Barotrauma Karma System Guide
Barotrauma's karma system punishes griefers and rewards cooperative play — automatically. Understand the thresholds, configure the right preset for your server, and generate your XML in seconds.
Config Builder
Add this inside the root <serversettings> element, or set the attributes on the existing element.
| Karma Range | Status |
|---|---|
| 50 – 100 | Good standing |
| 20 – 49 | Warning zone |
| 0 – 19 | Kick eligible |
| Setting | Default | Strict |
|---|---|---|
| Space Herpes threshold | Karma below 20 | Karma below 40 |
| Auto-kick threshold | Karma below 20 | Karma below 40 |
| Karma decay speed | Normal | Faster — bad actions penalise more |
| Karma recovery speed | Normal | Slower — harder to recover |
| Starting karma (new join) | 50 | 50 |
| Traitor karma penalty | Moderate loss on death | Heavy loss on death |
| Recommended for | Casual / semi-serious | No-griefing, hardcore servers |
Actions That Lower Karma
- ▼ Shooting or attacking crew members
- ▼ Intentionally flooding a compartment (opening hatches to the sea)
- ▼ Cutting critical wires (reactor, navigation, weapons)
- ▼ Detonating explosives near crew members
- ▼ Destroying important sub equipment (reactor, engines, pumps)
- ▼ Being a confirmed traitor (death penalty in Strict)
Actions That Raise Karma
- ▲ Healing injured crew members (bandaging, surgery)
- ▲ Reviving dead or unconscious crew members
- ▲ Repairing hull breaches and damaged equipment
- ▲ Operating the reactor properly and keeping it stable
- ▲ Completing mission objectives with the crew
- ▲ Surviving rounds without committing harmful acts
What Is Space Herpes?
Space Herpes is the community nickname for the Husk infection debuff that the karma system applies when a player's karma drops below the warning threshold (20 on Default, 40 on Strict). The debuff is visible to other players as a status icon, alerting the crew that this person has been flagged as a likely griefer — without revealing the karma number itself.
While under the debuff, the affected player takes additional damage and receives reduced healing from crew. The debuff clears automatically if the player raises their karma back above the threshold. It is designed to be a social and mechanical deterrent that lets the crew self-police before the server auto-kick triggers.
Admins can reset a player's karma at any time using the console command setkarma [value] [character].