Safety Resources: For Parents

Who can play VRChat?

Anyone 13 years of age or older can play VRChat. Children under 13 may not use VRChat and are prohibited from creating an account.

How do you play VRChat?

There are many ways to play VRChat! Since it is an online social creative space, there are many activities to participate in.

Check out our Help article on Getting Started with VRChat.

What are VRChat’s rules?

VRChat’s rules are established through three primary documents.

1. VRChat Terms of Service

   The VRChat Terms of Service are the legal, binding Terms that players must agree to abide by when logging into VRChat for the first time.

   All of our rules and guidelines are based on these Terms. They are written using legal terminology and are similar to the Terms established by other applications, platforms, and games.

   In particular, Section 13.2 on Prohibited Conduct covers our expectations of conduct when using the platform.

2. Community Guidelines

   The VRChat Community Guidelines are a natural-language interpretation of the Terms of Service. The Guidelines establish contextual rules and expectations that are easier to understand than the Terms of Service.

   The Guidelines start with a review of our core rules: No hate, no harm, and keep private things private. Beyond that, it goes into some specifics, such as behavior expectations on the platform and guidance for players.

   Regardless of the Guidelines, the Terms remain the “final word” of rules on VRChat.

3. Creator Guidelines

   The VRChat Creator Guidelines provide additional rules for players who create content in VRChat (worlds, avatars) or use VRChat to create other content (like videos or streaming). 

   Like the Community Guidelines, the Creator Guidelines are written with natural language and interpret the Terms of Service. The Terms are the “final word” of rules for content creation.

What is VRChat’s age rating?

VRChat has a PEGI rating of “Parental Guidance Recommended,” with an IARC rating of “12+”. VRChat is unrated by the ESRB or ACB.

Most rating organizations do not consider online interactions or user-generated content in their rating process. Since VRChat consists almost exclusively of user-generated content and interactions with other players, it is difficult to establish a rating based on the standardized game rating model.

Some storefronts may provide or display a rating based on their qualifications. For example, Meta has placed a “T for Teen” ESRB rating on VRChat, but this rating is not an official evaluation from ESRB.

Common Sense Media, an independent crowd-sourced rating organization, rates VRChat as appropriate for ages 16 and up. This rating is derived from reviews and contributions from both parents and players.

As with all applications involving online interactions, educating your children on how to protect themselves online in these spaces is important.

How should I supervise my child in VRChat?

Active parental involvement is crucial to ensuring a safe experience on VRChat. Here are some steps you can take to supervise your child effectively:

Communicate Regularly

• Discuss Activities: Regularly talk to your child about their VRChat activities. Ask them about the worlds they visit, the friends they make, the games they enjoy, and what they talk about with other players.
• Encourage Sharing: Create an open environment where your child feels comfortable sharing their experiences. Encourage them to tell you about any interactions that make them feel uncomfortable or unsafe.

Explore Together

• Join VRChat: Consider joining VRChat yourself and exploring it alongside your child. This will allow you to better understand the platform and observe your child's activities directly.
• Private Instances: Use VRChat's privacy settings to create private instances where you can explore and interact with your child without other users. This helps ensure a controlled and safe environment.

Use Parental Controls and Safety Features

To learn about the Safety Features in VRChat, visit the VRChat Wiki’s page on Trust and Safety systems.

• Parental Controls: All of the platforms that VRChat ships on (Meta, Steam, Google Play Store, Apple App Store) have parental controls that allow you to restrict application access. Consider employing these to limit or restrict access to VRChat.
• Privacy Settings: Familiarize yourself with VRChat's privacy and safety settings. These settings allow you to manage who can interact with your child and how their information is shared.
• Safety Features: Utilize VRChat's safety features such as muting, blocking, and reporting. Teach your child how to use these tools to protect themselves from unwanted interactions.
• Personal Space: Encourage your child to use the Personal Space feature to prevent others from getting too close in the virtual environment.

Monitor and Guide

• Set Boundaries: Establish clear guidelines for your child's use of VRChat, such as setting time limits and encouraging appropriate behavior. Ensure they understand what is acceptable and what is not.
• Monitor Activity: Periodically review your child's activity on VRChat, including their friend list and the worlds they visit. Be vigilant for any signs of inappropriate content or interactions.

Educate and Empower

• Online Safety Education: Educate your child about the importance of online safety. Teach them to recognize and avoid sharing personal information and to be cautious when interacting with strangers.
• Encourage Reporting: Encourage your child to tell you about any inappropriate behavior or content they encounter, and work with you to report content or behavior they see to VRChat. Explain how to use VRChat's reporting system and assure them that it is okay to seek help.

By staying involved and using the tools available, you can help ensure a safe and positive experience for your child on VRChat.

What are some good safety practices to teach my child?

Educate your child on the importance of: 

• Not sharing personal information (real name, address, phone number, etc.). 
• Using aliases or pseudonyms in online interactions.
• Recognizing and reporting inappropriate behavior. 
• Using privacy settings and safety features. 
• Being cautious about accepting friend requests or invitations from strangers.

The points above highlight effective and secure practices for engaging in VRChat and other online activities. If you would like to learn more, ConnectSafely offers parents a range of outstanding online safety guides.

Safe and Positive Uses of VRChat

• Interactive Worlds and Games

  VRChat has many games, interactive worlds, experiences, and more!

  VRChat creators have created many games, from simple games like Freeze Tag and Jigsaw puzzles to more complex social games like Prison Escape or Ghost.

  There are also non-game exploration experiences like Terra Cotta Valley, Organism, and Astral Bounds. Our “Spotlight” World category contains many of these experiences and more.
  
  

• Educational Worlds

  VRChat contains many educational worlds! Our players upload and maintain art galleries, museums, and more that provide exciting and educational experiences.
  
  

• Creative Collaboration

  Many people use VRChat as a creative outlet. You can create paintings in in-app worlds, build with building blocks, or use many other creative methods within VRChat. If you want to invest the time, you can even learn to use Unity on a Windows PC to create worlds and bring them to life with as much fidelity and complexity as you want.
  
  

• Safe Social Interactions

  VRChat hosts many safe, self-moderated communities that run events and meet-ups. With proper supervision, these social experiences can allow you to talk to people from around the world in an immersive environment, all while in the safety of your own home.

Inappropriate Content and Moderation

VRChat strives to provide a safe and positive environment. However, it is important to be aware that some players may engage in activities or create content that is inappropriate for children. This includes content that is explicit, offensive, or otherwise unsuitable for younger audiences. Some content may bypass filters or moderation, and players may be exposed to it during normal usage of VRChat.

VRChat is used by adults for activities such as online dating, partying, and other adult-oriented interactions. Just like in real life, some appearances and behaviors may be acceptable in specific spaces (bars, nightclubs, house parties, music festivals) but not in others (public parks, outdoor malls, birthday parties). VRChat bans harmful and hateful content, but it generally does not ban content that could be described as "suggestive" or "inappropriate" unless exposed in a public place.

Our community guidelines require players to keep adult content private, and most players adhere to this rule. There are, however, occasions when inappropriate content may surface in public spaces where it does not belong. We rely heavily on community reports to identify and address these issues, and we are continuously developing and exploring ways to combat these problems proactively.

How We Handle Inappropriate Content

• Community Reporting:
  Players can report inappropriate behavior or content directly within the app or through our ticketing system. Our Trust and Safety team reviews these reports and takes necessary actions, including content removal, warnings, or banning players.
• Automated Systems:
  We employ automated systems to detect and prevent the upload of harmful or hateful content.
• Community Moderation:
  Many groups and instances within VRChat have their own moderators who help maintain a safe and respectful environment.

What Parents Can Do

• Discuss Boundaries:
  Talk to your child about appropriate and inappropriate behavior and content.
• Monitor Activity:
  Regularly check in on your child's VRChat activities, the avatars they wear, the worlds they go to, and the friends they make.
• Use Safety Features:
  Utilize the various safety and privacy features to manage your child's experience.
• Encourage Reporting:
  Teach your child how to report any inappropriate content or behavior they encounter.

What should I know about VRChat?

• In VRChat, you can explore, play, and immerse yourself in creations made by other players.
  These creations can be games, simulations, or simply a “hangout space,” like a comfortable living room with a TV. There are no goals or objectives in VRChat, and many people use it primarily as a VR social network where you can hang out with others from the comfort of your home.

• VRChat allows players to communicate with others using voice chat.
  This voice chat is proximity-based, and people nearby can hear things broadcasted through the microphone unless certain privacy or safety settings are enabled.

• Players wear “avatars,” which are 3D characters.
  These avatars, created by our players, can look like humans, cartoon characters, robots, mascots, objects, or anything else. Avatars can be interacted with, allowing features like flowing hair, buttons that perform actions, and customizable clothes and colors.

• Players go to “worlds,” which are 3D spaces.
  Our players also create these worlds, which can have a wide range of appearances. Worlds can contain experiences like a theme park ride, games like Freeze Tag or Capture the Flag, visual spectacles like a laser show or music video, or complex systems like a flight simulator. The community filters and moderates worlds through Community Labs.

• Players go to “instances,” which are specific locations in VRChat.
  An instance is tied to a specific world. Any given world can have many instances. Think of it like “copies” of the same world that you can visit. An instance can hold up to 80 people, but on average, 8-15 people will be present with you in a given instance. You can create an instance of any published world.

• Avatars and worlds can be reported and removed if they violate our Terms of Service or Community Guidelines.
  These guidelines emphasize minimizing hate and harm to others while encouraging freedom of identity and expression, and require keeping adult-themed content in private, appropriate spaces.

• Players can be friends with other people.
  Which allows them to see when others are online and join each other with ease. Being a friend with someone also allows you to invite them to instances.

• Instances have permission levels that determine who can join.
  The most common type is “Public”, where anyone can join. “Friends” instances only allow your friends (or friends of people present) to join. “Invite” instances are more private and require an explicit invitation to join.

• There are “Groups” in VRChat, which allow players to organize in various ways.
  These groups are used for various purposes like organized event groups, friend groups, graphical customization, and more. These groups can create their own instances and moderate those spaces by kicking or banning disruptive players. These are called “Group Instances.”

• You can moderate your own experience in VRChat.
  You can mute a specific player, preventing them from speaking to you. You can also block a player, which prevents them from seeing you and you from seeing them. 

• You can use various systems to keep yourself safe.
  The Safety Features allow you to turn off disruptive features on avatars or even disable voice communications and avatars from all other players. You can also use Personal Space to prevent people from approaching you too closely. You can use our Interaction permission system to prevent players from interacting with your avatar. Finally, our automated Trust system automatically blocks and mutes untrustworthy players.

• VRChat is moderated through player reports.
  If a player is reported through our in-app reports or our ticketing system, our Trust and Safety team investigates the report and takes appropriate action. We also maintain automated content moderation systems for some categories of content that prevent hateful or harmful content from being uploaded.

How do I control access to VRChat?

• Meta Quest

  On the Meta Quest platform, you can use the Parental Supervision system to gate your child's access to VRChat. Learn more about this system here.

• Steam

  Steam provides parental controls through a system called Steam Families. You can learn about this system here.

• Android Phones

  Google provides parental controls for Android devices through the Google Play Store. Learn more about this system here.

• iOS App Store

  Apple provides parental controls for the iOS operating system, including app activity. Learn more about this system here.

Contact Information

For any safety concerns or to report an issue, you can contact VRChat support, or contact our Trust and Safety team. 

Resources for Parents

• Common Sense Media
• ConnectSafely
• Family Online Safety Institute
• Meta Quest Parental Supervision
• Steam Families
• Google Play Parental Controls