Terminology
Admin
The people who run the server. Have a variety of power-abuse buttons to keep the game from being fun.
Adminhelp
A command which lets you send a message to the admins. Can be accessed by typing Adminhelp in game, by pressing F1 or by pressing Adminhelp in the Admin tab.
Use this instead of the OOC channel if you think someone is griefing or if you otherwise have something to ask the admins about.
These can include questions about etiquette or the rules, etc.
It should be noted that even when no admins are online, any messages sent in adminhelp are logged so you should still send one.
Additional Access
Under certain circumstances, such as a low server population, admin-toggled, or simply set in the server configuration by the host, jobs may be granted additional access when they join the round.
Aft
Nautical term. It means the back of a ship, or in our case, south.
AI
The Artificial Intelligence, the station's computer which can access machinery on the station.
Analyzer
Most often refers to Health Analyzers, but can also refer to Atmospheric Analyzers, Botany's Plant Analyzers, or Research & Development's Destructive Analyzer.
Anomaly
A kind of random event announced over comms that can cause station damage if not dealt with in time.
Antag
Antagonist. The "opponent" or "enemy". Every Game Mode (except extended and meteor) has at least one.
APC
The Area Power Controller, a square box on the wall that provides power to the room and is the purview of Station Engineers.
Asimov
The default laws that the AIs and therefore the Cyborgs are held to. Taken from Isaac Asimov's short stories and the Three Laws of Robotics.
Basically makes robots follow orders and are unable to harm people.
Atmos
Either an Atmospheric Technician (which are also commonly known as Atmos Tech) or the Atmospherics area itself which deals with the air supply.
Ayys/Ayyliens
Ban
Blocking a person from access to the SS13 server for a period of time. This can happen if a person is not obeying the given rules.
Read the guide to evading getting banned for further guidelines.
Badmin
Bad Admin, refers to an admin who abuses their powers.
Beepsky/Officer Beepsky
A Securitron that starts in Security. Will chase, stun, and handcuff anyone set to be arrested in the security records.
Blob
Can refer to the Blob game mode or the Blob random event.
A big jelly thing that spreads quickly, causes enormous damage and beats the shit out of people.
Bolt/Bolted
A feature of Airlocks. When the bolts are dropped, the door cannot move from its current position, be it open or closed. They can be lifted by the AI or hacking the airlock.
Borg
A Cyborg.
Borging
Making a Cyborg out of someone. Done in Robotics usually.
Braindead
Refers to a player who has logged off or been disconnected. Examining a braindead character reveals the message; "has a vacant, braindead expression..."
While these players are not in-game, they should generally be left alone (or preferably dragged somewhere safe). The rules still apply to braindead characters.
NOTE: This person can still come back to the game! Who knows, maybe their computer just crashed for a minute.
Bridge
The command center of the ship where the heads start. Found in the center of the station.
Brig
An area of the station north of the Bridge and just under Security Office where people are held by security after being arrested.
BYOND
The shitty, laggy platform SS13 was coded on. You need it to be able to play the game, unfortunately.
Cargo
A shortened version of either the cargo bay, or the whole of the supply section, not including mining dock and mining outpost.
Catatonic
A player who has ghosted while alive, disabling them from returning to play. When such a player is examined, it gives a message stating "He is totally catatonic. The stresses of life in deep-space must have been too much for him. Any recovery is unlikely."
These people are considered corpses and can be taken to the Morgue or Kitchen.
Clone/Cloning
To revive someone back to life through cloning their dead body, usually done in Genetics.
Corporate
A lawset for the AI, which makes it a ruthless profits-maximizing, efficiency-enforcing machine.
Cuban Pete
They call me Cuban Pete, I'm the king of the rhumba beat.
When I play my maracas I go
Chick chicky boom, chick chicky boom
A notorious griefer who applied the bomb-making knowledge of a mysterious first scientist mentor who had invented ludicrous sized bombs. The station was turned into nearly dust every round he was on, antagonist or not. Because of him there was a bombcap hardcoded into the game.
CE
The Chief Engineer.
Centcom
Short for "Central Command", the administration branch of Nanotrasen which runs SS13. Will periodically send messages to the station which are usually of debatable usefulness.
Also refers to the area the Emergency Escape Shuttle goes to when it leaves SS13.
CMO
The Chief Medical Officer.
CO2
Carbon Dioxide, an invisible gas kept in black canisters. Will knock you out and suffocate you. A small trace amount of it makes up breathable air.
Comdom
A derogatory name for an incompetent and abusive Captain.
Crew
This is everybody on Space Station 13 that is not a Syndicate, Wizard, Alien, or whatever.
Typically what they do is get the station into shape, like setting up the singularity and ordering supplies. Oh, and beating the shit out of the other groups of players, of course!
Crit
To be in a critical state. At this point, your character has lost consciousness and will slowly die from lack of oxygen.
Cryo
The big glass things in Medbay. Putting dying people in here can save them.
Cult
Refers to either the Cult game mode, or the cultists within.
Deadchat
A chat channel dead players speak on using the say command. Can only be seen by other dead players.
Note that what you learn here is forgotten by your character if they're revived.
Deadmin
Most commonly read as dead-min (as in dead admin), but actually stands for de-admin, meaning the action of removing administrative powers from an administrator.
Disk
Infrequently a science or genetics research disk, but most often refers to the Nuclear Authentication Disk, used in Nuclear Mode. If you are the captain, guard it with your life.
If you are a traitor with it as your objective, GET DAT FUKKEN DISK.
Donk/Bangin' Donk
wait wait hold on, you know what you wanna do with that right? you wanna put a bangin' donk on it
Drone
Either a type of alien or a player-controlled repair bot.
Emag
Another name for the Cryptographic Sequencer traitor item, which permanently opens doors and has myriad other uses.
Emagged/Emaged
Used either as a verb to describe the action of using an emag on something, or as an adjective to describe an object that someone has used an emag on.
Electrified/Shocked
Another feature of Airlocks. If an electrified airlock is touched by someone without insulated gloves, they will receive an electric shock, taking damage and being stunned for some time.
The AI and airlock hacking can activate or disable electrification. Some grilles are also electrified -- cutting a cable without wearing insulated gloves will also electrify you.
Engine
The large area in the south of the station that is used to start and contains a gravitational singularity or a tesla that provides power to the station.
Emoji
A.K.A. smileys, except smile is not mandatory. Learn them all!
ERP
Erotic Role Play (ERP) is the action of when a player or players engages in roleplaying that is erotic in nature.
An inherently controversial subject, people's reactions to ERP ranges from upset and rage to taking off one's clothes and joining to ding dong bannu.
EVA
A room just southwest of the Security wing where space suits, magboots, jetpacks and the RCD are kept. Stands for Extra-Vehicular Activity.
Fore
Nautical term. It means the front of a ship, or in our case, north.
Ghost
Refers to a command you can type when you have died to become a ghost, and to the actual ghosts themselves.
Ghosts can speak on deadchat, move around the station freely, see everything, and can't interact with anything meaningful.
They are used to observe the game after you have died. Cannot be seen directly by living players unless something is very wrong.
Gibs
The bloody, torn apart remnants of a former living being. Created by people and monkeys exploding. A cyborg that blows up has its own version of gibs: robot debris.
To gib something is to turn it into gibs, usually by a bomb or the Chef's machine that turns people into meat, the Gibber.
Gimmick
Can refer to a player gimmick or a gimmick round. Basically a round or player which plays with a certain "theme".
Can be amusing once or twice but doing this regularly runs it into the ground very quickly.
Goofball
Refers to the Tesla Engine and specifically its energy balls, named for its coder.
Grayshirt/Grays
Assistants, named after their signature gray uniform. Not to be confused with ayyliens. AKA grayshits.
Graytide
Originated from a bug in the job selection system, causing the majority of the crew to be roundstart Assistants, dressed in gray. This resulted in swarms of Assistants storming the Brig and antagonize security. Now the word refers to any griefy behavior of that bent.
Greentext
An alternate way of describing a victory as an antagonist. Derived from the green text used for 'success'. Can also refer to the Greentext book, usually as the result of a wizard event.
Grief
A.K.A. Griefing/Griefer/Griffed/Griff/Griffon/Gruffer/Grover/Shitler/Chucklefuck/(Pulling a) Cuban Pete.
Intentionally ruining the game for others without the metagame pardon of being an antagonist.
Note that this is subjective and up to the admin's interpretation, not yours. Report this using adminhelp to keep the servers tidy!
Gulag
The Russian term for the Labor Camp.
Hacking
The act of breaking the security measures on equipment such as Airlocks or APCs by illicit means.
Harmbaton
Using the stun baton on harm intent, resulting in damage in exchange for shorter stun time. Usually seen used by shitcurity.
Heads
The station's Heads of Staff, each in command of a department. They are also the targets of a revolution.
Honk/Hunke
HoG
Abbreviation for the Hand of God game mode.
HoP
Head of Personnel. Should assign jobs and shit, but usually ends up giving himself Captain-level access, ignoring his job, and acting like a supercop in an owl costume.
HoS
The Head of Security.
Hulk
Used to refer to the superpower or a person in possession of it. People with the Hulk gene turn green and become super strong, being able to punch through walls, windows, and other fixtures. Hurts like hell if one hits you. Hulks are an exception to some killing rules (see the Rules for details)
Husk
A corpse which has turned into a gray, ugly... mummified thing.
This has either happened by extreme heat (fire), extreme cold (space) or liquid suckification (changeling sucked their juices/DNA out). Not a nice thing to witness at first, but you get used to it.
Hypo
IC
In Character. Stuff that is happening in the game.
IC in OOC
The act of describing anything happening in the game over the OOC channel. The rule of thumb is if a person not involved in the incident or not observing the game can still tell what's going on, it's IC in OOC. Usually comes with a chastising and a thousand mini-mods squawking out "ICKY OCKY!!!" but excessive use results in a ban. (See the OOC page for details)
Internals
Usually an oxygen tank of some sort and a gas mask. Basically any worn item that lets you breathe when you otherwise can't.
Internals Box
That box which comes in a spawned player's backpack containing a transparent breath mask, one emergency-sized tank of pure oxygen, and an epinehrine medipen.
A great place to keep things you don't access a lot but want to keep on you.
Job Ban
Similar to a Ban, except in this case you'll be prevented from playing a specific role, such as a team-based antagonist or a head of staff. You may even get banned from playing an entire department if you demonstrate an inability to follow the rules.
Kudzu
Space vines. Can start growing randomly or be planted.
Lag/Space Lag/Spacetime Distortions
Concept common to almost all online gaming. Not worth explaining in depth here - basically it's the server (server-side lag) or your own computer (client-side lag) being slow and causing gaps between you doing stuff and it actually happening to grow. Sometimes referred as 'time warp' or something similar when players are in character.
Lathe
Short for the Autolathe, located in Cargo. Could also be Protolathe, located in R&D Lab.
Law/Laws
Rules which the AI and Cyborgs must follow. Are somewhat open to interpretation by the player, but the majority consensus and badmin rulings are what really count. May be modified or changed at an AI Upload Terminal using various modules, wiped back to the basic three using the Reset Module, or purged entirely with the Purge Module. Note that core modules cannot be removed by the standard reset module.
Ling
A Changeling or Shadowling.
Malf
Short for malfunction. Can refer to either the AI Malfunction game mode, or to describe the AI in said mode.
Mass Driver
Computer or switch operated devices found in Toxins, the Chapel and arrivals Disposals.
Any objects on them when they are activated will be thrown forward at high speed, either into the bomb testing area (Toxins) or space (Chapel or Disposals).
Mentorhelp
A command which allows you to message any online mentors. The command can be found under the "Mentor" tab.
The sole purpose of mentors to answer any question about the game you throw at them. This can be about an Antag or setting up the engine.
Mentors however are not able to answer question about the rules. Any questions that they do recieve about the rules are re-directed to admins.
It is also recommended you use mentorhelp instead of OOC for questions as you may leak IC information.
Mini-mod
Those players without admin or mod powers or responsibilities who chastise other players and list server rule infractions incessantly. They should be ignored.
Mod
Could be used to refer to Moderator, the rank, or any admin.
MMI
A Man-Machine-Interface. Essentially player-cyborg-interface. A cyborg has one inside it. Enables the brain to speak and see.
Put a brain into an empty MMI, insert the whole thing into an empty cyborg and you can bring it back to life!
Nar-Sie/Nar-Nar
The eldritch God of blood whom blood cultists serve and often wish to summon.
Notes
A command which displays "Notes" kept in your character's memory, which you add with the "Add-Note" command. Some notes are automatically added depending on the circumstances, such as revolutionaries having the list of rev members memorized, Syndicate leaders having the nuclear bomb code memorized, or the time of your death. Also refers to the top secret notes admins keep on players, usually if they get banned.
N2
Nitrogen, an invisible gas kept in red canisters. Mostly useless but makes up a certain percentage of breathable air. Not to be confused with chemical reagent nitrogen from chemistry.
N2O
Nitrous Oxide, also known as laughing gas or anesthetic. White gas kept in red canisters with a white stripe, that will knock you out and suffocate you at high enough concentrations.
Nanotrasen
The autonomous super-corporation that built and operates the station, according to the backstory.
Common misspellings include NanoTrasen, Nanotressen, Nanotransen, Nanotracer, and You Know That Fucking Company We Work For. (See CentCom for the difference between Nanotrasen and CentCom).
Nuke
Can refer to either the Nuclear game mode (also known as Syndicate), or the Nuclear Fission Explosive used in said mode.
O2
Oxygen. Invisible gas usually kept in blue and white Canisters. Vital for reasons that you should already know, but deadly for reasons you may not.
One-Human(ed)
Referring to a custom AI law that designates only one member of the crew as a human. Usually accompanied with an order to purge "non-humans."
OOC
The blue bolded chat channel which is shown to all players. Don't use this to talk about anything going on in the game (until right at the end of the game generally).
Might get switched off occasionally if it gets too idiotic. You can toggle the visibility of the ooc channel by using the corresponding command.
OOC in IC
The inverse of the much more common IC in OOC. Whenever a game mechanic, metafeature, or player-to-player conversation is referenced in the say or emote channels.
Heavily frowned upon as it ruins MY IMMERSIONNNN!
Talking ((Like this)) is still OOC in IC.
Ops/Operatives
Short for nuke ops. Generally heard over the radio shortly before the station goes boom.
ORM
Short for the Ore Redemption Machine, which is used to turn the materials miners bring into usable sheets, typically used by science. Often found at Cargo or Science for this very reason.
Paladin
A lawset for the AI, your stereotypical white-knight good-guy role.
Parapen
The Sleepy Pen was previously called Parapen, short for Paralysis Pen.
PDA
Short for Personal Data Assistant, a handheld device that acts as a pager, flashlight, messenger and other useful functions, depending on what cartridge is inserted.
Perma/Permabrig
The Prison Wing in the fore section of security, where prisoners are kept permanently.
Plasma
A.K.A. Biotoxin. Purple gas kept in orange canisters. Poisonous and flammable.
Research into uses and properties of plasma is the station's prime reason for existence, according to the backstory.
Port
Nautical term. It means the side of a ship on the left when one is facing forward, or in our case, west.
If you're the kind of person who likes mnemonic devices, it's useful to remember that PORT has the same number of letters as LEFT.
QM
Usually refers to the Quartermaster, but can also mean the Cargo Bay or the people who work there.
Radio
Normally refers to the headset on your head which can be used with the command 'say ";help that shitler traitor is griefing me"', for example. Can also refer to station bounced radios and intercoms. Shows up as green text with a symbol and frequency appended to it. Additional department-specific radios also exsist. To use the equipped department radio's default department frequency use 'say ".h Hello Department!"'. (See Radio for details or how to use the radio when it has multiple department frequencies available)
Rat'var
The clockwork Justiciar - God of time and deity of the clockwork cultists
RCD
Rapid Construction Device. A piece of equipment that can quickly make and break floors, regular walls, and airlocks.
RD
The Research Director.
Records
Comes in two flavors, Security and Medical, both accessible from terminals with red or white screens, respectively.
Medical Records are mostly useless and thus mostly unused, but Security Records contain useful fingerprint information and can be used to have OFficer Beepsky arrest people on sight.
Redshirt
Security Officers, named for their signature red uniforms and tendency to die at the hands of everything.
Redtext
An alternate way of describing a loss as an antagonist. Derived from the red text used for 'fail'.
Report/Centcom Report/Traitor Report
A document printed out from communications consoles at the start of most game modes. Lists who might be the traitor and what might be their targets.
Inaccurate to the point where it's usually false. Do not treat this report as proof of anything.
Rev
Could refer to the game mode Revolution, a member of the Revolution in said game mode, or a Revenant.
Revhead
One of the leaders of the revolution in Revolution game mode.
RnD/R&D
Refers to Research and Development, or the Laboratory that carries it out.
Robust/Robusting
The game's ROBUST COMBAT SYSTEM. To robust someone is to beat the shit out of them or at least win in a fight.
The definition of what exactly makes a crewmember robust varies from person to person, but it's almost universally agreed to mean being skilled despite the inherently clunky interface.
RP
(MY IMMERSION) "Role Play". Basically acting within the mental/emotional confines of your in-game character and not yourself. This is encouraged on our servers.
Shitcurity
A derogatoy term for Security Officers who are abusive, incompetent or generally shit. Can usually be heard shouted by the guy who just got arrested.
Shitsec
Shorthand for shitcurity.
Shuttle
Most of the time refers to the Emergency Escape Shuttle which shows up at the end of the round in the northeast of the station. Can also refer to the Arrival Shuttle (where you start if you join late), the syndicate or wizard shuttle (which you'll rarely see, if ever), the Supply Shuttle (which brings items to the Cargo Bay), or the mining and prison shuttles (which move people between the mining and prison stations, respectively).
Silicon
Signal
A beep sent from a Remote Signalling Device. "Default Signal" is used to refer to the default setting of the devices, which is Frequency 147.9, Code 30.
Singulo/Singuloth/Sing
The gravitational singularity, what is essentially a black hole that emits radiation, this radiation is converted to power. It should be contained with a shield, if it isn't, don't stop to take in the view, get those legs moving.
Slings
Shadowlings, one of the station's many antagonist types.
Spacing
The act of forcing or throwing someone out an airlock into space, usually for malicious purposes.
SS13
Space Station 13. Generally used to refer to the game rather than the actual station.
Starboard
Nautical term. It means the side of a ship on the right when one is facing forward, or in our case, east.
Space Wind
Shifts in air pressure that can cause players and items they're dragging to be knocked into space.
Syndie/Synd
Can refer to the organization known as the Syndicate, a coalition of companies that execs their hate of Nanotrasen, according to the backstory, or to raid groups and operatives of said coalition. Traitors, traitor Cyborgs and traitor AIs are Syndicate affiliates and Nuclear mode's premise revolves around a direct Syndicate attack. Ingame, they have randomized company names that usually look something like "GeoDyne West Operative #2" or "Waffle Co. Czar" and there are usually at least two of them and up to six. They also have access to a lot of special syndicate gear.
Tabling
The act of grabbing someone then clicking a table to instantly knock them down on it, usually followed by a toolbox in the skull or being stripped.
Tele
While usually referring to the Hand Teleporter, it could also be referring to the full-fledged Teleporter in the Teleporter Room. Most people have no idea how to use it.
Tesla
The Tesla Engine. An alternative engine that Engineering can build. Also commonly referred to as the "goofball", so named for the programmer who created it.
Testmerge
Trying out new features or significant changes usually means temporarily merging that feature into the server in order to gather bug reports and feedback.
Tcomms/Telecomms
Telecommunications, the room holding servers that allows headsets to work. Does not affect Intercoms or Station Bounced Radios.
Thermals
Optical Thermal Scanners. Green glasses which let you see people through walls and in the dark. The only thing they can't see through is hiding in closets. Generally not available to the crew.
Toxins
That section of the station east of Medbay, better called the Research Division containing Research and Development, Xenobiology, the Toxins Lab and the Research Director's office.
It is very rarely not filled with fire, hot gas, poisonous vapors, blood, acid, foam of all kinds and dangers, or the aftermath of all this destruction.
Traitor
Used to refer to the mode or an actual Traitor (assigned by the game mode or by admins).
TraitorChan/Traitorling
Used to refer to the game mode, a combination of Traitor and Changeling.
Valid/Validhunting
Adjective: Someone whom it is allowed under the Rules to kill, usually on grounds of being a loud traitor. Verb: The act of killing or deliberately seeking out said kill. An inherently controversial subject.
Voice in Your Head
A subtle, in-character message from an admin.
Vote
A command which lets you call a vote to restart the game or change the game mode (which will restart the game anyway), or a request by other players indicating that the command should be typed. Calling votes when an unruined game is in progress for any reason is looked down upon, but it's not like votes work when the game really is ruined either. All votes are liable to being canceled by admins.
VOX
The audio announcement system that the AI will use to curse at send messages to the crew.
WGW
The legendary tale of Woody's Got Wood. This vile tome is highly forbidden, and someone will eventually print it to spam over the radio any chance they get. Doing so will usually result in a station-wide manhunt, or the admin spawning a Space Carp named "Video Games" outside your hidey hole.
Wormhole
A black swirly portal that shows up during the Space-Time Anomaly random event or the verb used when thrown through a wormhole by an aggressor or your own stupidity. Anything coming into contact with a wormhole will be teleported to a random area on or off the station. They can be fairly dangerous or cause temporary blockades. Not to be confused with portals made from the Handheld Teleporter, which are blue or (more rarely) orange.
Xeno
Can refer to Aliens, or Xenobiology.
Wizard
Usually refers to the Wizard game mode, or a Wizard player who has access to a number of spells and will probably wreck your shit on sight or die in the first 12 seconds of a Wizard game.
Z-Level
Another area/map which the game consists of. Gameplay-wise, it's just a level.
Z-levels are areas you randomly spawn into when you go over the edge of an area. Part of BYOND's functionality. For example, the station, DJ station, Central Command and the Derelict are all on different Z-levels. Going off the edge of one Z-Level will take you to another.