1. Ladder/Cup Rules

1.1. Challenging

In a ladder any participant may challenge any other. The challenge may be refused by the challenged if they choose. In ladders with more than 20 participants compulsory challenges are activated. If a participant is within 20 places above the challenging participants the refusal will be punished with two penalty points. If both participants are in the top 10 then the refusal will be punished with 3 penalty points.

A challenging participant from the newcomer pool (unranked) is considered as being at the bottom of the ladder, therefore the 20 participants ranked last in the ladder would be punished for rejecting a challenge.

Participants that have more than 5 outstanding challenges in a ladder, no matter if the matches are confirmed or not, may not take on any further challenges. This is scripted into the ESL system and cannot be changed.

1.2. No show

Ladder: If your opponent does not show after 20 minutes, you must enter the result as your opponent did not appear in time. Do not enter a default win for yourself.

In Instant Challenger matches the no show time is 10 minutes.

Cups: If your opponent does not show after 10 minutes, you must enter the result as your opponent did not appear in time. Do not enter a default win for yourself. If the opponent is not able to play, cause he is playing another Match for the same Cup, you have to wait! In this case please open a protest ticket or contact a BFBC2-admin in the IRC.

1.3. Amateur Series

In the ESL Amateur Series, if the match is an Auto Challenger match you can claim a default win for a no show, but only by writing a match protest.

1.4. Several squads (sub-teams) per team in one ladder

Any team may enter as many squads into any one ladder. However, only one squad can qualify for a premiership. A team is not allowed any more than one squad in a premiership.

During ladder play, no two squads from the same team are allowed to play each other.

1.5. Agreements

Certain agreements between participants are allowed to slightly differ from the ESL rules. Agreements that differ greatly from ESL rules are however not allowed. Please note that the ESL rules were made to ensure a fair match for all participants. You are not allowed to file a protest after the match if you think that the agreements made before the match in the end resulted in a disadvantage for your or your team.

Rules that can be changed with agreements are explicitly stated. Rules that do not explicitly state they can be changed by agreement, cannot have agreements made.

All arrangements between participants, made in addition to the ESL rules have to be written down in the match comments. The other participant has to confirm the arrangements also in the comments. To avoid abuse of the edit function, a third comment must be written.

Please also keep screenshots and/or logfiles of your arrangements. If you do not fulfil these requirements, any protests or supports concerning arrangements will be rejected.

The following rules may never be changed by arrangement:

• Entering results for matches that have not been played
• Allowing players to play that are barred because of penalty points, or are barred in the league due to a ban
• Allowing players to play that in leagues with premium requirement that are barred for not having Premium

2. Match Media

2.1. Scoreboard Screenshot

The following matchmedia must be supplied for each Battlefield 3 game mode. To create this screenshots we suggest using a third party program like "snapshot", "fraps" or ESL-Wire.

• scoreboard screenshot of each round; showing the player stats, tickets, left mcoms, timecounter.

2.2. Lineup

You are recommended to set up the lineup of your ESL match in the match sheet.

The team that supplies the server has to supply the Punkbuster logfile. Please inform yourself in time on how to aquire the required file from your gameserver, as the lack of matchmedia during a protest may result in receiving penalty points. It is the responsibility of both sides to ensure all match media are reported within 24 hours of the match ending.

3. Anti-cheat (ESL Wire Anti-Cheat)

ESL Wire Anti-Cheat is mandatory for all players to use for the full duration of all matches without exception. If a player cannot use ESL Wire Anti-Cheat then they are not allowed to take part in a match.

If the website is down, making ESL Wire Anti-Cheat unusable, then the match must be postponed.

4. Config

All illegal server modifications to get an advantage over the other player/team are not allowed and will be punished. All clientsettings that gives an illegal advantage over the opponent team/player will be punished too.(therefore read the topic "Cheating")

Forbidden commands:

       WorldRender.FxaaEnable
       WorldRender.MotionBlurEnable
       WorldRender.MotionBlurMax
       WorldRender.MotionBlurScale
       WorldRender.MotionBlurNoiseScale
       WorldRender.MotionBlurQuality
       WorldRender.MotionBlurMaxSampleCount
       WorldRender.MotionFrameAveraeCount

The punishment will be up to 3 penalty points for the player and 2 penalty points for the team per violation. In certain cases the Adminteam will decide to delete the concerning match or to give a def-loss.

Injectors

Furthermore, all kinds of graphical changes, beside those in the BF3-ingame-menu, are forbidden! (known injectors Sweet FX Injector and FXAA Injector)

4.1. Server Settings Conquest 8on8

Remember: With starting the match you accept the server setting. So please check them before you start.

    Punkbuster: ON
    FriendlyFire: ON
    TeamBalance: OFF
    KillCam: OFF
    MiniMap: ON
    3rd Person Vehicle Cameras: ON
    CrossHair: ON
    3DSpotting: ON
    MiniMapSpotting: ON
    HardCore: OFF
    regenerate Health: ON
    Ticketratio: default
    Startdelay: 30s (default)
    Vehicles: ON
    Vehicles Spawn Time: 100% (default)
    Spawn only on Squadleader: OFF
    Unlocks: all unlocked

If you would like to have the settings every time you restart the server, copy the following server settings into the file: "/cfg/AdminScripts/startup.txt". The specific server settings file, can be found here:

    vars.ranked "0"
    punkBuster.activate 1
    vars.gamePassword "server password"
    vars.serverName "SERVERNAME"
    admin.password "ADMINPASSWORD"
    vars.allUnlocksUnlocked 1
    vars.friendlyFire true
    vars.maxPlayers 16
    vars.teamKillCountForKick 0
    vars.teamKillValueForKick 41
    vars.teamKillValueIncrease 1
    vars.teamKillValueDecreasePerSecond 5
    vars.autoBalance false
    vars.killCam false
    vars.miniMap true
    vars.3dSpotting true
    vars.miniMapSpotting true
    vars.3pCam true
    vars.vehicleSpawnAllowed true
    vars.vehicleSpawnDelay 100
    vars.bulletDamage 100
    vars.nameTag true
    vars.regenerateHealth true
    vars.roundRestartPlayerCount 1
    vars.roundStartPlayerCount 2
    vars.onlySquadLeaderSpawn false
    vars.soldierHealth 100
    vars.hud true
    vars.crossHair true
    vars.playerManDownTime 100
    vars.playerRespawnTime 100

4.2. Server streaming

Please note that streaming your war server with the anti-cheat software from www.ggc-stream.net is recommended! If you don't know how to set your server up for GGC stream, take a look at their:

Please note that a missing ggc-stream will lead into penalty points and punishments!

5. Match Rules

5.1. Server choice

The ESL does not supply servers for matches, players and teams must provide their own and come to an agreement with their opponent as to which to use. If you cannot come to an agreement with your opponent then the match is split over two servers by half or by map.

The internet is changing continuously and the connection to a server is not always perfect. Players and teams have to agree on a server that offers both sides an equal ping. Nevertheless every player should know, that they will sometimes have to play with a bigger ping difference. In this case we have to appeal to the sportsmanship and fairness of the players and teams. The right to change server or fake lag does not exist.

• To remind: It is not allowed to offer a homehosted server for team or 1on1 matches.

Player drop If a player drops the team match goes on cause of the missing pause function. If both opponents agree in the inGame Chat the game is "paused", that means both teams wait until the missing guy is back.

5.2. Player/Team Requirements

Gameaccount

Each player who is taking part in cups or ladders has to add his current Battlefield 3 soldier name he is using as his gameaccount. Remember that you also need to have your latest and correct gameaccount added, otherwise it will count as a missing gameaccount. If he takes part in an official match without an gameaccount the admins will punish the player and his team with penalty points and an default win.

Minimum Team Size

If teams got member problems etc. they can play at least with the following numbers of players for the different ladders/cups:

• 8on8: minimum 6 players
• 5on5: minimum 4 players
• 2on2: minimum 2 players
• Squad Rush/4on4: minimum 3 players

5.3. Rules for Conquest 6on6+

5.3.1. Match Procedure

Both teams play 1 map with 2 rounds, one round on each side.

Switching Players in one match

Both teams are allowed to switch up to 2 players after each round. If a team needs to switch more than 2 players, it has to play on with the first lineup including only 2 new players or with less than 8 people.

5.3.1.1. Teamsizes

6on6 All Jeeps and one tank per team allowed (Heavy Tank only unless there are Heavy and Light Tanks) Please mind, also stolen tanks count as 1 tank, so you will have to destroy your (active) tank!

8on8-12on12 no ground-vehicle limitation!

5.3.1.2. Match Result

The tickets of both rounds count for the end result. The team that gained the highest ticket number in both rounds wins the match.

5.3.1.3. Mappool

Currently the option to adjust the tickets is missing. According to this we use the default ticket values. 200-250 tickets on 32 players Conquest Small Maps. If server settings are available we may change the tickets for the different maps.

Map Size: Small Conquest (32 slots)

• Teheran Highway
• Caspian Border
• Seine Crossing
• Operation Firestorm
• Noshahar Canals
• Kargh Island
• Operation Metro
• Damavand Peak
• Grand Bazaar

5.3.1.4. Perks/Unlock/Weapon Restrictions

These perks or items are not allowed to be used:

• MAV drone
• spawn beacon

For all Cups and Ladders we will ban the following attachments for infantry weapons:

• IRNV Scope
• Tactical Light (including pistols with tactical light)

The use of the following weapons is not allowed:

• AUG A3
• SCAR-L
• L86A2
• LSAT
• ACW-R
• MTAR-21
• M417
• JNG-90
• SPAS-12
• M5K
• XBOW
• Slug Ammo
• M26 Slug

If your opponent has used this unlocks in the match. Just make a screenshot of the kill message, showing your enemy using it. And open a proest to find a solution. The use of not allowed unlocks will be punished with 1 Penalty Point for the player and his team! The use of unlocks may lead into a default win for the opponent team in tournaments/cups. In ladder matches the use of unallowed perks/weapons will lead into a match delete, if the winning team has used it.

5.3.1.5. Vehicle Restrictions

1 jet per team rule:

The use of 2 jets or more at the same is _not allowed_. Both teams are only allowed to have one jet in use at the same time! It doesn't matter which jet you are using, you can steal the enemies jet or use your own. Important is that only one pilot, is only using one jet at the same time.

If 2 jets are used at the same time, no matter if one of them is still standing on the ground or if both are in the air, it will be punished.

Punishment:

- If one team is using 2 jets at the same time, the other team will receive a default win in a cup match including penalty points! If we have to punish one team in a ladder match, the ladder match will be deleted if the 2-jet-use team has won and penalty points are given out.

- If one team used 2 jets at the same time, please open a protest and show us evidence for this misbehaviour.

- Evidence: Screenshot or a video that shows the specific match. Both jets of the opponent team should be visible on the minimap or ingame.

5.4. Cheating

Cheating with gamemodifications, illegal configurations or third party programs (including riva tuner e.g.) are forbidden and will be punished hard!

5.4.1. Illegal programs and configuration modifications

Each game or controls configuration, graphic or display modification that can’t be done through the ingame options menu is not allowed. (e.g. ultra low textures, no smoke/dust, nametags, no plants etc.). All sorts of such disallowed modifications through the configurations or third party programs will be punished with 12 penalty points (2 years barrage). All other hacks or cheats will be punished with a 2 years barrage. New programs and/or modifications are forbidden, as long as they are not specifically listed as legal. For example the change of client sided core game files to influence the game on the server will be seen as cheating/hacking and punished with 12 penalty points (2 years barrage).

To bust such cheats/hacks we will e.g. use information out of ESL Wire Anti-Cheat and Punkbuster.

5.4.2. Bug Use

Any sort of bug use is not allowed. Also not known bugs are forbidden in the first place until they are listed in the rules to be allowed. Known bugs that are forbidden:

• planting the objective through the wall/roof/floor or any other objective

5.4.3. Scripts and Macro Use

All scripts, macros and changes to the game's configuration are not allowed, unless they are specific allowed by this rules. Programs and macros that provide an advantage during game play (e.g. drivers that allow the removing of walls, single shot macros, etc.) are forbidden. Any programs that change the game itself are forbidden. The following results are listed to clarify some of the not allowed macros/scripts:

• no recoil or recoil control macro/script/configuration modification
• single shot macro/script
• aimassist/aimbot through config modifications/programs/macros/scripts
• auto reload script/makro
• auto revive script/makro
• auto spotting script/makro

5.5. Game Coverage

5.5.1. Match Broadcasting - Battlefield 3

The exclusive rights to broadcast matches played in this ladder lie with the Electronic Sports League. In case a team wants stream an ESL match by either video or audio technology the other teams approval must be confirmed prior to the match begin. Both teams are obliged to confirm this agreement in the match comments before the match.

Additionally each broadcast must be reported to the responsible ESL Admins by mail (mailto:bf3@esl.staff.eu). This Email must include the following details: ESL match ID, date and time of broadcast, name and homepage of streamer, Stream URL, moderator(s).

The participating teams are responsible for this report, but it can be sent by the streaming party just as well.

6. Penalty points

no active GGC-stream: player / team: 1-4

forbidden game or configuration modifications: player: 6 months barrage team: 6 penalty points

missing matchmedia: player / team: 1

missing matchmedia with cheat suspicion: player / team: 6

buguse: player / team: 1-3

banned gameaccount (MBLEntry): player 6 months (while a match: cheating barrage)

use of forbidden weapon: player / team: 1

missing ESL Wire Anti-Cheat Logfile: player: 3 / team: 2

In general, a player and the team can receive up to 6 penalty points per match, unless a single violation has a higher punishment. A team is only punished once per violation, regardless of how many players. Where a player or team receives penalty points for multiple violations, the penalty points are added together.