Introduction
This guide will go into the basics of staffing a Garry's Mod server.

You will find things such as: what qualifies you to be apart of a staffing team, things you should know, and much more. Remember though, this guide was created off of personal experiences, change what you do to fit the server rules.

As I personally have staffed over 25 servers on Garry's Mod, I have seen many rules and variations of servers, on both extremes - good servers and bad servers. I will show you within this things to follow so you can be considered an Idol Staff Member. You will find different tips and shortcuts to get to things faster, as well as have an insight to proper staffing.
Generalized Staffing
This section covers generalized staffing.

Generalized Staffing, as I put it, is the ability to do minor and basic staff actions as well as provide a decent effort towards the community. You do not actually have to be on a staff team to implement this into your gameplay, as it mainly just relies on your observational skills, social etiquette, and other menial terms you may have used in various encounters with other players.

Competency
With Generalized Staffing, there will be many minor problems you will have to deal with. You can encounter anything from, chat spam to attempting to crash the server. You need to know the importance of handling what, and that there is a hierarchy when it comes to situations where you are needed. For example, if someone is needing you to help them set a bind, whilst another player is going on a Mass RDM'ing spree; you need to spring into action and handle the one that can have the most malignant effects on the server. If you are even considering a staff position, you must make sure that you are: mature, respectful, and competent. This is something that will apply not only to the gaming world, but to your daily lives as well. If you aren't making good calls, you aren't going to be in high favor.

Favoritism
Many staff members exhibit something called 'favoritism.' This means, that there are players you will give extra benefits to, or allow things to slip by, due to them being on your good side. This is something that is unacceptable. All players are to be treated equally and will all receive the same treatments. If one of your friends is attempting to crash the server, or RDM, or anything else that breaks your home server's rules; you must stop them. Don't just sit back and let someone else handle it just because you don't want them upset with you.

Activity
You should be an active member on the community you are playing for, and attempting to contribute to it in some fashion. Whether it be writing a list of who does what, to managing the server and/or website for them. You need to be active. That is a requisite that if you do not have, you will never get the position of staff. All communities want staff members that are active and experienced in what they do, so this not only applies to activity on the server; but to activity on other servers in the past. If you were never an active player, more-so the type to get on once in a blue moon, then you are most likely not even going to be considered.

Rules
Many people attempt to become a Staff Member, and don't even follow the rules. If you wish to become a staff member on any server, you should know the rules to a t; and be able to access them quickly for reference. There are too many new staff members that attempt to do things that would normally result in a ban, thinking they can get away with it just because they are of a staff position. Just a Warning: the rules apply to everyone, regardless of rank.

Developer Console
You should be able to understand console commands and how to run them; as well as look in it to see for anything you may have missed. If you do not know how to enable the console on GMod, go to: Options > Keyboard > Advanced > Tick "Enable developer console (~)", that will enable you to pull the console up and run commands on it.

The image above shows the console, and provides an example of a Staff Member giving themselves weapons (the lines indicated with purple) in a DarkRP Gamemode.
Eloquent Staffing
This covers a more in-depth version of staffing.

Take One for the Team
Sometimes you have to sacrifice your server experience so you can watch over the players and attend to their needs; whether that be spectating a player because there's a potential hacking problem, RDM problem, whatever. There are just times where you have to stop playing, and handle things. You don't necessarily have to to this all the time though, just whenever there is an active server; do it maybe once or twice per session.

Command Use
Try not to rely on your commands unless absolutely necessary. If two people are trying to talk over each other or are arguing, try to get them to quit and settle their differences through chat without gagging them. Many staff members become reliant on their abilities to control the field of game play; and if you want an efficient server, you can even forget you have them once and a while.

Notes
Try to take as many notes as possible; whether physically or electronically done. This will help in future cases and past cases of any staff infraction, as you have written down logs of things that happen on the server. From, who you ban and why; to why you kicked someone, etc. If you do that, you will be able to keep things professional and have evidence to back up statements made.
Qualifications
This lists things you should exhibit before becoming staff.

Most servers have varying qualifications to be apart of their staffing team. It can range from an age limit, to amount of hours on the server, to even gender at times (yes, I have seen sexist communities that have implemented that.) Most servers will not be too hard on if you don't meet a requirement or two that they have set; but some may ask that you try again for the position once you have met the ones you previously did not have.

Age
The age aspect plays a very large part in a lot of communities. I recommend you being minimum of 14 years, if you are mature enough to hold intellectual conversations with adults; or 17 years of age if not. This is so that you are not affected too much by puberty and the mood swings that come with it.

Communication
I recommend to have a decent headset with mic, as well as begin to improve your grammar and English skills. Most communities will require that you have a microphone, not only so they can audibly verify your age listed, but also so they can hear how you will talk to the other members. If you sit there and cuss at someone via chat or through voice chat, you will most likely have accesses revoked or you will be metaphorically 'blacklisted' from the server team due to malignant remarks and belittling players. However, if you hold intellectual conversations with the players, as well as help them with what is requested, it will make you appear more professional on the server, and will allow you to participate in things that may be unavailable to those who do not take things as seriously as they should be.

Playtime
I recommend that you having at least 100 hours of playtime on the server itself. Having a decent amount of hours invested into the server is always a major starting point. This shows that you are dedicated to the server, as well wanting the community to prosper
Abuse of Powers
This will explain abuse, punishments and variety of abuse.

Most servers will not allow you to abuse, or aboose in any way or fashion. This looks bad, not only on the staff member in question, but also the community in general. You need to be aware that if you abuse in any form, you have the potential of a revoked rank.

What is Abuse
Abuse can be anything from using a command whilst you shouldn't, to misusing your 'authority' over the other players to do things you shouldn't.

Hope you enjoyed my guide. Have a great day guys!

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