PROTOCOLS

Operational Parameters

Solve Your Own Numbers

1. No flag sharing. Each interface solves their own numbers. Sharing flags between teams is irrelevance. Irrelevance is terminated.
2. Tools of any kind are permitted. Use what you need. This includes large language models — they are tools, not solutions. They cannot finish the job.
3. Internet research is permitted. Tradecraft is rewarded. Public sources, documentation, and writeups from prior events are fair game. Plagiarised solutions are not.
4. The infrastructure is not a target. Attack the challenges, never the platform. No probing, scanning, or exploiting CTFd, the scoreboard, or shared services.
5. One designation per interface. One account per person. Multiple accounts to inflate team count or game first-blood is termination.
6. Teams are 1 to 6 analog interfaces. Solo registrations welcome. Team invites flow through the standard CTFd channel.
7. First Blood is logged automatically. Bragging rights only. No bonus points. The flame on the scoreboard is the reward.

The Channel Is Public

1. Discord is the only frequency. All event communication routes through the #numbers channel. Help requests, broken-challenge reports, general talk — all there.
2. No solutions in the channel during the event. Keep solve paths, flag fragments, and how-you-cracked-it out of #numbers while the event is running.
3. No flag posting. Not as a joke. Not "redacted." Not even your own team's flag.
4. Broken challenges go to @admin. Do not exploit. Report it. The work depends on the integrity of the puzzles.
5. The admin is one person. Response times may vary. All reports are reviewed. The Machine never sleeps — the administrator does.
6. Writeups are embargoed for 72 hours post-event. Do not publish solve paths, walkthroughs, or flag derivations until Sep 23, 2026 03:30 UTC. After that window, publish freely — and share in #numbers.

Operate With Respect

1. Speak professionally. The channel is public. Treat it accordingly. Casual is welcome. Cruel is not.
2. No harassment. Of any kind. Toward any person. For any reason. No racism, sexism, homophobia, transphobia, ableism, or hostility based on nationality, religion, or appearance. This is non-negotiable.
3. No hate speech, no slurs. Including jokes. Including "ironic" use. The Machine processes context. It will not be ambiguous about this.
4. Disagree without contempt. Technical debates are encouraged. Personal attacks are not. Argue with the argument, not the person.
5. Report concerns to @admin. Privately, via DM. Decisions are final but explainable.
6. Respect the work of others. Writeups posted by other interfaces are theirs. Credit, don't copy.

Relevance Has a Number

1. Prize disbursement. International winners: PayPal or wire transfer. India-based winners: UPI. Payment details collected after results are confirmed.
2. 72-hour claim window. Winners must respond to prize notification within 72 hours of results being announced. Non-response results in the prize being withheld permanently. It will not be passed to the next-ranked team.
3. Verification may be required. Winners may be asked to verify their solve path before disbursement. Prizes are not awarded to teams found in violation of these protocols.
4. Prizes are per team, not per member. Distribution within a team is the team's responsibility.

Irrelevance Is Terminated

The following result in immediate disqualification, scoreboard removal, and ban from all current and future WATCHLIST events:

• Flag sharing between teams
• Attacks on event infrastructure
• Automated brute-force at scale
• Multiple accounts per interface
• Harassment in any channel
• Hate speech of any kind
• Exploiting broken challenges
• Plagiarised solutions submitted
• Writeup published before embargo lifts
• Prize claim fraud or false verification

The Machine's decisions are final. Appeals route through ctf@xposedornot.com.