Game Server Hosting Policy

1. Nature of Service

RigVaults operates physical, self-hosted game server infrastructure located in Knoxville, Tennessee. Unlike third-party cloud or virtualized hosting providers, RigVaults Game Servers run on dedicated physical hardware that RigVaults LLC owns, maintains, and operates directly. This Policy reflects that reality — it is not a generic hosting agreement.

Game Servers are provided on a tiered access basis tied to your active RigVaults subscription (Stock, Tuned, Binned, Hardline, Hardline Pro) or a separately executed Hardline Apex contract. Server access is a feature of your subscription, not a standalone product purchased independently, except where Hardline Apex is governed by a separate written agreement.

2. Tiered Hardware Allocation — No Cross-Tier Resource Sharing

RigVaults core operating promise is physical hardware isolation between subscription tiers. This is a technical architecture decision, not marketing language:

• Each subscription tier is allocated dedicated CPU cores and memory on RigVaults physical servers via NUMA pinning (Stock, Tuned, Binned) or direct CPU affinity binding (Hardline, Hardline Pro, Hardline Apex).
• No tier ever shares physical processing resources with another tier.
• Higher tiers receive priority queue placement and, at the Hardline level and above, a reserved slot that never queues.
• No user may purchase priority ahead of a higher-paying subscriber at any price. Queue priority strictly follows the published tier order.

RigVaults publishes its current tier-to-hardware mapping for transparency. This mapping may change as infrastructure is upgraded or expanded, but the core commitment — no tier ever shares dedicated compute resources with a lower tier — will not change without advance notice to active subscribers.

3. Server Rules, Rates, and Configuration

Each Game Server operates under game-specific rules (map rotation, wipe schedule, XP/taming/harvest rates, tribe or team size limits, raid protection windows, and similar settings) published on the relevant server page at rigvaults.com/servers. RigVaults reserves the right to adjust these settings at its discretion, including for balance, stability, or community reasons. Material changes to wipe schedules or core game settings will be announced in advance through RigVaults Discord and/or in-platform notifications where reasonably practicable.

Co-Ed / Community Servers: RigVaults may operate shared community server instances accessible to all subscription tiers on a vanilla ruleset. On Co-Ed servers, paid tiers still receive queue priority ahead of Stock tier, consistent with Section 2.

4. Player Conduct and Enforcement

4.1 General Conduct

Users must comply with the RigVaults Community Guidelines and Acceptable Use Policy while connected to any Game Server. RigVaults reserves the right to remove, mute, kick, or permanently ban any user from any Game Server for conduct violating these policies, including but not limited to cheating, exploiting, griefing outside of permitted game mechanics, harassment, or use of hate speech or slurs.

4.2 Hardware Identity Enforcement

RigVaults Game Servers are integrated with RigAudit hardware fingerprinting technology. By connecting to a RigVaults Game Server, you acknowledge and agree that your hardware identifiers may be logged and cross-referenced against the RigVaults Theft Registry and internal ban records for the purpose of:

• Detecting and preventing ban evasion via new accounts;
• Enforcing hardware-level bans for confirmed cheating, exploitation, or Theft Registry matches, consistent with the Theft Registry provisions of the Terms of Service.

Hardware-level bans tied to a Theft Registry match require a verified police report on file and are subject to manual review by a RigVaults principal before enforcement, consistent with the SCRAM Hard-Lock Protocol described in the Terms of Service.

4.3 No Guarantee of Reinstatement

Bans and kicks issued under this section are at RigVaults sole discretion. RigVaults is not obligated to provide advance notice, a warning period, or an appeals process for conduct-based enforcement, though users may contact support@rigvaults.com to request review of a disputed ban.

4.4 First Join, Whitelist, and Hardware Fingerprint

Access to a Game Server map is granted through the authenticated Play path on the RigVaults Platform. When you click Play, the Platform identifies the game you selected. RigVaults then authenticates your account, reads your active subscription tier, and admits you only to the map allocated to that tier. You do not select a tier, container, or host. Higher-tier subscriptions do not include access to lower-tier maps. Playing a lower-tier map requires a subscription downgrade to that tier. Co-Ed / community instances remain available to all subscription tiers on a separate shared map, consistent with Section 3.

On first connection to a given Game Server map, RigVaults (1) whitelists your account onto that map and (2) registers a hardware fingerprint for the machine used to connect. Subsequent Play requests reuse that registration and place you into the map for your then-current subscription without repeating first-join provisioning, subject to account standing, whitelist status, and Theft Registry checks.

Hardware fingerprints and whitelist records are used to admit you to the correct map, to prevent ban evasion and unauthorized map access, and to cross-reference the Theft Registry, consistent with Section 4.2. Clicking Play or otherwise connecting to a Game Server constitutes consent to this process. Collection and retention of join identifiers are described in the Privacy Policy.

5. Availability, Uptime, and Maintenance

5.1 No Uptime Guarantee

RigVaults operates its own physical infrastructure and does not offer a formal Service Level Agreement (SLA) or uptime guarantee for any subscription tier, except where an SLA is explicitly negotiated as part of a separate Hardline Apex contract. RigVaults targets high availability but game server hosting on self-managed physical infrastructure carries inherent risk of downtime due to hardware maintenance, power events, network provider issues, or unforeseen technical failure.

5.2 Scheduled Maintenance

RigVaults may take Game Servers offline for scheduled maintenance, software updates, or infrastructure upgrades. Where reasonably practicable, RigVaults will provide advance notice of planned maintenance windows via Discord and/or in-platform notification.

5.3 Data and World Persistence

RigVaults maintains regular backups of game server world data as part of its internal operational practices. However, RigVaults does not guarantee preservation of any specific world state, player inventory, base, character, or in-game progress in the event of server failure, data corruption, or a required wipe. Players participate in RigVaults Game Servers with the understanding that game progress is not a guaranteed or contractually protected asset.

6. Third-Party Games and Ownership Requirements

RigVaults Game Servers require that you separately own and possess a valid, legitimately licensed copy of the underlying game (e.g., Minecraft: Java Edition, ARK: Survival Evolved) through the applicable game publishers official distribution platform (such as Steam or the Minecraft launcher). RigVaults is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by Studio Wildcard, Mojang Studios, Microsoft Corporation, or Valve Corporation. RigVaults does not sell, distribute, or provide access to any third-party game software, and Game Server access does not include or substitute for the purchase of the underlying game.

7. Billing and Cancellation

7.1 Server Access Tied to Subscription

Game Server access at a given tier is provided for as long as your corresponding RigVaults subscription remains active and in good standing. If a subscription is downgraded, cancelled, or lapses due to failed payment, your Game Server access and queue priority will adjust immediately to reflect your new tier (or Stock tier, if fully cancelled), consistent with RigVaults no-cross-tier-sharing architecture described in Section 2.

7.2 No Prorated Refunds for Server Downtime

Because Game Server access is a bundled feature of a broader platform subscription rather than a standalone service, RigVaults does not provide prorated refunds or service credits for individual instances of Game Server downtime, latency, or maintenance windows. This does not affect any separate refund rights you may have under RigVaults general subscription billing terms or applicable law.

7.3 Hardline Apex

Hardline Apex is a B2B contract offering, not a self-service subscription. Billing, availability commitments, SLA terms, and cancellation terms for Hardline Apex are governed exclusively by the separately executed written agreement between RigVaults LLC and the contracting organization, and not by this Policy.

8. Limitation of Liability

To the maximum extent permitted by applicable law, RigVaults LLC is not liable for any loss of in-game progress, items, currency, or character data resulting from Game Server downtime, data loss, maintenance, security incidents, or termination of your account or subscription. This limitation is in addition to, and does not replace, the general Limitation of Liability provisions in the RigVaults Terms of Service.

9. Changes to This Policy

RigVaults may update this Policy from time to time to reflect changes in infrastructure, game offerings, or tier structure. Material changes will be reflected by an updated Effective Date at the top of this page. Continued use of RigVaults Game Servers after a Policy update constitutes acceptance of the revised terms.

10. Contact