A Minecraft server rules template you can copy

Good rules are short, specific and written so that a ten-year-old can follow them. Here is a base you can copy and change.

The core five

Be kind. No insults, slurs, harassment or spam in chat, voice or signs.
No griefing or stealing. Do not break, burn or take what is not yours. Claimed land and chests are private.
No cheating. No x-ray, fly, speed or auto-clickers. Client mods that give an advantage are out. Cosmetic ones are fine.
No exploits. Report a dupe or bug to staff instead of using it. If you use it, you give back what you gained.
Listen to staff. If a moderator asks you to stop, stop, and talk about it afterwards.

Extras for different kinds of server

Survival SMP

Build at least 100 blocks from other players' bases.
No lag machines, and keep farms reasonable.
Claim your base before you leave it.

Creative

Build in your plot only.
No huge entity farms or endless redstone clocks.

Public community

No advertising other servers.
English or the server's chat language in public chat.
One account per person.

Say what happens when you break them

A short ladder keeps it fair: warning, mute or kick, temporary ban, permanent ban. Serious cases (hate, threats, hacking) can skip steps. Write it down so players know it is not personal.

Where to put them

In the MOTD (how to change it).
In a message on join, or a book at spawn.
On your community page, and in the whitelist application form.

Enforce with tools, not arguments

CoreProtect shows who did what, so a ban is based on a log, not a guess. Use kick and ban commands, and keep a private channel for staff to agree on cases.