Acceptable Use Policy

Shard Hosting
Last updated: 18 October 2026
Report abuse: [email protected]

This Acceptable Use Policy (AUP) applies to all Shard Hosting services, including Minecraft servers, websites, and Discord bots. It is part of our Terms of Service. Our aim is to let you use the resources you've paid for while keeping our shared infrastructure and other users safe.

1. Your responsibilities

1.1. You are responsible for the software, content, administrators, bots, and players on any service you control, except where an issue is caused by us or the law says otherwise.

1.2. Protect your passwords, API keys, bot tokens, databases, and backups. Keep your software reasonably up to date. Tell us if you find a serious compromise that affects our systems.

1.3. Do not try to access another customer's data or services, escape isolation, or damage our infrastructure.

2. Prohibited activities

You must not use a Shard Hosting service for:

• Child sexual abuse material (CSAM) of any kind. We will end the service immediately and report it to the relevant authorities.
• Terrorist or violent extremist content, including material that promotes, supports, or helps plan such acts.
• Doxxing: publishing or sharing someone's private or identifying information without their consent. Also harassment, threats, and sharing intimate images without consent.
• DDoS attacks, unsolicited packet floods, botnets, or deliberate network disruption.
• Phishing, credential theft, fraud, malware, ransomware, or malicious command-and-control systems.
• Unauthorised intrusion, exploiting vulnerabilities, scanning, password attacks, or accessing other customers' files.
• Spam, unsolicited bulk messages, abusive automation, or getting around third-party platforms' security or rate limits.
• Hosting or sharing other illegal material, or infringing other people's rights.
• Getting around resource limits, assigned ports, firewalls, network separation, or backup limits.
• Deliberately disrupting other customers' services or our infrastructure.
• Reselling or cryptocurrency mining without our written approval.

This list is not complete. Other illegal or seriously harmful activity is also prohibited.

3. Stress testing and benchmarks

3.1. You may run CPU, RAM, and disk performance tests on your own resources, within your plan limits, without asking first, as long as they don't harm the host or other customers.

3.2. Ordinary, lawful network testing of your own services, such as measuring response times or modest throughput, is allowed without asking first.

3.3. DDoS simulations, packet floods, high-volume traffic tests, and any test that may affect shared infrastructure need our written approval first. The approval must describe the target and scope, and our upstream provider's rules must also allow the test.

3.4. Never attack third parties or arrange a DDoS attack. We cannot authorise you to test a system you don't own or don't have permission to test.

3.5. We may rate-limit or stop traffic that creates a serious risk, and we'll explain why when we reasonably can.

4. Fair use of resources

4.1. You may use the full CPU, RAM, and storage included in your plan. High usage alone is not a violation. Shared hardware is not dedicated hardware unless your order says so.

4.2. Do not get around technical limits, use ports that aren't assigned to you, or use your service to slow down other customers.

4.3. If a workload seriously affects shared infrastructure, we may ask you to change it or temporarily restrict the harmful activity. When it's not urgent, we'll try to agree a solution with you first.

5. Minecraft and game servers

5.1. SMPs, modded servers, plugins, modpacks, maps, communities, and normal server management are all welcome, within your plan and the relevant software licences, including the Minecraft EULA and Mojang's usage guidelines.

5.2. Malicious plugins, network attacks, attempts to escape your Pterodactyl container, and attacks on other customers or our systems are prohibited.

5.3. You are responsible for player permissions and the game software you install. We remain responsible for problems caused by our own infrastructure or staff where the law requires.

6. Website hosting

6.1. You may run lawful websites and web applications within the limits we agree.

6.2. Phishing pages, payment or credential theft, fraudulent shops, malware downloads, scraping designed to disrupt others, and illegal content are prohibited.

6.3. If your site collects personal data, you are responsible for your own privacy notice and for handling that data lawfully.

7. Discord bot hosting

7.1. Follow Discord's developer and platform rules. Do not use bots for mass unsolicited messages, unlawful surveillance, self-botting, token theft, API abuse, or getting around security controls.

7.2. Keep your tokens and credentials safe, and change them promptly if they're exposed.

7.3. If Discord restricts or bans your bot, that is Discord's decision and is not an outage of our service.

8. Reselling and cryptocurrency mining

8.1. Reselling a Shard Hosting plan needs our written approval before you start. We decide case by case, based on the plan, how it will be used, and the risks. You remain responsible for your own customers.

8.2. Cryptocurrency mining needs our written approval first and is reviewed case by case. We may refuse because of resource impact, security risk, or our providers' rules. Our approval cannot override a provider's ban or the law.

8.3. Cryptocurrency-related websites and apps that don't mine must still follow all our usual fraud, security, legal, and resource rules.

9. Ports, network use, and platform security

9.1. Only use the ports assigned to your service. Do not get around firewall rules, access our internal control systems, or interfere with the isolation between customers.

9.2. Using security tools defensively on systems you control is generally fine if it's lawful and non-disruptive. Scanning someone else's system needs their permission.

9.3. We may filter traffic and use other protective measures. No protection can stop every attack.

10. Reporting security vulnerabilities

10.1. Report a suspected vulnerability privately to [email protected], with enough detail for us to reproduce and investigate it. Don't include anyone else's secrets.

10.2. If you do good-faith, non-disruptive research on our own systems, report it promptly, avoid unnecessary access to customer data, and don't use it to extort us, we won't take action against you for that research. This promise doesn't bind third parties or authorities.

10.3. A vulnerability report is not permission for destructive testing, denial-of-service attacks, social engineering, or taking data.

11. Reporting illegal content, copyright, and abuse

11.1. You must have the licence, permission, or other legal right to host your code and content.

11.2. Anyone can report suspected illegal content, copyright infringement, or abuse to [email protected]. Please include the service, URL, or IP address, a clear explanation, and any supporting evidence. We'll confirm receipt, assess the report fairly, and may ask for more information.

11.3. If we restrict content, we'll explain why and how to challenge the decision where the law requires. Court orders and urgent threats may require immediate action.

12. Backups and storage

12.1. Backup features and limits depend on your plan. Do not get around storage limits or use storage for prohibited activities.

12.2. We may keep backups, but you should always keep your own copies of anything important. No backup system prevents every possible loss.

13. Enforcement

13.1. We consider how serious a problem is, its impact, whether it has happened before, and any immediate risk. We may warn you, ask you to fix the issue, restrict activity, suspend your service, or end it.

13.2. For less serious problems, we'll normally explain the issue and give you a reasonable chance to fix it. We may act immediately for active attacks, fraud, harmful software, serious safety risks, or legal requirements.

13.3. We'll explain our reasons where we reasonably can and the law allows. There is no fixed warning period for every situation.

13.4. You can appeal by Discord ticket or by emailing [email protected]. Where possible, someone other than the person who made the original decision will review it. We'll reply as soon as we can.

13.5. If we find we suspended or ended your service by mistake, we'll restore it where possible. Any refund is handled under our Refund & Cancellation Policy and the law.

14. Files after termination

You can normally request your files for 14 days after a service ends, including after an AUP termination. See Section 6 of our Terms of Service. We may hold back illegal or dangerous material.

15. Changes and contact

15.1. We'll post updated policies on our website and announce important changes by email and Discord. Urgent security restrictions may take effect sooner.

15.2. To report abuse, email [email protected]. To appeal or ask a question, email [email protected] or use https://discord.gg/shardhosting. Report security vulnerabilities to [email protected]. Never send passwords or tokens in a support ticket.