CTFDL Rules

CTF Draft League 2024-1

Rules and Procedures

Last Update: 08/22/2024.1

 

Message from CTFDL Administration:

There are a variety of reasons why CTFDL was started. We look forward to building towards a more formalized, robust, CTF Player’s League (CTFPL), we want to introduce new players to organized CTF play, we want to provide the CTF community and those that want to join to be able to participate in a competitive, organized league, and we want to use these shorter seasons to experiment and test new ideas, new mechanics, new strategies, new rules, new features, and more. The CTFDL provides us an excellent opportunity to do those things and it is clear, with a total of 113 unique registrations of players from a variety of gaming backgrounds, that interest for organized CTF play is here and growing. CTFDL will allow us to conduct these tests in a live, yet controlled environment and at the conclusion of season, league staff and the community can assess these new features and rules, and collaborate to support and make changes to continue our work towards perfecting our beloved zone and style of play.

I want to thank everyone for their help with supporting, establishing, participating in, and staffing the CTFDL. I look forward to this season, experimenting with new settings and ideas, making some mistakes along the way, and working together to continue the great work that started many years ago, when several key individuals decided to ensure that Infantry, in the form of FreeInfantry, would remain for all of us to enjoy.

GL HF DD,

Zmn

1.0 Squad Admission, Removal, Rename, and Merger Rules

The league admin(s) reserves the right to refuse any team, captain, or co-captain, or player admission into the league.

The league admin(s) reserves the right to refuse to recognize any declared team captain or co-captain.

Teams will be removed from the league only if they formally disband.

A disbanded team will be removed from the standings, and thus will have their score reset.

An “active” team participating in a season will be declared “disbanded” if the captain declares it disbanded, AND, both league-recognized co-captains formally deny taking control of the team.

A team that has been declared “disbanded” can be reversed if a simple majority of remaining team members vote to appoint an existing team member to captain, AND, the player consents to and accepts the appointment.

Teams may request a name change by the team captain contacting the league admin(s) via the CTF Discord and making the formal request. The league is not responsible for in-game name changes.

Teams may only change their name a maximum of one (1) time per season.

Team names must not be offensive or show any sign of racism or discrimination against a protected class. For the sake of clarification, “protected class” is as defined by Title VII (USA) of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

Teams are not required to form corresponding in-game squad names.

Teams are encouraged to: form in-game team chats, work with CTF Discord admin to create team-specific channels and voice comms instead of private servers,

2.0 Roster, Ineligibility, and Permission Rules

There is a limit of one registered CTFDL alias per FreeInfantry account and player. Players will be given a warning if/when they are found to have multiple aliases registered to multiple squads, and will be ineligible for play during that time.

Any one person is allowed to have only ONE registered FreeInfantry account and be on ONE CTFDL team at a time with only ONE alias.

Only players registered in the CTFDL player database are allowed to be unspecced in an official CTFDL match, unless approved “NTs” or subs are implemented to prevent systemic team forfeiture.

Players can be removed temporarily or permanently from CTFDL activities by an admin for conduct reasons.

Players that have been drafted cannot be removed by their captain unless extreme extenuating circumstances exist that are solely behavioral based. If a captain wishes to request this, a request and detailed justification with supporting documentation must be submitted to the CTFDL admin.

Players may choose to leave their CTFDL teams for any reason, however they will be ineligible to participate on any other teams or as an NT. If a player chooses to leave a team, they must formally notify the CTFDL admin via the CTF Discord. The player will be considered a roster player until the CTFDL admin accepts their resignation.

3.0 Captaincy Rules

A team may have no more than one captain and two co-captains, as notated in the official CTFDL captain’s channel on the CTF Discord.

Captains and co-captains are responsible for maintaining their roster, scheduling matches, ensuring attendance, and ensuring their team are abiding by CTFDL and FreeInfantry rules.

No more than 3 captains/co-captains from each team will be permitted in a chat for communication in a match between the referee and the participating teams. Referees can choose to lower this amount if they see fit, however, both teams must be allowed the same amount of players in chat (this is not the same as having the same amount of players playing or in the arena). If the referee decides that such a chat is necessary to match communication, at least one player must join the chat. If in the case that there is an insufficient number of captains and co-captains for a team, non-captain players will be allowed to represent their team in the chat.

The league is not responsible for team management but may revoke captain or co-captain appointments at any time and for any reason.

Captains are responsible for the actions of their team members in a match.

The league admin may remove captaincy privileges from a player at any time and for any reason.

4.0 Scheduling Rules

CTFDL admin, in consultation with CTFDL staff and subject matter experts, will determine the scheduling, bracket styles, seedings, and playoff scheduling. Once the CTFDL season bracket and scheduling format is announced, it is considered final and will not be changed unless deemed necessary by CTFDL admin.

Matches that require a “coin-toss” to determine home and away teams, a randomized “coin-toss” or equivalent method will be conducted by the CTFDL admin, with an independent witness present. Team captains will be notified of home or away team designation prior to the scheduled match.

Only league-assigned, or “ranked matches” will apply towards standings and team rankings.

Ranked matches are created by the league administrators and/or league scheduler.

Free-scheduled matches, scrimmages, practices, or squad-battles are created by team captains, who choose their own opponent and playing time. These matches are considered unofficial and do not count toward team rankings or standings.

No team will be permitted to play more than two (2) official matches per week (official CTFDL Week runs Mondays 12:00 am ET through Sundays 11:59pm ET), UNLESS, there are extenuating circumstances recognized by the league and the league deems more than two (2) official matches per week per team be necessary.

Ranked matches are defaulted to Sundays (at the end of the CTFDL week) and default match times will be set by the league. On weeks where teams play multiple matches that are based on same-week wins and losses, the second “round” of matches will be default scheduled after 9:30pm ET on Sundays, to ensure there is adequate time to complete the matches. Weekly “round 1” matches cannot be pre-scheduled or rescheduled to take place before the scheduled dates/times of Weekly “round 2” matches. However, if all necessary weekly “round 1” matches are completed prior to the scheduled weekly “round 2” matches, “round 2” matches can be rescheduled by team captains through the approved scheduling and confirmation process.

Ranked matches should be confirmed by both captains in the official CTFDL captains channel on the CTF Discord, no later than 12:00 pm ET (noon) on the Friday before the Sunday match (keep in mind that CTFDL weeks start on Mondays), to have their scheduled match date and time be considered “confirmed” and a priority for the CTFDL staff.

If both team captains cannot or do not confirm the default ranked match date/time and do not agree to and confirm an alternate date/time to complete the ranked match, the ranked match will be “locked-in” for the league-assigned default match date/time.

Ranked matches, while default scheduled on Sundays, may be played on alternative days throughout the same CTFDL week that the match is scheduled for if approved and confirmed by both team captains. (For example, if a team is scheduled to play on Sunday 08/25, the team may schedule that match for any day starting 08/19 – 08/25. However, a match scheduled for Sunday 08/25 may not be played on or beyond 08/26, because it falls in the following CTFDL week).

There are fifteen time slots every day during the week. Each CTFDL week starts on Mondays at 12:00 am ET and ends on Sundays at 11:59 pm ET. Match slots are every half hour starting from 4:00 to 11:00pm ET.

Once both team captains confirm the date and time of their match, the match is considered “locked-in”. However, in an effort to prevent forfeits, the “locked-in” match may be rescheduled based on the following:

Both captains must confirm the rescheduling request in writing in the official CTFDL captains channel on the CTF Discord, AND,

The request takes place at least six (6) hours prior to the scheduled match, AND,

The request includes a confirmed date and time within the same CTFDL week that is approved and confirmed by both team captains, AND,

The rescheduled date and time is not in violation of any CTFDL scheduling rules.

Each ranked match may not be rescheduled more than one (1) time per CTFDL week.

All time slots will be limited to one (1) match per slot, UNLESS, there are extenuating circumstances recognized by the league and the league deems more than one (1) match per slot be scheduled.

In CTFDL weeks that teams play more than one team and the weekly “round 2” matches are dictated by “round 1” match results, the league will prioritize minimizing “round 2” matchups being same-week “rematches” to the best of their ability.

Whether or not a ranked match is or isn’t locked in, and captains spontaneously agree that, due to eligible team players being online and available, that they would like to have their week’s match right then and there, and it is during the appropriate CTFDL week, a formal request must be made to the CTFDL admin. If granted and referee staff is available, the match will be formally scheduled or rescheduled to the nearest full, half-hour. (Ex: Match requested at 2:30pm, CTFDL admin approves at 2:40 and a referee is staffed and logged in at 2:50, the match will be scheduled to start at 3:30 pm, not 3:00 pm, since a full half-hour is required).

With approval from CTFDL admin or their designee, referees may postpone matches due to (but not limited to) the following reasons:

Server instability

Real-world major events

Lack of CTFDL staff

Other emergency situations as defined by the CTFDL admin.

CTFDL admin and staff are required to exhibit sincere, legitimate, and extreme due diligence in providing proper staffing for any and all ranked matches.

If a ranked match is postponed for any reason, CTFDL admin or their designee, shall provide in writing, on the CTF Discord, in a manner that is accessible to all registered CTFDL players and captains, an explanation and justification for the postponement within six (6) hours of the match being postponed, unless real-world emergency events are impacting availability, accessibility, or otherwise interfering with the ability to provide the notification.

When feasible, two referees will be assigned to each ranked match, with each referere acting as the primary referee for a single team. However, a minimum of one referee is required for a ranked match to be played.

5.0 Arena Rules

All existing FreeInfantry rules and guidelines shall be adhered to.

Games are to be held in custom public arenas. Designated referees must be the creator of the arena and the arena name must be formatted in the following format: CTFDL: Away Team Acronym vs Home Team Acronym (ie. CTFDL: CBC vs 7P).

CTFDL match arenas shall be defaulted to have specquiet activated.

Captains may request the blocking of specific players from the arena if there is a mutual agreement between captains of both teams. Captains must articulate their justification for the block to the official match referee in the official match captains chat. Referees will be responsible for determining the validity of the justification and must notify both captains of their decision to either block the player or deny the block.

If the referee denies blocking the players and the captains disagree, they may appeal the referee’s decision by contacting the CTFDL admin or designee.

In the event a player is blocked from the arena at the request of the captains, the referee instituting the block must notify CTFDL admin or designee without delay.

Captains may not request the blocking of referees, in-game moderators, commentators, or eligible players unless they are behaving in a disruptive way. Blocking of referees, in-game moderators, and commentators may only be approved by CTFDL admin or designee.

The use of private or non-staff arena ownership during a match is prohibited.

Any disruptive player not eligible to enter the game will be warned. If the player is disruptive any time after the warning, he/she will be removed from the gaming arena.

Examples of disruption may include but is not limited to:

Unnecessary use of macros or in-game sounds/bongs.

Spamming text in a manner that disrupts the normal flow of conversation or natural gameplay reaction

The abuse or unnecessary activation of “class change” arena notifications (ie: changing class in spec without justification and prompting the arena notification of class change).

Use of racist or discriminatory language or innuendo.

The unnecessary use or abuse of “banner” related notifications or requests.

Harassment or threats of physical violence.

Behavior deemed by CTFDL staff to be disruptive.

Any players that are members or substitutes of one of the competing CTFDL teams, and are disruptive in either public, team, squad, or captain chat will also face consequences.

The first violation of this rule will result in a warning.

The second violation of this rule will result in a 5-minute silence.

The third violation of this rule will result in a 10-minute silence.

At the referee’s discretion, any further violations can result in 5 more minutes added of time from the previous violation (15-minute silence) time or a block from the arena.

Referees are obligated to PM the disruptive player and inform his/her captain before all punishments (warnings, *blocks, etc) are inflicted when the violation occurs.

Captains or co-captains may also be silenced or blocked for violating the disruptive behavior rule.

Referees must report any disciplinary actions taken against captains, co-captains, and / or players, to CTFDL admin.

CTFDL admin or their designee, shall provide in writing, on the CTF Discord, in a manner that is accessible to all registered CTFDL players and captains, an explanation and justification for the disciplinary action within twenty-four (24) hours of the disciplinary action.

6.0 Placeholder for Future Considerations

7.0 Match Rules

15 minutes before the scheduled match time, the official match referee of record, will create the match arena, notify the captains that the arena is up, create the official captains match chat, provide the chat to the captains, and set an in-game timer to 15 minutes. Captains or a team representative must remain in the captain’s chat for the entirety of the match.

During the initial five minutes, captains shall join the chat and the captain of the designated home team shall notify the referee and opposing captain via captains chat, their Titan or Collective side selection.

During the second five minutes, captains shall provide their starting lineups to the referee and opposing captain via the captains chat. When providing their starting lineups, captains shall disclose who their starting medic and starting engineer is. Captains must also provide aliases of other in-game team members so the referee can add them to the proper spec team.

During the third five minutes, captains and their teams must enter the arena to be placed in the appropriate spec and unspecced teams.

Matches will begin at their designated times. Referees will notify captains of the game starting. Games will be started in a uniform method by referees “ending” the existing game, allowing for the natural restart, and then providing an arena wide message notifying the players that the match has officially started.

If teams have less than 10 eligible players in-game, in-arena, or otherwise deemed available by CTFDL staff, captains may request up to three (3) 5 minute extensions for a total of 15 minutes, to actively work to get an adequate number of rostered players to show.

A team is required to start a minimum of 8 rostered players in order for a match to be considered and eligible to be played.

If all 15 additional minutes have expired and a team has less than 8 players available or in-game, the team will be automatically assigned a loss by forfeit.

If a team starts with the minimum required number of 8 rostered players and during the game, the team falls below 8 rostered players, the match will continue as normal until completion.

If both teams are able to play less than 8 players, the team that shows the greatest number of players will be assigned a win and the team that shows the least number of players will be assigned a loss by forfeit.

Any teams that receive an automatic win through a dual forfeit situation, the winning team will be ineligible for home team designation for the remainder of the season.

If both teams show less than 8 players but show the same number of players, both teams will receive a loss and a referral will be made to CTFDL admin for a decision to be made regarding scheduling, standings, seedings, etc.

If teams are able to show more than 7 but less than 10 players, after the 15 minute extension when all efforts have been exhausted to have rostered players become available, teams may use up to two (2) substitute players or “nts” for a maximum team size of 10. Any NTs that are selected, will be replaced upon the availability of a roster player, in the order of which the NT was selected. The first NT selected will be the first substituted out. Once an NT is substituted out for a rostered player, the NT is no longer available to participate in the match. (There are separate rules and regulations for nts discussed in more detail in a separate section. There will be an important distinction between “available players” and “playable” players that will impact the use of NTs).

Each team will start the match with a maximum of 150 titanium oxide, 150 tsolvy crystals, and 50 pandora’s element.

While there are no restrictions on the number of specific classes a team can play, each team may only start the match with one (1) engineer and one (1) medic. After the match begins, teams may opt to field as many engineers, medics, or any classes, as they choose.

Prior to match start, when the *endgame is prompted and prior to the game restarting and match beginning, all unspecced players, engineers, and medics, shall drop from their inventory, any and all premade turrets, titanium oxide, tsolvy crystals, or pandora’s elements in their respective drop ship. Referees will be monitoring dropships, player classes, and comparing team inventories before and after the match begins.

Any players found to be in violation of minerals or premades rules (7.14 and / or 7.16), will have the items removed either through referee commands or by the referee physically removing the items in-game, and the player(s) responsible for the violation will be “timed-out” for 5 minutes, in which they will be specced and ineligible to play during that time.

A violation of any minerals or premades related rules will be considered accidental and will not result in punishment if:

The team captain notifies the referee of the error within 30 seconds of the game start, AND,

The team captain notifies the referee of the error prior to the referee becoming aware of the error, AND,

The team captain notifies the referee of the error before the error is reported by a third party, AND,

The violations did not result is any direct or indirect benefit to the team or any direct or indirect negative impact to the opposing team.

In the event it is determined that a minerals or premades team violation has occurred but the referee is unable to determine who is responsible, the referee will take the necessary steps to resolve the violation by removing the items, and notify the team captain of the violation. The referee will require the captain to immediately select an unspecced player for punishment, who will then be immediately “timed-out” for 10 minutes, in which they will be specced and ineligible to play during that time.

Any players found to be in violation of the beginning of game engineer or medic rule (7.15), will result in the non-disclosed medic and / or engineer being “timed-out” for 5 minutes, in which they will be specced and ineligible to play during that time.

Players cannot be substituted into a match in-progress with minerals or premades.

All players being unspecced into a match after the game starts, will be deprized of minerals and premades.

Players are allowed to mine minerals and create turrets at any time after the match has started.

Captains may substitute eligible players anytime during the game an unlimited amount of times. Substitutions must be made in-writing, in the official captain’s chat. Other methods of notification or request or substitutions will not be honored. Referees are not allowed to unspec any players into a match after it starts, without the written request of the captain.

Teams’ in-game players may consist of any mix of any classes, excluding medic and engineer at the start of the game (as explained in rule 7.15).

Any player abusing a known bug or mis-using game mechanics will be warned first depending on the abuse and then immediately removed from the remainder of the game and will become ineligible for the rest of the match.

Multiple bug abuses by a team will result in them forfeiting the game. This may be used as long as it has occurred in multiple instances.

Using any programs or modifications to the game that give the player any in-game advantages (such as extra health, dexterity, more powerful weapons, etc.) that are not provided by the default CTF/Zone item set, outside of written, audio, visual, or verbal communication, is defined as cheating and thus prohibited. The minimum punishment for cheating is the immediate and permanent removal from the match, banishment from CTFDL activities, and a referral to FreeInfantry moderators.

A match will end after one team holds all objectives for 90 consecutive seconds.

The “Sudden Death” feature will be implemented in all games and will be initiated at the 45 minute mark of gameplay. (There is more information in a “Sudden Death” specific section).

At the end of a match, all in-game players must remain unspecced and all players who played in the game but are currently in spec, must remain in the arena until the referee announces in an arena message that stats have been captured.

At the end of the match, the victorious captain or team representative shall choose one (1) MVP (most valuable player). This one player must have played in the game, it cannot be an NT or substitute player, the player can not have been “timed-out” for a rules violation (not including lag), and must be a specific player (ie: not “MVP = Defense, MVP = Support Classes, MVP = Our hearts, etc.).

Any players that are “timed-out”, “lagged-out”, or otherwise force-specced by the referee for a time-limited purpose, the time will be approximated, rounded to the current minute, and will be based on the “Game Length” display when you type ?breakdown. For example: Player Guest123 has been found to be in violation of a statistical lag check and will be specced for 5 minutes. The referee will notify the team captain on the violation and spec, spec player Guest123, type ?breakdown, observe that the game length is currency at 11 minutes, and notify the captain that Guest123 will be eligible to return to game at the 16 minute game time mark (because 11 minute current game time + 5 minute timed-out = 16 minutes). Once the referee notifies the team captains of when the player is eligible to return to the game, the referee is not responsible for reminding the captains when the player’s time penalty expires.

Any players that are “timed-out”, “lagged-out”, or otherwise force-specced by the referee for a time-limited purpose, may log off, re-log into the game, restart their computer, or do similar actions, without resulting in additional penalties or extending their original time.

Any players that are “timed-out”, “lagged-out”, or otherwise force-specced by the referee for a time-limited purpose, may be replaced by a rostered team mate at the captain’s request.

Referees that are requested to spec a player, or referees that spec a player for a penalty or violation, are responsible for ensuring the players are placed in the appropriate team-specific spec team. If players enter the arena late, disconnect, re-log, spec themselves, or something similar, the referee is not obligated to move the players to appropriate team-specific spec team unless requested to do so by the team captain via the official captain’s match chat.

At no time should a referee or any modded player set an in-game timer during an active match, using the *timer function.

8.0 Known Mis-Use of Game Mechanics and/or Bug Abuse

Attempting to destroy/harm a turret/individual through solid rock or walls (seen with ?showphysics) by means of melee combat or a projectile-firing weapon (ie: “wall-laming”).

Using the effects of land-mines, demo-packs, grenades, explosives (not including repulsor charges or repulsor coils), and sunspots through walls.

Using vehicles outside intended purpose, to move while stunned by entering/exiting the vehicle(s) around the individual player.

No direct vehicle to vehicle hops.

No entering or exiting a vehicle to override a stun. (Ex: Getting stunned while in the vehicle and then exiting the vehicle to appear in another spot.)

Repeatedly using a vehicle to mini-spawn to gain the small amount of time of invulnerability.

Having multiple Steam or FreeInfantry accounts open and logged into other servers to gain visible lag and confusing the turret AI.

Downloading/Uploading to other internet-users or intranet users to gain packetloss and/or visible lag.

Laying multiple items that may be carried around, within a small environment (Ex: 1 ammo pistol drop many times in a spread area causing multiple piles of just 1 ammo pistol). This includes intentionally doing it anywhere on the map. Minerals and ammunition should be consolidated into piles. It should also be away from the immediate proximity of flags (the items must be out of reach of the flags). Hiding flags/sentries/turrets in vision bugs so they cannot be detected.

Hiding yourself in walls so you cannot be detected due to vision/map bugs.

While holding flags, speccing yourself to force a flag drop or flag bug.

While holding flags, attaching to a teammate in dropship to force a flag drop or flag bug.

Setting a teleport beacon or “blink” as an engineer, medic, squad leader, or infiltrator, and changing to any other class while the beacon or blink is active, AND, reactivating the beacon or “blink” to warp back to the location as a different class.

Note:

Violations of 8.1 – 8.6 and 8.9 – 8.10 will result in an in-game warning, additional violations will result in removal from the game.

Violations of 8.7 – 8.8 will result in immediate removal from the game and the player will be ineligible to play for the remainder of the game.

Violations of 8.11 – 8.12 will result in immediate removal from the game and the player will be ineligible to play for the remainder of the game.

Violations of 8.13 will result in immediate removal from the game and the player will be ineligible to play for the remainder of the game.

Habitual violations in a single or multiple matches by a player, may result in harsher consequences up to and including banishment from the remainder of CTFDL season activities.

9.0 Lag / Spec Rules

Disclaimer: In the spirit of maximizing attendance, player participation, and valuing inclusivity of players from various backgrounds, regions, technology accessibility, countries, etc., lag rules will be constructed in a manner that attempts to find balance between player access and participation, and in-game impact and outcomes. Because of this, most lag rules will be dependent upon visual observations rather than strict statistical parameters, which may vary widely and does not always correlate to visual lag to the extent of negative in-game outcomes.

Players are required to meet the current and average ping limit of 500 ms. ( 501 ms or greater in either current or average ms would be over the limit).

Players are required to meet the packetloss from the server limit of 5.0%. (5.1% or greater would be over the limit)

Players are required to meet the packetloss to the server limit of 5.0%. (5.1% or greater would be over the limit)

Players are required to meet the combined packetloss (from and to server) of 6.0%. (6.1% or greater would be over the limit).

Players cannot have ping undetermined by the server (displayed as 0 ms, usually during the first minute of player being in-game or recently restarting the computer).

Players that disconnect, experience “perm-death” phenomena, accidentally or purposefully spec themselves, or otherwise exit the game, are NOT considered to have lagged out, and can be unspecced back into the game at the team captain’s request without penalty, unless it also coincides with a flag violation (8.11 – 8.12).

The referee is not responsible for AFK players in any capacity.

The referee is not responsible for proactively enforcing statistical lag violations or visual lag violations. The referee may only enforce statistical lag violations or visual lag violations in response to positive findings stemming from an official captain’s statistical or visual lag check.

Captains may request either “statistical lag checks” or “visual lag checks” in writing in the official match captains chat.

Captains shall specify which lag check they are requesting and may only request one type of lag check per player, at a time.

Referees will be required to investigate a statistical lag check and respond to the requesting captain and take any applicable action within 30 seconds of the request.

There is no limit to statistical lag checks.

Referees will be required to investigate a visual lag check and respond to the requesting captain and take any applicable action within 60 seconds of the request.

Captains may only request ten (10) visual lag checks per match, which result in a negative finding. If a visual lag check is requested and a player is found to be in violation, that request will not count towards the ten (10) visual lag check maximum.

Referees are required to monitor players for visual lag checks for no less than 30 seconds but not more than 45 seconds. .

Visual lag outs will be driven by consistent, sustained, and game-impacting visual lag. Occasional or in-frequent lag spikes that are inconsistent, do not have a pattern, shall not result in a lag out. Referees should be conservative with their decisions to spec players for visual lag and should reserve visual lag outs for obvious, consistent, sustained, and game-impacting visual lag where the visual lag clearly represents a positive benefit to one team and / or a negative impact to another.

Visual lag includes but is not limited to the following:

Abnormal projectile movement (ie: shooting lasers).

Abnormal player movement (ie: hopping around, or sticking to walls).

Abnormal response to game physics (ie: walking through walls; sticking to walls while packing).

Immunity to energy drain.

Immunity to tranquilizers/stuns.

Player causing severe turret misdirection (ie: turrets firing in a completely odd direction with respect to the player nearest those turrets).

When feasible and with adequate staffing, referees are encouraged to consult with another independent referee for visual lag confirmations, to ensure the visual lag may not be the result of the referee’s computer, internet, or other internal issue.

A player deemed to be statistically or visually lagging, will be “lagged-out” for 5 minutes.

After a player’s “lagged-out” timer, either for statistical lag or visual lag, has expired, the player is eligible to be returned to the game at the captain’s request. See rule 7.33 for additional information regarding “timed or lagged-out” procedures.

10.0 Appeal Rules

Due to the experimental nature of CTFDL, match appeals will not be considered, UNLESS, the match appeal is based on gross-negligent or malicious refereeing that resulted in a clear and definitive bias, outcome, or result against one team, captain, or player. In the event an appeal is filed under these parameters, the detailed and evidence-supported appeal must be sent, in-writing, directly to the CTFDL admin, within the first 24 hours following the conclusion of the match. The CTFDL admin shall acknowledge receipt of the appeal in-writing and shall return a decision regarding the appeal to the captain within 72 hours. After the captain has been notified of the appeal outcome, the CTFDL admin shall provide in writing, on the CTF Discord, in a manner that is accessible to all registered CTFDL players and captains, a copy of the original appeal and supporting evidence and documentation, the outcome of the appeal, and an explanation and justification for the outcome.

11.0 Scoring Rules

Scoring will be based on Wins and Losses.

There are times in which teams may enter certain brackets or be seeded in certain orders based on the length of the match(es) that was/were played.

Refer to the CTFDL 2024-1 Bracket, located in the CTF Discord, for more information.

12.0 Suspension Rules

The league administrators reserve the right to remove any person(s) from the league from the remainder of the season for violations of these rules, FreeInfantry rules, or rules that may or may not be formalized or written that are considered commonly understand or standard customs and practices, that contradict the spirit of the game, CTFDL, and player integrity.

Appendix:

A1. Use of NTs

General NT Rules:

NTs may not play for more than one team in a single CTFDL week.

NTs may not be used for any team after the conclusion of “Week 2” of CTFDL matches.

NTs may not be used for any team in the championship match.

Players are not eligible to be used as NT if:

They are currently on another CTFDL roster

They have played for another CTFDL team in that same week

They were drafted to a CTFDL team and left

They have refused to play when selected as an NT in any CTFDL week

Picking NTs:

As stated in rule 7.13:

“If teams are able to show more than 7 but less than 10 players, after the 15 minute extension when all efforts have been exhausted to have rostered players become available, teams may use up to two (2) substitute players or “nts” for a maximum team size of 10. Any NTs that are selected, will be replaced upon the availability of a roster player, in the order of which the NT was selected. The first NT selected will be the first substituted out. Once an NT is substituted out for a rostered player, the NT is no longer available to participate in the match.”

After the additional 15 minutes has expired and the use of NTs is implemented, if applicable, NTs will be selected by team captains in snake-style draft, in reverse draft order.

After the additional 15 minutes has expired and the use of NTs is implemented, the only players eligible to be chosen as NTs shall be located in the official CTFDL match arena by the expiration of the 15 minutes. Captains must have the ability to select NTs from the same pool of players.

If the number of NTs available is less than the number of NTs needed by both teams to reach 10 players, the teams will be allowed to only select the same number of NTs, or no NTs. (For example: Team A has 8 players and needs 2 NTs and team B has 9 players and needs 1 NT, but there are only 2 NTs available, each team can only select 1. Additional example: Team A has 8 players and needs 2 NTs and team B has 9 players and needs 1 NT, but there is only 1 NT available, neither team gets an NT. Final example: Team A has 8 players and needs 2 NTs and team B has 9 players and needs 1 NT, and there are 3+ NTs available, both teams get to maximize the approved amount of NTs through the snake-style, reverse draft order selection process.

Players that arrive at the CTFDL match arena after the 15 minutes have expired, or at other points throughout the match, are ineligible for selection.

Once an NT is selected, the team captain making the selection must disclose to the referee and opposing team captain what class the NT is playing (just class, they do not need to specify the assignment). Once the class is decided, the NT is unable to change class for the entirety of the match (including 10 man class changes). NTs that violate this rule will be immediately removed from the game and will be ineligible to play as an NT for the remainder of the season.

Any NTs that are selected, will be replaced upon the availability of a rostered player in the arena or found to be in-game, in the order of which the NT was selected. The first NT selected will be the first substituted out. Once an NT is substituted out for a rostered player, the NT is no longer available to participate in the match.

NTs cannot be subbed out for other NTs once the match begins.

An NT that is “timed-out” or “lagged-out” is treated as a normal rostered player and is eligible to return to the game after the timer expires, unless a rostered player is available for replacement, in which the NT is no longer available to play.

Integrity of NT Use:

The use of NTs is solely intended to prevent the forfeiture of matches due to attendance concerns as this is the first attempt at reestablishing organized CTF league play, which is vital to a draft-style league’s success. The use of NTs, while it is understood the following outcomes can be the byproduct of the implementation of NTs, is not designed to bolster a team’s roster, stack a team’s offense or defense, give an unfair advantage to a team, or be used to forcefully replace less desired team members that were drafted. Therefore it is important that the use of NTs is thoroughly monitored, players and captains are held accountable, and fairness and integrity is emphasized consistently and vigoursly.

When it is time to determine how many rostered team players are available to play in a match and how many team players will count towards the minimum of 8 required to play, the following will be taken into account:

Rostered players that are in the CTFDL match arena, will count towards the total number of available players.

Rostered players that are in the CTFDL designated zone, regardless of arena, will count towards the total number of available players.

Rostered players that are logged into the FreeInfantry client, regardless of zone or arena, will count towards the total number of available players.

Rostered players that are logged into another alias, other than their CTFDL registered alias, regardless of zone or arena, will count towards the total number of available players.

Rostered players that were logged on, in any capacity, on any alias, in any zone or arena, within 30 minutes of the match start time, will count towards the total number of available players.

Player’s activity, afk status, choice to play other zones, etc., will not be taken into consideration when determining the number of available players.

NT players may only be used if there are not enough team players online and available (ie: you cannot use an NT player to replace a lesser experienced or less desired player on your team).

CTFDL captains have the option to vote on non-registered players to make them ineligible for use as an NT. Voting will be anonymous and results are determined by the following criteria:

Captains may vote for up to 5 players they believe should be ineligible to be a NT for the CTFDL, for whatever reason(s) they deem necessary. ANY players that receive at least HALF the votes of the total number of captains, will be considered ineligible to be a NT.

Players deemed ineligible to play as an NT will be shared with the CTFDL captains and posted in the CTF Discord prior to the CTFDL season’s first match.

Therefore, if a team has 10 available players, as defined by the above criteria, the team is ineligible for the use of NTs, regardless of how many players are ready to be unspecced in the CTFDL match arena.

REPORTING NT ABUSE:

If you are on a draft league team and the captain, a co-captain, a player, or any other individual on or off the team, asks you to NOT show up to the match, threatens you to NOT show up to the match, through other methods coerces you to NOT show up to the match, encourages you to NOT show up or be present, encourages or otherwise asks you to hide, log off, change zones or arenas, in an effort to try and force the use of an NT, you shall report that to the CTFDL admin via the CTF Discord. Ensure you provide evidence and supporting documentation along with your report (in-game screenshots, Discord conversation screenshots, message logs, etc.).

If you witness a draft league team and the captain, a co-captain, a player, or any other individual on or off the team, ask someone to NOT show up to the match, threatens someone NOT show up to the match, through other methods coerces someone to NOT show up to the match, encourages someone to NOT show up or be present, encourages or otherwise asks someone to hide, log off, change zones or arenas, in an effort to try and force the use of an NT, you shall report that to the CTFDL admin via the CTF Discord. Ensure you provide evidence and supporting documentation along with your report (in-game screenshots, Discord conversation screenshots, message logs, etc.).

Any captain or player that is found to be intentionally trying to abuse the NT system, or trying to alter their roster availability by having players hide, log off, change aliases, change zones, etc., will be removed from their team and banned from CTFDL activities for the remainder of the season.

A2. Implementation of Sudden Death

Explanation of Sudden Death:

As stated in rule 7.30:

“The “Sudden Death” feature will be implemented in all games and will be initiated at the 45 minute mark of gameplay.”

Due to the condensed schedule of the CTFDL, difficulties in scheduling matches in a shortened time frame, and to prevent the slowing gameplay through extended, stalemate matches, the Sudden Death feature will be added.

Sudden Death Procedures:

Unless all flags are captured by a single team, once the match reaches 45 minutes, the referee will initiate Sudden Death (*sd).

If all flags are captured at the 45 minute mark, Sudden Death is postponed until the current 10-man ends and the game is completed. If during that 10-man the victory is aborted and flags are split between both teams for more than 60 seconds, Sudden Death will be activated. If during that 10-man the victory is aborted and flags are split between both teams but recaptured within 60 seconds, the game will continue until: all the flags are captured by a single team and the game eventually ends organically, or, the flags get split again and remain split for more than 60 seconds without being recaptured. Recapturing all the flags for any period of time will result in a reset of the 60 seconds.

Upon activation of Sudden Death, a single flag will spawn at one of five locations that are generally located at various midpoints between both Titan and Collective spawning locations. Those flag spawning locations may either be located one of the three bridges or two different locations within the caves.

How teams determine to prepare for or respond to potential Sudden Activations are at the sole discretion of the respective teams.

Note: The Sudden Death flag that spawns, will have a carry timer of only 30 seconds. This is to discourage multiple base moves in response to Sudden Death activation and to encourage action-intense, dramatic, high-stakes 10-man gameplay.

Note: The Sudden Death activation timer will increase to 60 minutes for the championship match.