[piinkchalk]

Server you were banned on (SMP/Discord): SMP Server

Minecraft name: piinkchalk

Reason for your ban: X-Ray

Who banned you: TheDutyPaid

Why should you be unbanned:

Hi,
As I was trying to log onto the server I was met with the ban message stating that I had used x-ray.
I have not done any form of x-raying to warrant a ban, and I am unsure what evidence exactly is being used against me to have me banned; I was asked to appeal first before I actually am presented with the evidence for the ban. I have been mining for several hours on end for the past few weeks on this server, and since I have been banned without any warning or message from staff beforehand, I am struggling to find evidence why. Upon further thought, I have compiled a few potential cases for my ban that I would like to argue against.

- One potential case for my ban are the times I have dug down and found diamonds or other rare ores. While it is true that this has happened occasionally during my mining sessions, I often do this without finding any ore veins. I only dig down in search of another cave so that I can mine its resources too, oftentimes when a cave is shallow as I've found out larger caves are connected to shallow caves. I have only experienced this around 5 times during my near 2-weeks of constant mining, and the time gap in which I find these diamond veins are very large. The luckiest I have been was finding 2 veins in succession of each-other after mining downwards. Otherwise, the times I dig down in search of another cave does not yield any diamonds.
- The other case I can think of is the fact I do not light up the caves I explore. This is because I use the Lunar Client full-bright option which illuminates the cave, making it easier to see. It does not specifically detect ores for me to mine and I have been told staff has permitted full-bright on the server.

I do not support the use of x-ray, nor have I ever used it - nor do I ever plan to use it for my own gain. I understand the severity of such an accusation and I understand if any of the cases above may have mislead staff into thinking that I was using x-ray. Once again, I have been mining constantly on the server in the past few weeks, and have explored several caves for their resources - often entirely cleaning them of ores and other valuables. I worry that the time I have spent mining for hours on end may have been overlooked. The cases - specifically finding diamonds just by mining down are rare coincidences (and I know that's hard to defend against) that have come up seldom during my sessions, and often times digging down just leads me to another cave or rewards nothing.

Why do you want to come back:
I enjoy playing on this server with my friends. They are just as saddened as I am with the false ban and also hope that staff can bring light onto what would warrant my ban. The community is wonderful and even though I do not often talk publicly on the server it is nice to see how close everyone who plays on the server is with each-other. My time on this server has just been a few months but the experiences I have had on this server are very impactful to me.

- piink

[TheDutyPaid]

While we all have our lucky moments of mining straight down to diamonds.

Here is why I am not sure I trust your explanation of just digging down.

Here we have the end of a natural tunnel.



The only part you mined was to get to the diamonds




Next we have a strip mine, which was mined by another player



Shame they did not find these diamonds to one side, which you was able to get.



This corner by a pool of lava, what is special here?



Just a nice few blocks of diamonds

[piinkchalk]

Thank you for your response, I do apologize for responding later than usual - I've been busy the past week.

I want to iterate that my usage of "digging down and finding diamonds" in my first post was only because I was unsure about exactly what evidence was being used. That was the only thing I could think of that I had experienced a few times during my mining sessions. Obviously it is not the only way I could randomly find diamonds, but I found it was the most common during my mining sessions. The evidence you have attached to your post clears up what exactly was being used against me. I will now explain and argue against the three evidences you have used to the best of my ability. 

All these mining sessions as far as I remember are completely separate, and each of these diamond veins were not encountered in quick succession of each-other.
  
First screenshot - I'd like to repeat that when I reach a dead end of a tunnel, or a shallow cave - or any of the sort and I believe I've completely cleared the cave of valuables and such, I tend to dig downwards in search of an adjacent cave. This is the same case for this screenshot, where at the end of a tunnel I will tend to mine downwards at the end of a cave to find said adjacent cave. This screenshot is taken at a very strange angle in the way that it completely obstructs the view of the hole I dug below the diamonds to get to another cave. You state that "The only part [I] mined was to get to the diamonds" when that is clearly not true - my main intent was to look for another cave after reaching the end of another tunnel by digging downwards. Unfortunately the screenshot doesn't reflect that because again, it is obstructing the view of the hole I mined to go down to another potential cave. If I remember correctly, I did not find an adjacent cave unfortunately and decided to look for another cave for resources. However, in no way was I trying to only mine the diamonds that I found by digging down - the main intent was in search of another cave, the diamonds being an incidental find.
  
Second screenshot - I had the exact same thoughts when I mined through the strip mine and suddenly found those diamonds. However I did not find this vein of diamonds by travelling through the strip mine. Instead, I came across the strip from above, mining downwards and eventually reaching near the strip mine. Had I been travelling across the strip mine then abruptly mine towards the diamonds then I would have understood your suspicion. However I came from above, going down the cave system connected to the strip and eventually finding the strip mine and the lava pool, deciding to mine perpendicular to the strip mine. I do not tend to follow strip mines under the assumption that the previous player already mined the nearby resources, and instead I wanted to deviate from the strip. The diamonds were, once again, a coincidental find, as hard as it may be for you to believe. Seeing that I had several resources in my inventory already from mining other ores in the cave systems, I didn't want to risk losing them and instead went back to my storage room.
  
Last screenshot - Again, a "lucky" find. Mining one block and finding diamonds is a rare incidence in my experience, but I'd like to disprove your assertion that it was an x-ray find. When I find diamonds and believe I have mined enough to the point I risk losing it to say, a creeper explosion, I return to my storage room to store my stuff, leaving any potential ores in rest of the cave unexplored. This was the case for both this screenshot and screenshot 2, where after abruptly finding diamonds I didn't want to risk dying and losing my stuff, and thus returning to my storage room. However, for both screenshot 2 and screenshot 3 (and in addition, screenshot 1), finding diamonds was not the first thing that occurred during my time in each of these caves or tunnel systems. I often spend several hours (say two, or three) alone on exploring one or two caves, really thoroughly going through the resource collecting process and mining everything I can find. If I remember, this diamond find was not immediate as I entered the cave. I had mined several other ores in this cave or a nearby one long before I had found this vein of diamonds by mining one block of deepslate.
  
I am hoping this explains my process thoroughly enough for you to recognize that none of this was done through x-ray. These veins are not a scenario in which I must mine several blocks into a wall to get to a diamond vein - or branch out into another potential vein hidden within the cave. All three veins that I had mined only needed one block to be cleared for me to see the diamonds. While that fact alone does not absolve me of any suspicion - obviously, I would also once again like to bring attention to the fact that these incidences only occurred three times during my countless hours of mining during the last two weeks. I am stating the obvious and it may sound irritating, but when I am mining non-stop for several hours each day - and several hours are put into each singular cave - it is bound for me to get these "lucky" diamonds at least a few times, right? There have been several times throughout my mining sessions where I mine into blocks without finding anything. Additionally, finding these diamonds were not the first things that happened when I started mining in each separate cave. I had collected several other ores such as iron before encountering diamonds and deciding to conclude my mining session or search for another cave. Had these coincidences occurred far more often than just three times I would understand your suspicion. Regardless, I would like to repeat that I have never - and never will - use x-ray and I do not support its use in any form.

- piink

[TheDutyPaid]

Before I hand over this to the staff team for their input, I would like to raise a few points for clarification.

As you may know res reset at the first of the month but the logs of what you mined remain and in a way help to make it clearer. 

You say about mining down to look for other caves and this picture below shows the total of what you mined. Only 3 blocks down under the diamond level.



Second point I could not find anywhere near you mined down to the old strip mine but will give you the benefit of the doubt on that.

Lastly, you say “I had found this vein of diamonds by mining one block of deepslate.” turns out you mined straight down to them and then exited into the large cave.