VRChat Safety and Trust System
Pending Updates
This section is pending updates! The VRChat nameplates and Safety system have changed recently, so screenshots may not be accurate. However, the functionality remains the same.

The VRChat Trust and Safety system is a new extension of the currently-implemented VRChat Trust system. It is designed to keep users safe from nuisance users using things like screen-space shaders, loud sounds or microphones, visually noisy or malicious particle effects, and other methods that someone may use to detract from your experience in VRChat.
This system is designed to give control back to the user, allowing users to determine where, when, and how they see various avatar features that may be distracting or malicious if used improperly.
It is important to note that this system is currently in BETA, and may change with any given release or patch.
The Trust and Safety system is designed so that, even when left on default settings, the system will ensure that someone canât attack you with malicious avatar features. Malicious users wonât have these features shown, so you can have a good experience in the metaverse.
There are two vital components of this system, the Trust system, and the Safety system. Letâs go over them in a bit more detail.
The Trust System
The Trust system is actually already implemented in VRChat! It is what determines when a user is permitted to upload content â you may have heard us calling it âContent Gatingâ previously. However, the system is far more than just determining if you can upload content â it looks at user behavior to determine âTrustâ, which is an aggregate of many variables. We can easily adjust the way we calculate this value, so we can tweak it as time goes on.
Trust Rank
A userâs Trust feeds into something weâve called a âTrust Rankâ, which is an indicator of how much time a user has spent in VRChat, how much content theyâve contributed, the friends theyâve made, and many other factors. These ranks are as follows:

You gain these ranks simply by playing VRChat â as you explore worlds, make friends, and create content, you will gain more Trust, which determines your Trust Rank.
The ranks are displayed on nameplates when you open your Quick Menu. Otherwise, they get out of the way and are not visible during normal play.
Friends are a special Trust Rank. Users that you have Friended have all of their avatar features shown in the Normal Shield Level, and you can customize them just like any other Trust Rank.
The transition between âVisitorâ and âNew Userâ is a special one â when a Visitor becomes a New User, they gain the ability to upload content to VRChat as long as theyâre using a VRChat account. Users receive a notification when they have passed this rank, and are directed to the VRChat documentation page to get started with creating content.
In a future version, users will receive a notification when they transition Trust Ranks.
All ranks from âKnown Userâ and upward also have the ability to toggle off the display of their rank on their nameplate. They can choose to appear as a âUserâ, which will turn their nameplate to the User color, and will also change how the Safety system treats them to match the User template. This is for users who do not wish to show off their higher rank for whatever reason.
By default, Known and Trusted users will display their rank. Using the toggle will revert you to User.

Additionally, there exists a special rank called âNuisanceâ. These users have caused problems for others, and will have an indicator above their nameplate when your quick menu is open. Most of the time, these usersâ avatars will be completely blocked. You probably won't see these often-- which is a good thing!
Finally, there exists a âVRChat Teamâ rank, which is only usable by VRChat Team members. When a VRChat Team member has their âDEVâ tag on, youâll see this rank in the quick menu when you select them. If you have doubts that a user with a âDEVâ tag is actually on the VRChat Team, just open your Quick Menu, select them, and check out their Trust Rank. If it doesnât say âVRChat Teamâ under the avatar thumbnail, then that user is not a member of the VRChat Team, and is likely trying to confuse users. Feel free to take a screenshot and report them to the Moderation team!
If a VRChat Team member doesnât have their âDEVâ tag on, theyâll appear as a normal user.
What does the Safety System do?
âSafetyâ is a new menu tab that allows you to configure how users of each rank are treated in regards to how they display for you in VRChat. This affects many aspects of a userâs presence in VRChat:
- Voice â Mutes or unmutes a userâs microphone (voice chat)
- Avatar â Hides or shows a userâs avatar as well as all avatar features. When an avatar is hidden, it shows a âmutedâ avatar
- User Icon â Controls user icon visibility for this Trust Rank. When an icon is hidden, it is "censored" with a mosaic effect.
- Avatar Audio â Enables or disables sound effects from a userâs avatar (not their microphone)
- Animations â Enables or disables custom animations on a userâs avatar
- Shaders â When disabled, all shaders on a userâs avatar are reverted to Standard. The behavior behind the Shader blocking system is detailed on our Shader Blocking System doc page
- Particles and Lights â Enables or disables particle systems on a userâs avatar, as well as any light sources. This will also block Line and Trail Renderer components.
Each rank has their own unique settings. To illustrate this, hereâs a screenshot of the Safety Menu:

There are four main elements in this Menu to pay attention to.

At the top is a row of âShield Levelsâ, which are preset settings for the Safety System that weâve developed. These Levels should cover most of your needs â however, youâre free to customize them completely in the âCustomâ Level, which is a special mode where you can create your own settings.

In the middle are the actual settings for the Shield Level youâve selected. They cover each of the elements that the Safety System affects, and if youâre in Custom Mode, you can toggle them as you see fit.

At the bottom is a listing of each of the Trust Ranks. When youâve chosen a âSafety Modeâ, you can select each Rank to see how avatar features of that Rank are set.

The text inside the blue area below the Safety Modes changes as you select different Modes. The text at the bottom also changes as you explore the menu, and helps inform you about the UI element youâre pointing at.
Once youâre done setting this up, close the menu. The settings will apply, and youâll see them take effect on the users around you.
In general, we have tuned the system such that most users can leave the system on âNormalâ. Most users should not have to do anything, and the Safety system will work properly. If you wish to customize Safety to your own liking, you are free to do so via the Custom Shield Level.
You can reset the Custom settings youâve set by clicking âReset Custom Settingsâ in the top right of the menu.
Finally, you might notice that the settings for âSafe Modeâ in System have disappeared. Thatâs because theyâve been absorbed into the Safety System. Pressing the keybind for Safe Mode (Shift+Esc on Desktop, Both Triggers + Both Menu buttons in VR) will change your Shield Level to Custom, and will turn off all settings for all ranks. We realize this behavior will wipe your custom settings, and plan on implementing a dedicated âSafeâ Shield Level in a future update.
Hiding or Showing Specific Users
You might encounter a user that, despite their higher Trust Rank, is wearing an avatar youâd rather not see. You can select that user and choose âHide Avatarâ in their social panel. This will hide that userâs avatar and disable all features except for voice. You can re-enable their avatar and features by simply clicking the button again, which will be labeled âShow Avatarâ.
If youâd like to return the control of showing the avatar to the Safety System, just click âUse Safety Settingsâ.
You can disable the entire system if you want. Selecting the âNoneâ Shield Level will show almost all features for every rank, or create a Custom Shield Level that has all features on for all ranks. However, we donât recommend using this setting unless you trust everyone in the room. This does not affect Nuisance users â they will always have everything hidden unless you explicitly unhide them.
You can override these settings on a per-user basis in two ways. The first way is to select a user that has their avatar or features hidden by the current Safety settings, find âShow Avatarâ, and click it. This will display the avatar and all avatar features, no matter what Safety mode you have currently active. âHide Avatarâ does the opposite â no matter what Safety Mode youâre on, that userâs avatar will be hidden. You select âUse Safety Settingsâ to let the Safety Mode that youâre using manage that userâs avatar visibility.
The second way is to make friends! Friends have no features hidden in Normal Shield Level. If you have someone as a Friend, we assume that you implicitly trust them. As such, their avatar features will be completely on in Normal Shield Level. If, for some reason, you want to hide your friendâs avatar, you can still do that with the âHide Avatarâ button.
Safe Mode
Depending on the controls you are using, there is a shortcut to immediately disable all features on all users around you. This is called "Safe Mode".
On VR controllers, pulling both triggers and pressing both system menu buttons will enable this mode. On Desktop, pressing Shift and Escape will enable this mode.
When enabled, the Safety System will be set to Custom mode with all features off for all users. Text will appear in the middle of the screen explaining what just happened. This will override your Custom settings, if you were using them previously. All avatars for all users will be hidden and all voice will be disabled from other users.
To disable Safe Mode, set your Safety System back to your previous mode. If you were using Custom mode, you will need to manually reset your settings back to your previous setup.
Quick Menu âScanning Modeâ
When you open your Quick Menu, you will be able to see more information on userâs nameplates, as well as view information on users. This acts as a âscannerâ, providing more information when your Quick Menu is open. If you point at a user, youâll get basic quick info. Clicking on the user will show more details. This will show their avatar thumbnail, their name, their displayed rank, as well as other information.
Interacting with a User

As you can see in the top left, the userâs avatar image and name is displayed. Their Trust Rank displays below their avatar thumbnail, and the thumbnail is highlighted in the appropriate color . To the right, you can see their current status. The text box below the status is a âtooltipâ, which will give you helpful information depending on what youâre pointing at.
Selecting a user pulls up a more detailed Social Quick Menu.

Using this menu also allows you to send a Friend Request to the user, turn their voice on and off, and view Details on the user (which brings up the full social Menu for that user). Clicking on the âNot Blockedâ/âBlockedâ button will toggle blocking that user.
Clicking âPrevâ and âNextâ at the top let you scroll through all the users in the instance. This is useful just to get a picture of how you have settings set for users, who you have muted, who you have as a friend, etc.
âWarnâ and âKickâ are buttons available when you are the owner of an instance â it allows you to moderate your instance as you see fit. Back will take you back to the previous menu, which is probably the Quick Menu.
Hiding and Showing Avatars
In the Social Quick Menu, clicking âUse Safety Settingsâ will allow the Safety Mode that youâve chosen to determine how to display that userâs avatar. Choosing âShow Avatarâ or âHide Avatarâ will override the Safety Mode youâre on, and show/hide the avatar and all features.
Clicking âShow Avatarâ is the easiest way to override the Shield Level for an individual user!
Nameplates
The Safety and Trust system stays out of the way the majority of the time. Namely, a user's Trust Rank is only visible when you open the Quick Menu.
The text in the top left of the nameplate indicates what Trust Rank that user has. Again, this text will only appear when you have your Quick Menu open.
How does the Trust system work?
The Trust systemâs inner workings are intentionally hidden so that it is more difficult to exploit. Regardless, the best way to raise your Rank is simply to play VRChat â spending time exploring, making friends, and creating content (once you are permitted to do so) will all help you increase your Trust Rank, and will show off more of your avatarâs features.
There are a few things we want to point out that will not raise your Trust Rank:
- Standing or idling in a room (AFKing)
- Uploading a large amount of low-effort content
- Mass-friending large amounts of users
How am I protected from malicious users?
We have built this system to be durable, and it is capable of detecting and mitigating attacks against a userâs reputation. Although we canât share exact details of how we mitigate these types of attacks, it is something that we are both prepared for, and can easily adjust to adapt to potential problems we did not foresee. We have prepared for these types of problems and have the ability to adapt to rising issues quickly.
Updated about 1 year ago