Introducing The GS Academy

At GamerSafer, technology is part of what we build, but people are at the center of why we build it.

That belief shapes how we think about community safety in games: not as something technology can solve alone, but as something communities build through shared knowledge, thoughtful design, clear rules, consistent action standards, and continuous improvement.

As communities grow, what once worked more informally often needs more structure, support, and alignment. What started as a handful of people sharing ideas, asking questions, and figuring things out together sparks something with momentum, responsibility, and real impact.

GamerSafer solutions now support thousands of communities across the globe, and we see these challenges firsthand, including through Minehut, our own community-driven platform.

That is why we built the GS Academy. A community-driven learning platform designed to support and strengthen online communities. Built in collaboration with moderators, server operators, and community teams, it transforms real-world experience into structured, practical learning.

We’re launching the GS Academy with our first course: Building Safer Communities.

This free, hands-on, foundational curriculum is designed for Minecraft and Discord moderators, community managers, and platform operators who want to detect high-risk behavior, respond appropriately, and handle serious safety cases with more confidence.

The GS Academy is not just a resource hub. It is a practical learning space built around the realities of online communities, whether they are just getting started or looking to strengthen their approach.

Starting with Building Safer Communities

Building Safer Communities is a practical training course built around real community safety scenarios.

The course was designed especially for Minecraft and Discord moderators, but its lessons are useful for anyone protecting, managing, and supporting an online gaming community.

Across eight short modules, participants learn how to:

• Recognize early warning signs of harmful behavior
• Apply rules and codes of conduct more consistently
• Make clearer decisions about when to ban, report, or escalate
• Handle serious safety concerns with more confidence
• Learn about safety systems and tools that can support moderation teams
• Practice moderation decisions through real-world scenarios

Each module is under 15 minutes, free to access, and designed to be easy to apply in real community settings.

This course was built with child protection expertise from ECPAT International and support from Safe Online. Their contributions helped strengthen the curriculum’s guidance on child safety risks and appropriate responses to serious harms affecting children.

To support the course, our Community and Safety team also updated the GS Academy Resources page with practical reference materials, including a Child Safety Glossary and Understanding the 20 Core Violation Categories, a new guide to help moderators build shared language around harmful behavior using Discord and Minecraft examples.

Built With the Community. Not Just For It.

The GS Academy is shaped, refined, and continuously improved by the very people who use it: moderators, community managers, and support teams who understand the realities of online spaces because they live them every day.

They help surface the questions, edge cases, and real-world decisions that moderators face every day: where rules feel unclear, where safety concerns escalate, and where teams need stronger guidance to act consistently and confidently.

To each contributor: thank you. Your insight, experience, and feedback keep this work relevant, practical, and grounded in real community needs.

Strengthened Through Ecosystem Collaboration

The GS Academy is grounded in community experience and strengthened through collaboration with organizations working across online safety, community growth, health, and wellbeing.

Through collaborations with partners like ECPAT International and the DLC Leadership Program, we bring cross-sector perspectives into the academy while also contributing our safety and security expertise in community safety efforts beyond our own platform. By working together, we create deeper and broader impact.

As the GS Academy grows, we will continue building with partners, practitioners, and communities who share the goal of making online spaces safer, healthier, and more sustainable.

A Learning System That Evolves

The GS Academy is designed to grow alongside the communities it supports.

Building Safer Communities is just the starting point.

As new risks emerge, new tools are developed, and community needs change, the academy will continue to evolve. New topics and resources are already underway, and community feedback will continue to shape its direction and impact.

Explore the GS Academy and start Building Safer Communities today!