[Introduction]

Welcome to the Hack Forums Q&A, in this thread you will find previously answered questions which have been posted in the Rules, Announcements and Feedback section in recent history. This thread will be updated regularly and all responses to these questions came directly from Staff and Mentors. This thread was originally created by Starstruck, who upon leaving HF, handed down the mantle to Chase, and then to me. This thread consists of the more frequent questions asked in the section and the final responses given to those questions. Please note, that not every answer may be currently valid as rules tend to change over time, if you find any mistakes, feel free to post below. Some of this content may be contained in the Help Documents, but several of these are not or have had revised rulings that have not yet been listed.

To save your breath and me the hassle, please use Ctrl+F then type in keywords to find the questions you're looking for.

• Welcome to Hack Forums: A Beginners Guide by xadamxk
  XMPP Hack Forums Official Instant Messenger by xadamxk
  Warning System Explained • Latest Update: 3/24/2015 by Genuine
  Custom Pages and MyCodes Index by Mr Kewl
  Securing Your Hack Forums' Account by l Flawless l

• Contact Omniscient, he handles all upgrades and donations. If you have purchased an upgrade be patient, it may take over 48 hours in rare cases to receive your upgrade.

• If it has been over 48 hours, we suggest you PM Omniscient with your transaction ID.

• To upgrade to L33T go here: https://hackforums.net/upgrade.php
  To upgrade to 3P1C go here: https://hackforums.net/upgrade.php
  To upgrade to Ub3R go here: https://hackforums.net/ub3rapply.php
  

• Yes, regardless to whether or not you are L33T or a non-upgraded member you still have to pay full price to upgrade to Ub3R.

• The only awards you can purchase through donations are:
  
  
  To view all of the donation awards go here: https://hackforums.net/buyawards.php
  Find the award you are trying to purchase. The amount you donate determines which Donator Award(s) you receive. If you have any further questions, please view this:
  Hack Forums Help Documents

• Yes, you can also post in the SRPP section by having a prestige of at least 25. Upgrading will allow you to post in those sections.
  Also, members with positive reputation can post in all of the Marketplace with the below exemptions:
  • Premium Sellers Section (L33t and Ub3r only)
    • Server Stress Testing (Ub3r only)
      
    • Cryptography and Encryption Market (L33t and Ub3r only)
  • Online Accounts (Ub3r only)
    • Non-Free Accounts (Ub3r only)
      
    • Gamertags (Ub3r only)
  • Currency Exchange (Ub3r to make threads, l33t to post)

• A list of the features you will receive can be found here:
  https://hackforums.net/upgrade.php

• HQ - High Quality
  LQ - Low Quality, usually followed by M for member or P for posts
  OP - Refers to the original post, or who made the post in question, etc.
  RKO/RF/RK/RepKill - When all of a members positive reputation is removed.
  Sticky - When a thread is "stickied" above all of the other threads and stays on top.
  SRPP - Refers to the Science, Religion, Philosophy and Politics section.
  MOTM - Member of the Month
  HFNT - Hack Forums News Team
  Grave digging - Posting on an old thread which brings it up to the top of the list again. Please always check the post date of the thread you are replying to
  Flaming - Being offensive/rude/threatening to other members
  Trolling - Posting in a way to annoy other members, start arguements, take things off topic, etc. Usually classifies as LQP
  GLWS - Stands for Good Luck With Sales
  PBD - Stands for "Post, Bump, Delete". PBD is where you make a new reply in your thread, wait for another post, which bumps your thread then you delete the post. PBD is against the rules and has serious consequences.
  

• There was a Junked Post purge and Post Recount on February 25, 2015 you can read Omniscient's announcement on this Here.

• Introduction threads are always closed/junked due to their repetitive similar replies.
  Ask Me Anything threads are also disallowed for lacking quality.
  Ask Me Anything Threads? by Omniscient

• The post length varies based on what upgrades you have:
  Regular Members: 8,000
  L33t: 12,000
  Ub3r: 18,000
  3P1C: 24,000
  
  Originally all members were limited to 18,000 characters per post. You can read about the update here:
  Max Post Length by Omniscient

• You can take a look below in this thread for a list of codes you can use.

• The minimum requirement to post in Innuendo/SRPP is to have at least 25 Prestige. You may also upgrade to gain posting privileges in those sections.

• Posts/Threads are junked/closed whenever they violate the sites rules. If you feel that your post or threads removal isn't justifiable contact a Staff member for further information as to why it was removed.

• Post to PM Disallowed by Omniscient

• Omniscient himself stated that as long as users don't require a post AND a PM for contests then it is allowed. You can read more about it here: Post to win contest (Reply) by Omniscient

• Contact a Staff member, try to refrain from contacting an Admin regarding this matter. Mentors no longer have the ability to move threads and Administrators should not be bothered with this task.

• Discussion of Social Engineering is not allowed. Social Engineering in most cases involves fraud/theft which is disallowed on the site. Report any threads that violate this policy.
  Is SE or SE related stuff Allowed by Tony Stark

• No discussion of torrents, legal or illegal is allowed on the forum.
  Regarding Legal Torrents by Omniscient

• Based off of Omniscient's post here:
  The AA Lounge 11! (Reply) by Omniscient
  It appears as though he doesn't want members to create Lounges in other sections. That is why there is The Lounge, Gamers Lounge and Marketplace discussion.

• Any DDoS or server stress testing related threads must be made in the SST forum. If you can't post in that forum then you aren't allowed to post them anywhere else which includes the Free Services and Giveaway Section.

• Non-Free Accounts can not be given away, so you cannot ask for free accounts. All NFA selling belongs in the Non-Free Accounts section, so if you cannot post there, you may not post anywhere else.

• No, this is considered cross-posting and will result in the threads being closed/junked and the poster may receive a warning. If you are a normal member and you incorrectly post a thread in the wrong forum, please report the post and Staff should move it for you without penalty.

• No, giveaways of Non-Free Accounts are no longer allowed on the forum. You may however sell paid/subscription accounts in the Non-Free Accounts section.

• To post in the Marketplace you must have positive reputation and for other sections you must be upgraded. Here is a list of sections that only upgraded users can post in:
  • Premium Sellers Section (L33t and Ub3r only)
    • Server Stress Testing (Ub3r only)
      
    • Cryptography and Encryption Market (L33t and Ub3r only)
  • Online Accounts (Ub3r only)
    • Non-Free Accounts (Ub3r only)
      
    • Gamertags (Ub3r only)
  • Currency Exchange (Ub3r to make threads, l33t to post)

• Absolutely not. Attempting to sell such accounts could potentially result in a ban. Read Omniscient's stance on it here:
  Ban Pizza Threads (Reply) by Omniscient
  Papa johns accounts (Reply) by Omniscient

• Help Documents > Disallowed Blackhat Activity
  Product Keys and Unlicensed Software
  Product keys, key gens, serials and software cracks are not allowed. This includes the selling, trading, or requesting of any illegal unlicensed product keys. HF is not a warez forum and we will no longer tolerate our site being used as one.
  
  Unfortunately, Steam keys follow this rule. The only key that's allowed to be sold on this forum is Xbox Live Membership.
  You can however, activate the key on an existing account and then sell the account to bypass the serial keys rule.

• If you would like to open a thread offering to sell your signature space, please use the Service Offerings section.

• Recently some changes were made and some clarification was given regarding Xbox related products on the forum.
  You can read more about it here: [Rule] Xbox Product Problems and New Policy by Omniscient

• If you are scammed please use the Deal Dispute forum. Do not send staff a PM.

• You are allowed to sell Minecraft accounts in the Non-Free Accounts section of the Marketplace, but only if you are Ub3r. You may not giveaway Minecraft accounts anywhere, or sell them anywhere else on the forum.

• Absolutely not. Any marketplace style threads created outside of the marketplace will result in junking of the thread and warning/ban.

• Just recently (on a junked thread) Omniscient stated that he doesn't allow any type of warez on this site, which is clearly stated in the rules. Also, I imagine it's very similar to this: A question regarding my warning by Ace Hood

(Jul 6, 2016 06:46 PM)Eternal. Wrote:  A very well thought out mega thread of Hackforums frequently asked questions, hell I'm going to bookmark this for my own use.

Good job man, this is awesome and I know a lot of people will benefit from it.

(Jul 7, 2016 05:11 AM)Realizm Wrote:  Didn't Stardust or something have this thread before? Then Chase right? And now you? This is becoming the groups list thread all over again lol.

Quote:Original Creator
Starstruck
The original thread can be found here.

(Jul 7, 2016 08:51 AM)xadamxk Wrote:  That was my thought as well. He'll sell out to someone next xD

(Jul 7, 2016 05:11 AM)Realizm Wrote:  Didn't Stardust or something have this thread before? Then Chase right? And now you? This is becoming the groups list thread all over again lol.

(Jul 7, 2016 03:23 PM)Roger Waters Wrote:  What do you think about adding this to the Wiki? It makes sense to have it there since this is going to change hands again eventually. It would also be easier to access since people really only see these posts after someone bumps this thread with a post.

(Jul 7, 2016 03:12 PM)- Sam - Wrote:  I don't understand why everyone keeps making this thread? I knew the original owner of this thread but I've seen multiple members post this now... I mean is it even necessary anymore?

(Jul 7, 2016 03:53 PM)MeshCollider Wrote:  That would work. Then anyone could submit edits. But is the wiki a common place to look for new members? I'm not sure it is the first place that springs to mind when looking for answers?

---

Please look at the post directly above yours.

(Jul 7, 2016 04:12 PM)Roger Waters Wrote:  I've received messages from users saying they've searched both the wiki and the Help Docs when they've messaged me about something they weren't sure about. People go there for information.