VRChat Community Labs

Current Status: Stage 2

🚧

🚧 Pending Updates

This section is pending updates! The VRChat menu has changed recently, so screenshots may not be accurate. However, the functionality remains the same.

Community Labs is the new way for you to get your world published and out into the VRChat Universe. When you upload a world, you will be asked if you want to publish the world to Community Labs. If you choose to do so, your world is placed into Community Labs. This is a place where anyone can upload their content (once they've got the appropriate Trust Rank), and allow users to browse and find content to explore. 

Once your world has spent enough time in Community Labs and our systems think your world is a good candidate, you'll automatically be made public!

In order to submit a world to Community Labs, all you have to do is hit a checkbox when Publishing your world. You can only do this to one world a week, so make sure its the right world!

Additionally, we're changing the way that you update worlds. When you choose to update your world, your world no longer drops out of its current status back to Private. That means that if you currently have a Public world, you can update it whenever you like.

Exploring Community Labs

You can find Community Labs right in your Worlds tab. There's a row dedicated to Community Labs, which will start collapsed. You can expand it to see the entire Labs row. Before the row expands, you'll get a pop-up notifying you that the worlds in Labs aren't reviewed yet, and thus could be a bit spooky.

You'll know when you're entering a Community Labs world. Portals to Community Labs worlds will have a special icon and a ring around them. In addition, you'll receive a warning while loading a Labs world. This warning lets you know that the world they're entering is in Community Labs, and has not been curated. If you accept this warning, you'll continue on with loading the world.

If you find a Community Labs world that violates our Terms of Service or Community Guidelines, the Quick Menu will have a fast shortcut to the Report World menu. This allows you to quickly submit a Report on a world you find unsuited for the Labs. Additionally, if a world is so disruptive that it requires that you leave immediately, then you can find the world in your Recent Worlds row and report it that way.

Publishing to Community Labs

Authors are permitted to Publish one world to the Labs per week, and you must have a Trust Rank of at least User to submit a world to Labs. You can update your world whenever you like, no matter what state your world is in. As stated before, this also applies to all worlds that are currently Public!

If your world does well in Labs and generally has a lot of good signs that your world is being enjoyed, your world will be made Public automatically! This process is totally automatic. The factors involved are best described as "How much do users seem to be enjoying your world?" If we determine that people seem to be enjoying the world and don't have any major issues with it, you'll get made Public.

If your world doesn't get a lot of attention, your world may sit in Community Labs for quite some time. Worlds that are reported for legitimate reasons will be removed from Community Labs, and moderation action may be taken against the author in severe cases. As an aside, just like our current report system, we have safeguards in place to prevent "review bombing".

This is an entirely new process for submission of worlds into VRChat, so please bear with us as we work through the nuances.

FAQ

Q: I have a Private world. How do I put it into Community Labs?
A: Just check off the "Publish to Community Labs" checkbox in the SDK, or press the "Publish" button on your World page on the VRChat Home Website. You can only Publish a world once per week.

Q: How long does it take for me to get to Public status?
A: There's no set "time". Your world going Public out of Community Labs is based off many factors. The factors involved are best described as "How much do users seem to be enjoying your world?"

Q: What Trust Rank do I need to upload content to Community Labs?
A: You must be at least User Trust Rank to upload content to Community Labs. This may change depending on our feedback during the implementation of Community Labs.

Q: I can only Publish once per week? How can I be expected to iterate or update with a limit that strict?
A: The limit applies only when Publishing brand new worlds. You can update your existing world, no matter what state it is in (Private, Community Labs, Public), whenever you like. Your world will remain at whatever status it is in.

Q: I have a world that's currently Public. Do I need to worry about anything?
A: Nope! Nothing's changed for you. You've been "grandfathered" in, and are considered to be past the Community Labs process. As an added bonus, you can now update your world at any time without having to wait for re-approval.

Q: If I update my Public world, do I lose anything? Do I lose my world stats?
A: Nope! The stats on your world will be preserved.

Q: I have a world that I want categorized as an Avatar/Game/etc World. How do I do that?
A: We'll have systems to automate this more smoothly in the future, but for now, you'll have to submit a request using the form in the Submitting a World to be made Public doc. It'll be at the bottom of the page, once it's up.

Q: How often can I publish a new world to Community Labs?
A: Once a week (7 days). This may change depending on our feedback during the implementation of Community Labs.

Q: How often can I update a world I already have that's in Community Labs/Public?
A: Whenever you want!

Q: How does this affect Private worlds-- as in, a world I don't put into Community Labs?
A: It doesn't.

Q: Is it possible for a world to never leave Community Labs?
A: Not really. It might take a very long time for a world to get out of Labs (if it isn't popular at all), but given endless time, a world will eventually get out of Labs.

Q: Can I choose to stay in Community Labs forever?
A: Nope! You'll eventually move into Public, but depending on how popular your world is, it might take a while.

Q: Are the rules for content in Community Labs any different from the rest of VRChat?
A: No. Content you upload to VRChat's Community Labs must still adhere to the Community Guidelines and the Terms of Service. Violations of these terms may result in the revocation of your ability to submit worlds into Labs.

Q: How does a world fail out of Community Labs?
A: If a world is reported, it will be investigated. If a world breaks the Terms of Service, is malicious, or some other report is sent that is valid, it will be removed from Labs. The same goes for Public worlds.

Q: What can I do if my world fails out of Community Labs?
A: If you correct the issue-- say, bad performance-- you can re-submit your world to the Labs. If your world had some more serious issues like Terms of Service violations, you may find yourself restricted from submitting worlds to Labs.

Q: How does VRChat prevent "report bombs" or falsified reports?
A: We use the same methods used in avoiding false/inaccurate reports on users/worlds now to detect invalid reports. This is a tested system that has served us quite well, and will prevent malicious users from abusing the report system.

Q: I have a Public/Community Labs world I'd like to take down back to Private.
A: Go to the VRChat Home website, and click the Unpublish button. When you choose to re-publish your world, users will still have your world in their Favorites, and you'll retain some of your previous world stats.