Hub Rules | Strave

Scope and agreement

These rules apply to all Strave Hub queues, matches, lobbies, match chat, voice communication, reports, profiles, usernames, images, uploads, and links. By joining a Hub queue or match, you agree to follow these rules and any more specific queue settings shown before you join.

Players must follow staff instructions that apply these rules during a live match. A report is an allegation, not proof. Strave issues a manual sanction only after an independent review finds sufficient reliable evidence.

The policy version in force when a decision is made applies to that decision. Later rule changes apply to new decisions and do not silently change an earlier sanction.

Quick outcomes

The main fixed outcomes at a glance. The evidence standards below still apply to every decision.

Cheating and account abuse

One-year ban

Cheating, match fixing, smurfing, account sharing, boosting, ladder abuse, and ban evasion.

Serious abusive conduct

Level 3

Slurs, discrimination, threats, self-harm encouragement, or targeted harassment.

Match-flow abuse

Level 1

A first proven spawnpeek, rehost abuse, or match-stalling offence.

Missed queue action

12 hours

A failed ready check, queue decline, or failure to join the lobby starts the automatic timeout ladder.

Match-day essentials

Use these checks before and during a Hub match. Open a topic for the short version.

Competitive integrity

Use only the eligible account and roster.
Do not cheat, exploit, smurf, boost, share accounts, grief, ghost, or throw rounds.
Play to win and follow live staff instructions.

First 15 seconds

Defenders must not make or attempt a spawnpeek during the first 15 seconds of an action phase.
Normal play applies after 15 seconds.

Lobby control

Each team can receive at most one rehost per match.
Each team has six minutes of pause time without opponent approval.
Preserve the required score, side, settings, and carried match state after an approved rehost.

Match rules

Play to win and protect the competitive integrity of every match.

Do not cheat, use unauthorised software, scripts, macros, input automation, or another tool that gives a competitive advantage.
Do not knowingly use a bug, glitch, map defect, or other exploit for a competitive advantage. Stop and use /support if an exploit makes fair play impossible.
Do not smurf, share accounts, provide or advertise boosting, intentionally de-rank, manipulate the ladder, fix a match, or evade a sanction.
Do not grief, ghost, block teammates, intentionally damage teammates, remain AFK, throw rounds, refuse to participate, or stall a match.
Use only the account and roster that are eligible for the queue. You are responsible for activity on your account.

First-15-second spawnpeek rule

In the 5v5 queue, defenders must not make or attempt a spawnpeek during the first 15 seconds of each action phase. This includes opening or using a line of sight from the defended building to fire at, damage, or force movement from an attacker at or leaving a spawn area. After the first 15 seconds, normal play applies.

Action phase timeline

Spawnpeek prohibited

Normal play applies

0s15s

Lobby, host, rehost, and pause rules

Join the lobby promptly with the eligible account and roster. Failure to complete a ready check, a queue decline, and failure to join the lobby use the automatic timeout ladder below.
The designated host must use the required map, mode, server, lobby privacy, round, overtime, and spectator settings shown for the match.
The host must start, stop, or pause the lobby when the match flow or a valid staff instruction requires it. A host must not use control of the lobby for a competitive advantage.
Each team can receive at most one rehost per match.
A rehost can be requested only during the operator pick phase for a genuine disconnect or technical failure, before the action phase starts. The team must notify the opponent or Hub staff before the restart.
A rehost is not allowed after a rule violation, to avoid the result of a round, or after the action phase has started.
The host must preserve the required match settings, score, side, and other carried match state when a rehost is approved.
A team can use up to six minutes of pause time without approval from the opponent. A longer pause needs the opponent's clear approval or an instruction from Hub staff. If the problem remains, use /support.

Abusing a rehost, pause, host control, or lobby delay is match stalling and can receive a manual penalty.

Prohibited cosmetics

The following cosmetics are not allowed in Hub matches:

Ember Rise Bundle;
Wind Bastion Bundle;
North Star cosmetics.

A player must remove a prohibited cosmetic before play. Use of one in a match can start at Level 3 when match footage or a replay clearly identifies the player and cosmetic.

Conduct boundaries

Competitive energy is allowed. Personal abuse and disruption are not.

Match banter

Allowed

concerns the game or match;
stays non-discriminatory;
stops when staff instruct you to stop.

Personal abuse

Prohibited

slurs, discrimination, threats, or identity attacks;
self-harm encouragement or sexual harassment;
private information or repeated targeted abuse.

Communication abuse

Sanctionable

spam or deliberate disruption;
reporter intimidation or organised abuse;
impersonation or obstruction of staff work.

Code of conduct

Treat players, staff, and other community members with respect.

Do not use slurs or discriminatory abuse based on identity or a protected characteristic.
Do not encourage self-harm, make threats, attack a person's identity, or use targeted or repeated harassment.
Do not intimidate a reporter, reveal private information, impersonate another person, or organise abuse against someone.
Do not spam, deliberately disrupt communication, or obstruct staff work.

Match banter and trash talk

Light, non-discriminatory match banter is allowed when it concerns the game and does not become targeted harassment. It must not include slurs, discrimination, threats, self-harm encouragement, identity attacks, sexual harassment, private information, or repeated personal abuse. Stop when staff instruct you to stop.

Competitive frustration does not excuse abusive conduct. Context can affect the offence category, but it does not make prohibited content acceptable.

Content standards

These standards apply to text, voice, images, usernames, profiles, uploads, and links used on or through Strave.

Do not publish or send content that:

contains prohibited conduct listed above;
exposes personal or confidential information without permission;
contains sexual exploitation, credible threats, or instructions for serious harm;
impersonates another person or deceptively presents altered evidence;
contains malware, phishing, credential theft, or another unsafe destination;
advertises cheats, boosting, account sales, or sanction evasion;
unlawfully infringes another person's rights.

Staff can remove content or restrict access to protect users while a report is reviewed. A content removal is not by itself proof of a sanctionable offence.

Evidence and decisions

Strave uses the following minimum decision standards. Report count alone is never proof.

Offence type	Evidence required
Match conduct, spawnpeek, rehost, pause, or cosmetic violation	A replay, video, match record, or reliable system log that identifies the player and proves the relevant action and timing.
Chat, voice, profile, or other content violation	The original content or a reliable recording, its context, and reliable attribution to the player.
Smurfing, account sharing, boosting, de-ranking, or ladder abuse	Corroborated account, party, match, and system records that establish control, coordination, or intentional manipulation. Similar skill or one unusual match is not enough by itself.
Cheating or unauthorised software	Validated technical, anti-cheat, replay, or corroborated match evidence that reliably attributes prohibited assistance to the player. Suspicion or report volume is not enough.
Match fixing or deliberate exploit use	Match and communication evidence that establishes intentional coordination or knowing use for competitive advantage.
Malicious or false reporting	Evidence that the reporter knowingly fabricated a claim, acted maliciously, or repeatedly duplicated a resolved claim to disrupt another person. A good-faith mistake is not an offence.

Evidence, reporter identities, staff notes, and investigation methods stay private. Public decisions do not include evidence files.

Fixed manual penalties

Manual penalties use fixed levels. Staff cannot choose a custom duration.

Level	Hub access restriction	Player probation window
Warning	None	7 days
Level 1	12 hours	7 days
Level 2	1 day	15 days
Level 3	3 days	45 days
Level 4	7 days	90 days
Level 5	14 days	3 calendar months
Level 6	30 days	6 calendar months

One non-ban offence has a baseline of no more than Level 4. Levels 5 and 6 are only for repeat offences during an active player probation window. A repeat offence moves up at least one level; a more serious new offence can use its higher fixed baseline, up to Level 4. Escalation above Level 6 results in a one-year ban. Temporary manual restrictions never exceed 30 days and are not combined into a custom duration.

Offence	Fixed initial outcome
Low-level offensive language or disruptive spam	Level 1: 12 hours
First proven spawnpeek, rehost abuse, or match stalling offence	Level 1: 12 hours
Proven griefing, ghosting, blocking, or intentional team damage	Level 2: 1 day; deliberate match sabotage can start at Level 3
Heavy insult, slur, discriminatory abuse, self-harm encouragement, threat, or targeted harassment	Level 3: 3 days
Use of a prohibited cosmetic	Level 3: 3 days
Severe conduct below the ban threshold	Level 4: 7 days
Malicious or repeated false reports	Level 1: 12 hours

Good-faith reports are never punished. Staff do not manually set an MMR change as part of a sanction.

Automatic queue timeouts

Failed ready checks, queue declines, and failure to join the lobby use a separate automatic ladder. Staff cannot change these durations.

Automatic event	Timeout
First event	12 hours
Second event	24 hours
Third and later event	72 hours

The automatic timeout history resets after 14 days without another automatic timeout. Automatic timeouts do not affect MMR and do not count as manual player strikes.

Cheating, account integrity, and one-year bans

The following proven offences have a fixed one-year ban outcome:

cheating or unauthorised software;
deliberate exploit use for a competitive advantage;
match fixing;
smurfing, account sharing, intentional de-ranking, or ladder abuse;
providing or advertising boosting;
ban evasion. Each confirmed linked account receives a new one-year decision.

A one-year ban is also the result when repeat-offence escalation would go above Level 6. The year runs from the new decision. A ban does not end automatically after that year.

Reports, public decisions, rollback, and appeals

Reports and support

Use /report to report cheating, account abuse, match fixing, conduct, or content. Include the match reference, relevant time, and original material when available. Do not submit repeated duplicate reports.

Use /support for a live match issue, enforcement error, technical problem, or appeal. False, malicious, or repeatedly duplicated reports can receive a Level 1 baseline after the required evidence standard is met.

Public ban decisions

Approved one-year competitive bans can appear on /report with the player's display identity, ban category, safe decision summary, start date, appeal eligibility date, state, and public decision reference.

Reporter and staff identities, private reports, evidence, uploads, links, chat, system signals, and internal notes are not public. Strave does not promise to publish evidence.

Cheating rollback

Cheating rollback applies only after the required system support is available. Once enabled, an approved cheating ban voids at most the player's seven newest completed Hub matches before the decision and never crosses the boundary of the current season. If the player completed fewer than seven matches in the current season, only those matches are included.

The system reverses the exact stored match-derived effects for all affected players. Staff do not enter or choose an MMR amount. Other ban categories do not receive this automatic rollback under policy version 1.0.

Appeals

A banned player can request an unban review through /support only after the full one-year minimum has passed. Reaching the date makes the ban eligible for appeal; it does not remove the ban or guarantee approval.

An approved appeal revokes the ban. A rejected appeal leaves it active and sets the next review date under the appeal policy. There is no automatic unban.

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