# Barotrauma Karma System Guide (/docs/barotrauma/karma-system)



The karma system is Barotrauma's built-in anti-griefing tool. Each player has a karma score (0–100, starting at 50). Harmful actions lower it; helpful actions raise it. Players who consistently grief will be automatically kicked or banned.

Enabling Karma [#enabling-karma]

In `serversettings.xml`, set:

```xml
KarmaEnabled="true"
KarmaPreset="Default"
```

> ⚠️ **Important:** Stop the server before editing `serversettings.xml` — the server overwrites it on shutdown.

Two presets are available:

* **Default** — lenient, only severe offenses (like triggering a reactor meltdown) result in bans
* **Strict** — lower thresholds, much less tolerant of griefing

***

What Lowers Karma [#what-lowers-karma]

| Action                                                         | Notes                       |
| -------------------------------------------------------------- | --------------------------- |
| Shooting/damaging crew members                                 | Most common griefing method |
| Flooding the submarine (opening valves, breaking reactor rods) |                             |
| Starting fires                                                 |                             |
| Triggering a nuclear reactor meltdown                          | Largest single penalty      |
| Destroying submarine items or hull                             |                             |
| Feeding crew members to hostile creatures                      |                             |

What Raises Karma [#what-raises-karma]

| Action                               | Notes |
| ------------------------------------ | ----- |
| Healing crew members                 |       |
| Repairing hull breaches and flooding |       |
| Extinguishing fires                  |       |
| Fixing the reactor                   |       |
| Completing round objectives          |       |

> 📝 **Note:** **Traitors** and players with a **Husk Infection** gain karma instead of losing it when harming crew — the system recognizes their assigned role.

***

Penalties [#penalties]

Penalties escalate as karma drops:

| Karma Level         | Consequence              |
| ------------------- | ------------------------ |
| Below 40            | Restricted job selection |
| Below 20            | Automatic kick           |
| Below 10 (repeated) | Automatic temporary ban  |

All penalties are removed once karma returns to 50 or above.

Auto-ban duration is set by:

```xml
autobantime="60"
maxautobantime="360"
```

(Values in minutes. First offense = `autobantime`, escalates up to `maxautobantime` for repeat offenders.)

***

Karma Immunity for Admins [#karma-immunity-for-admins]

Admins can be made immune to karma penalties by adding `KarmaImmunity` to their permissions:

```xml
<Client name="AdminName" steamid="76561198000000001"
        permissions="ManageRound, ConsoleCommands, KarmaImmunity, ..." />
```

Or use the `Admin` or `God` preset which includes immunity by default.

***

Console Commands [#console-commands]

| Command                   | Description                               |
| ------------------------- | ----------------------------------------- |
| `togglekarma`             | Enable or disable karma mid-session       |
| `showkarma`               | Display all players' current karma values |
| `setkarma [name] [0-100]` | Set a specific player's karma value       |
| `resetkarma [name]`       | Reset a player's karma to 50              |
| `togglekarmatestmode`     | Enable test mode (see below)              |

Test Mode [#test-mode]

Before enabling karma on a live server, use test mode:

```
togglekarmatestmode
```

In test mode:

* Players are notified in chat whenever their karma changes and why
* Auto-bans are **disabled** — players won't be banned even if karma hits 0
* Great for calibrating settings and making sure the system behaves as expected

***

Configuring karmasettings.xml [#configuring-karmasettingsxml]

For advanced configuration, edit `Data/karmasettings.xml`. This file contains all threshold values and penalty magnitudes for both presets. Stop the server before editing.

Key values you might want to adjust:

* Per-action karma gain/loss amounts
* Kick/ban threshold levels
* Escalation multipliers for repeat offenders

> 💡 **Tip:** Enable karma test mode first to observe how players' karma changes before enforcing penalties on your server.

> 💡 **Tip:** Need help configuring karma for your server? Join our [Discord](https://discord.xgamingserver.com).

Related Guides [#related-guides]

* [Configure Your Server](/docs/barotrauma/configure-your-server)
* [Adding Admins](/docs/barotrauma/adding-admins)
* [Console Commands](/docs/barotrauma/console-commands)