • Be in our Discord server.
  • Have a good reputation with the current staff team.
  • Have no recent infractions on any Gamer Dorks community, game, or game server.
  • Have experience in or are eager to learn the skills necessary for your role.
  • Want to assist in the development of our community and projects.

Public Behavior Expectations

All staff members are expected to act as role models in our community, being an example to those who join and providing good first impressions. Members of the community should want to behave like you.

  • Follow the server rules more strictly than they are enforced at all times.
  • Show respect to everyone, even if they aren’t showing you the same respect.
  • Don’t descend to the same level as a troublemaker by arguing with them.
  • Never abuse your staff rank to gain an advantage over other players.
  • Do not mislead others about our products in any way.

Teamwork Basics

The Gamer Dorks staff operates as a team, and so teamwork skills are essential.

  • Ask for help when you need it, and volunteer to help someone else if they need it. There are no stupid questions.
  • Collaborate on projects wherever it is convenient and beneficial.
  • Never undermine another staff member’s work. As a general rule of thumb, if you’re going to overrule someone else’s decision, there has to be a discussion and agreement first.
  • Avoid disputes, but if one comes up, contact leadership (Sr. Mods, Sr. Devs, or Administrators).

Activity Requirements

We do not expect you to always be active. Since you are a volunteer, everything should come before contributing to Gamer Dorks. Work, school, family, friends; all are more important.

As such, we do not have shifts here, and you can take a break under any of the following conditions:

  • Short breaks up to 7 days can be taken at any time for any reason.
  • Long breaks over 7 days can be taken at any time for any reason, BUT you should let us know in the #break channel in the staff Discord server.
  • Community staff may take breaks even when handling a moderation case so long as you make a post in the #moderation channel in the staff Discord server first.
  • If you have no tasks assigned to you, you are automatically on break, and don’t need to worry about your activity.

That said, we don’t want our staff doing the bare minimum. There are no requirements for activity, but please make sure you are interacting with Gamer Dorks when time permits.

Account Security

Your accounts must be secure against any attempts to infiltrate our team. To fulfill this requirement, follow these best practice guidelines:

  • Do not use a shared account anywhere on Gamer Dorks.
  • Never share your password with ANYONE. Not even Leadership.
  • Use different passwords for all your accounts.
  • Change your passwords if you think your accounts are at risk.
  • Multifactor Authentication is required on any account relevant to your work. This includes but is not limited to:
    • Your Discord and Google accounts.
    • Your social media accounts, if you manage our social media pages.
    • Your Microsoft account, if you use our Minecraft server in any capacity.
    • Your Steam account, if you have privileged access on any of our games or game servers, or if you are in the Steam Group.

New Staff Onboarding

Once you join the staff team, you will have a few basic tasks to complete.

  1. Make sure you have read all Staff Handbooks required for your role.
  2. A member of Leadership will invite you to the Staff Discord Server. Accept the invite. Once you join, you will be given access based on your role.
  3. Use the #role-request channel to get roles related to all the Gamer Dorks projects you’re interested in helping with.
  4. If you will be working on our Minecraft server, join the Minecraft server and make sure you have your expected role. Send a message in chat and hover over your name to see your exact rank.
  5. Leadership and members of your team will be available to answer ANY questions you have. You are welcome to ask us anything in the #questions channel.
  6. Ensure you have Drive Folder access by visiting Shared with Me on your Google Drive and looking for a folder called Gamer Dorks. We recommend putting a shortcut to this in your home folder.
    • If you can’t find it, make sure that you’re looking at the correct account. It will be the google account attached to the email you shared with us in your application.
  7. Find the Timesheet in the Drive Folder. If you do not have a sheet with your username on it, duplicate the default one and fill out your Timezone, Email, and Staff Roles.

Logging your Work

In order to receive your benefits, you must log your work in the Timesheet. This requires access to our Drive folder. If you can’t access it yet, request help from Leadership.

When logging your time:

  • Mark the date that the task took place in MM/DD/YYYY format.
    • Example: 5/23/2026 for 23 May, 2026.
  • Mark the time you began your task and ended your task in 24-hour HH:MM format in your timezone.
    • Example: 16:15 for 4:15 PM.
    • If your beginning and end time cross midnight, split it into two. One ending at 23:59, the starting at 00:00.
    • Round up to the nearest 15 minutes.
    • If you took a break longer than 15 minutes while working with us, break your task into two time logs, and exclude the time spent on break.
    • When logging a moderator action, include the time from when you first identified the issue to when it was fully resolved and logged. When logging anything else, simply include the time from when you began to when you finished.
  • Describe what you did during that time in the Task section.

Receiving your Benefits

All staff members receive the following benefits:

  • Purchase Credit – Staff members receive Credit that they can spend anywhere on our services. Per hour of time logged in the timesheet, staff members $5 of purchase credit. This is where it can be spent:
    • Minecraft Server Store Gift Cards.
  • Free Rank in Minecraft – All staff members receive the LEGEND rank for free in Minecraft as well as the Creative Utilities package.
  • Free Games on Steam – All staff members may request any games we release on steam, after 1 month of active participation in the team.

To request your Purchase Credit, simply visit the #benefits channel in the Staff Discord and tell us where you want to spend it. You can also check up on your balance here.