General Questions
Is SCP real?
No. We are a creative writing website. The Foundation, its anomalies, and everything else that's been written about is fictional.
Furthermore, we are not a roleplaying site, and users are asked to not act in-character while conversing with other users.
Can the memetic hazards hurt me? Will I die if I scroll down and read SCP-001? Can I click on SCP-2000?
The "memetic hazards" are just random pictures. The security warnings are just to tell the reader how much the Foundation thinks these things are important and scary.
Likewise, you'll be perfectly fine reading SCP-001 or SCP-2000. This is true for all SCPs like this - you're supposed to read everything.
These are works of fiction — they can't hurt you.
How can I join the SCP Wiki?
You'd first need to create a Wikidot account, our current hosting platform, then apply for it to be a member of the SCP Wiki. For more information, go to our Joining the Site page, or to the Guide for Newcomers page under the For New Users collapsible on the sidebar.
Do you all write this stuff, or did someone else?
We wrote all this stuff. We are a community of writers - Check out the Author Pages for a semi-comprehensive list of contributors who have made all this possible.
How long has this site been around?
Basically, the original SCP (SCP-173) was written back in 2007, the first incarnation of this wiki (on editthis.info) was made in early 2008, and we moved to Wikidot in the middle of that year.
Read this forum post and the site history essay for more.
Do you have any social media, chat platforms or other methods of contact?
We have a variety of social media accounts, including a Twitter, Facebook, Reddit, Instagram, and TikTok. We also have an IRC Chat and a soon-to-be-announced Official Discord.
If you have any questions about a social media account or want to get in touch with SCP Staff outside of Wikidot/IRC, please email scp.internet.outreach@gmail.com.
Can I draw or make artwork about an SCP? Can I show you?
Absolutely! Post away in our Fan Work forum and be sure to check out our official guide about How to Post Your Art to the SCP Wiki to learn about how to make an art page!
I have a question about Containment Breach/Secret Lab/Blackout/some other video game.
We are not the official site for any of the SCP video games, and cannot take feedback or bug reports on them.
I have a question about a content creator's SCP work.
We are not officially affiliated with any non-wiki SCP content creators. Their content can be found on their own channels.
I want to create a project based on the SCP Foundation. Can I do that?
Yes! See our Licensing Guide for more information. The short version:
- SCP is licensed under the Creative Commons Share-Alike 3.0 License — meaning anyone else can copy and profit off of anything you make if they wish, as long as there is proper attribution.
- Yes, you can make money off of anything — except the former image of SCP-173, Izumi Kato's Untitled 2004. But you must follow the license.
- You must credit us and link our site.
- No, we can't take off the Creative Commons license. Not "won't" — "can't".
- Yes, we will help you sort out licensing confusion if you ask. See the Licensing hub for more details.
Any additional licensing questions can be forwarded to SCPLicensing@gmail.com.
Can I change someone else's article?
Only for spelling, punctuations and grammar corrections (commonly abbreviated as SPaG). Otherwise, please leave a comment in the article's discussion thread requesting a change. You can also send a message to the author, or to the rewrite team. Consult Site Rules for more info.
What is vandalism?
We define any unauthorized edits to pre-existing content on the site as vandalism. You are free to edit your own works as you see fit, but editing the work of other users without permission is against the rules. You are already authorized to make minor grammar edits (fixing unintentional typos, spelling errors, etc), but nothing more.
You may request any additional edits to be made to existing work by asking the original author, the current curator of that work, or a member of the Rewrite Team. If you don’t get permission, don’t make the edit. If you don’t know if your edit requires permission, you may ask in our IRC chat.
Questions About SCPs & Stories
In-character, what is the SCP Foundation?
We are the last bastion of security in a world where natural laws rapidly break down. We are here to protect humanity from the things that go bump in the night, from people who wield power beyond mortal understanding. We are here to make the world a safer place. We are the holders of wonders, and the caretakers of dreams. We are why the world continues.
See also About The SCP Foundation and the Foundation Universe Hub.
What does "SCP" stand for?
Both "Special Containment Procedures" and the motto "Secure. Contain. Protect."
What's a "skip" or a "scip"?
It's slang for "SCP".
What's the correct spelling: amnesic, amnestic, or amnesiac?
The correct spellings are "amnesic" and "amnestic". "Amnestic" is more commonly used and considered the correct term. "Amnesiac" means "a person who has amnesia".
Note: A few authors of older works have chosen to keep the "amnesiac" spelling, the original spelling, as a stylistic choice. If you're helping fix the spelling on old articles, please make note of this and respect the author's decision should they revert your edit(s).
What's up with D-Class? Are they really from death row? Are they really killed at the end of the month?
Only sometimes. Check out Security Clearance Levels for one interpretation of D-Class, but because there's no centralized canon, even that's more of a guideline than a rule.
How come there are so many contradictions? What is canon?
The SCP Foundation is built on contradiction! There is no "one true canon", and even the established canons we do have tend to be flexible. It's up to the reader to decide what works for them and what is too "off-concept."
As one might put it, there is no canon.
In-character, the Foundation may put false and contradictory information in "public" versions of SCP articles as a security measure.
Is SCP-173 based on the Weeping Angels? Or the Endermen?
Probably not. The current oldest known posting of SCP-173 on 4chan was created on June 22nd, 2007, a couple of weeks after the BBC airdate of Blink, and before the US airdate for the episode. The Endermen were created in 2010, much later.
Which SCPs should I read?
We'd recommend reading a variety of SCPs, including from our more recent Series (linked on the sidebar) to see how our writing has progressed over time, especially if you intend to contribute to the site. Read some Tales and GoI Formats as well!
Additionally, check out the User-Curated Lists for recommendations sourced from the community itself! You can also ask on the forums or in our IRC chat for peoples' recommendations.
I remember reading this one SCP, but I can't find it anymore!
One of two things might have happened:
- You might have forgotten the number! There's… quite a few of these, so that's common. This forum thread is a good resource for finding articles you can't remember, and the SCP Reddit also allows users to make "Tip of my Tongue" posts in case they want to find something again. You can also use the Tag Search to narrow down the list as well.
- The SCP in question was deleted. While we don't archive deleted articles ourselves, if an article was around for long enough, it may have been archived by the fan-made SCPper.
Questions About Writing SCPs & Other Writing Questions
How do I write an SCP? Where do I submit an SCP?
Read the How to Write an SCP for a step-by-step guide - Don't skim it, or you might miss important info! Outside of that, there's a ton of very useful information in the Guide Hub - take a look!
What is the sandbox?
The sandbox is a website set up to help draft new articles, allowing you to test Wikidot syntax and formatting, and have a platform to share your articles for feedback. This can be useful as other online text sharing programs may be able to reveal user information or format text differently from how it will look on the wiki.
I wrote an SCP. Do you want to see it?
Yes, of course. Although you don't have to, it is strongly recommended to show it to reviewers before posting. And please read How to Write an SCP even if you've already written it.
Ideally, you'll have made an Idea thread before starting your draft. You can get feedback on it on the Ideas Critique boards. If you do so, it may be advisable to reach out to a member or two of the Butterfly Squad Roster - veteran reviewers who hang about in the forums. If you don't have any successful pages present on the wiki, you'll need to have your idea reviewed and greenlighted before you can post it to the draft forums.
Once you're either greenlighted for an idea or have a successful article, you can post a link to your sandbox page in the Drafts Critique boards. You can also seek feedback in chat, especially if you are looking for more real-time or quicker feedback!
Can I just post an SCP without any feedback?
Yes, you can. This isn't encouraged, however. Please read the How to Write an SCP guide and show it to reviewers first. Getting critique from active members of the site is encouraged because they may be able to spot issues that friends or others less familiar with writing for the wiki may not. Once you get enough feedback, and most people think it looks good, then post it.
You can take the risk, bypass the critique forums and post it to the site with no feedback - this is referred to as "coldposting". This is inadvisable if you're not experienced in writing for the Wiki.
I posted my SCP, but it was downvoted. Why don't you like it?
Once you've posted your finished work to the site, readers will vote on it, and they're not obligated to explain their vote (although many choose to do so, leaving comments on the article's discussion page).
The site is for summary judgement of finished work — it's not for soliciting opinions on drafts. If your article is doing poorly and you're having trouble finding out what your readers think of it, you would probably benefit from getting more critique.
Please keep in mind that critique — both on the critique forums and on published works — is aimed at the work, not at the author. Remember that people are criticizing the article, not you. If you feel any comments are personal attacks and/or violate the criticism policy, please alert a member of the Site Criticism team.
My article was deleted. Why?
Typically, an article is subject to the Deletion vote when it reaches -10 or lower rating. See the Deletions Guide for more information.
How do I become a good writer?
(1) Practice writing a lot - no one becomes proficient at anything without putting in the efforts.
(2) Look for feedback, and usually you will be able to create something good. For better chances of mainsite success, try to make sure you get feedback from at least a few experienced reviewers. This list has names of some veteran reviewers with their specializations listed.
And (3), read, read, read - both works on site and off. Whether or not you're writing for the Wiki, reading more in general will help your writing skill! Get familiar with different styles, ways of approaching topics, and explore genres you may have never touched before.
We also offer Seminars on a semi-regular basis, as well as various guides and essays on the ins and outs of writing.
Can I cross-test? Can I use crosslinks? Can I use an author avatar?
Yes. Please read the Crosslinks guide in How To Write An SCP first, and keep in mind that Author Avatars are subject to the same standards as any other character.
Can I reserve an SCP number on the list?
No, you cannot. SCP numbers are first come, first serve.
Can I write something from a thing I read or watched as an SCP?
Works posted to the wiki have to be original enough to stand on their own, and can't be just "Popular Thing From Pop Culture: The SCP!" If said show or book gave you insane inspiration to write something in that style, by all means, but it can't be one-to-one.
Can I use other authors' characters and SCPs in what I write?
Yes, you can. If the author is still around, you might want to ask them for their advice first, but you don't necessarily have to.
When can I post an author page?
Once you have at least three positively-rated mainsite pages (including SCP articles, tales, GoI-format documents, site dossiers, and artwork pages), you may post an author page. Any combination of page types is fine, so long as the total number is three.
Community & Staff Questions
How can I contribute if I'm not a good writer?
Just be friendly and hang out with us! If you can give good critique, awesome. If you have some research skills, or can help out with other things, awesome.
Ultimately, you don't necessarily have to write to be a contributing member. Reading, voting, commenting, sharing, drawing, etc. are all valid and appreciated ways to contribute to the community!
Why is everyone mean to me?
Critique isn't meant to be mean. Our Site Rules and Criticism Policy lay out standards of acceptable critique; the long and short of it is that we're here to help your article succeed, and sometimes that means picking it apart like a dead alien at a black site.
Bullying and abuse, however, will not be tolerated, and we encourage you to report to a member of staff if any user (including another member of staff) is targeting you for such things.
Who are the Staff?
The Wiki's Staff are a multitude of volunteers who help maintain the wiki's various functions in different ways - from running contests to making sure articles are properly tagged. They're made up of multiple teams, each with a different purpose or goal. For example - the MAST Team, who handle most of the site's manual work, like tagging articles, updating pages, etc, or the Internet Outreach team, who run the site's various social medias and offsite platforms.
Where is [insert member of site staff]?
Hang out in the IRC or the Discord and see if they show up. Listings of staff members can be found on the Contact Staff and Meet The Staff pages. Please note that some people have permanently left the community and aren't around anymore.
Please keep in mind that just because a user has a fictional author avatar character who is SCP Foundation staff, that doesn't necessarily mean that user is SCP Wiki staff IRL. Only those listed on the Master Staff List are actual wiki staff.
How do I become staff?
That depends!
The SCP Wiki staff structure consists of various teams (detailed here). Each team is responsible for a certain aspect of site function, such as critique or maintenance. Joining a team typically involves contacting one of the respective team captains and applying to volunteer.
Certain teams will occasionally put out calls for recruitment, while others, such as Forum Criticism, might scout for talent among existing users who are more-or-less performing staff-adjacent functions already.
In all cases, members are recruited as "Junior Staff", and subject to what is essentially a "trial period". Thrice yearly, captains may put Junior Staff up for promotion to Operational Staff.
Note that certain teams (Such as Rewrite and Disciplinary) are exclusive to Operational Staff.
Please note that it is very hard to become staff without first being a positive influence on the community as a member.
Am I allowed to read the posts on the admin site, O5 Command?
Yes, you can read those! A lot of new people think they're not supposed to be reading that site and might get in trouble for it. But you're fine. Read away. It's public for a reason. If we didn't want it to be public, we wouldn't put it there.
I’m really new, and I don’t know all the rules yet. Is that ok?
The rules still apply, even if you’re new. However, people breaking the rules are almost always warned ahead of time before anyone starts talking about bans. It’s important to pay attention to warnings issued by Staff. These are generally posts in the forums that say Staff Post - Info or something similar. We also send site PMs from time to time, and in the chat official warnings are usually pretty clear.
What kinds of things can get me in trouble?
Rule Zero of the SCP Wiki is ‘Don’t be a dick’.
Most rules descend from that. Excessive rudeness, posting NSFW content in public spaces, not listening when a staff member asks you to stop something (for example, changing a conversation topic in IRC chat), spammy messages around the forums, editing others’ work without permission, plagiarism, bigotry, ‘being a creep’, threats, harassing other members - essentially, anything covered in Site Rules, and anything that doesn’t fit in polite company, if done in excess, could get you in trouble.
I got warned for X, does that mean I’m about to get banned?
No! It just means you’ve been warned about doing X. Try not to do it any more, or depending on the context, change how you’re approaching situations around X.
Warnings are our very first step of discipline, and it’s meant more as a “Hey, cut this out or change how you’re doing things a bit, we don’t want you to get in trouble”.
I got revoked, what happens next?
A “revoke” is essentially a temp-ban; they’re handed out for smaller-scale issues and minor rule breaking if there isn’t a previous history. Sometimes revokes are issued when someone is spamming a lot to the site and aren’t listening to other types of staff warnings.
Revokes are used as a hard “Heads Up, this behavior isn’t good” and don’t always come along with a ban. Just take a breather and re-apply in 24 hours (after brushing up on the site rules, of course).
I got banned for a long time, can I appeal?
Yes. You can appeal once after you get banned, and then again one year to the day of the initial ban date.
I’ve been permanently banned, what happens next?
Usually, perma-bans are for obvious and explicit rule breaking, or for certain kinds of harassment or trolling behaviour. If you’ve been delivered a “permanent” ban and not a one-year, staff will usually have good grounds to not accept you back any time soon.
That being said, for most cases you’ll be permitted to make an appeal. We suggest you take this appeal seriously and do your best to present your argument. If not accepted, and depending on your circumstances, you will generally be allowed to appeal again on the anniversary of the original ban. We generally are not going to accept appeals for sockpuppeting, ban evasion, or severe trolling/vandalism.
Under-age bans (that is, bans where the banned person is under our age limit) do not count as permabans for this, and you’ll be allowed to apply once you’ve hit the age limit, so long as you don’t try and sneak in early.
Why do you have an age limit?
The SCP Wiki expects a certain standard of maturity. Presently, the SCP Wiki is in a three-year process of raising its age limit from fifteen to eighteen; as a result, anyone presently born after May 8, 2005 will not be old enough to join the site by the time the age requirement increases each year.
I'm mature enough, but I'm technically underage. Can you make an exception?
Apologies, but we can't make exceptions for "maturity". If you tell us you're underage, or if we figure it out, we'll be forced to ban you.
Bans for being underage expire when a user reaches the minimum required age. As with other temporary bans, attempting to evade bans for being underage may result in a permanent ban.
What should I do in my appeal?
- Take it seriously. Most bans are a result of rule breaking behavior, but not all rule breaking behavior is intentional. If you think this is one of these cases, let us know! We take such things seriously and we hardly ever WANT to ban anyone.
- Be prepared. Take the time to read the 05 thread associated with the ban. We try to make those as clear as possible so there shouldn’t be any confusion as to why someone was banned. If you are still not sure, ask. We will do our best to clarify why the ban was implemented.
- Be patient. Harassing staffers about your ban generally doesn’t help. We understand that this is a big deal for you and we try to be accommodating, but staffers have lives too and all of us are volunteers.
Remember, you’re talking to a real human when you are appealing. Being abusive or violating Rule 0 in your appeal is never a good idea and is unlikely to help you get what you want.
My appeal was accepted! What happens next?
Just re-apply to the site just as if you were a new member. Bans have to be removed manually by an Administrator, and part of how Wikidot’s system does bans involves actually fully removing somebody from the site member list. If you cannot re-apply, let a member of staff know. Sometimes it takes a little bit to remove a ban, and sometimes Wikidot’s systems are excessively slow in recognizing when one is lifted, so please have patience with us.
What happens if I try and evade my ban?
Lots of people try, and when they’re caught, the original ban is almost always increased to a permanent ban. I understand that being banned is frustrating, but trying to get around that ban will only make things worse. Please just don’t.
