> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://docs.rafflex.io/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://docs.rafflex.io/standards/player-protections.md).

# Player Protections

Rafflex settings that can help you protect the people who enter your draws, including age verification, safe playing, behaviour interventions, and account controls.

***

{% hint style="warning" %}
**This is not legal advice.** Rafflex provides features that can help you support good practice, but this documentation does not tell you what you must do to comply with anything. The code is voluntary and open to interpretation. You are responsible for your own compliance. Please read the [official code](https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/voluntary-code-of-good-practice-for-prize-draw-operators/voluntary-code-of-good-practice-for-prize-draw-operators) in full and take your own professional advice before relying on any feature described here.
{% endhint %}

***

The first area of the voluntary code is about looking after the people who enter your draws. The code asks operators to consider things like restricting play to people aged 18 and over, helping players stay in control of their spending, watching for signs of harm, and giving players a way to take a break or close their account.

Rafflex gives you several settings that can help with these areas. Most of them are on the **Standards** settings page. To open it, go to your admin panel, click **Settings** in the left-hand menu (under **Content**), then click **Standards** in the Settings side menu. Safe playing, spending limits and the customer timeout are on the **User Experience** settings page instead.

Here is a quick summary of where everything lives:

| Feature                                | Where to find it                                                                                                                |
| -------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| Age verification                       | **Settings**, then **Standards**, in the **Age Verification** section                                                           |
| Account deletion                       | **Settings**, then **Standards**, in the **Account Deletion** section                                                           |
| Behaviour interventions                | **Settings**, then **Standards**, in the **Behaviour Interventions**, **Intervention Email** and **Intervention Page** sections |
| Safe playing and spending limits       | **Settings**, then **User Experience**                                                                                          |
| Customer timeout                       | **Settings**, then **User Experience**                                                                                          |
| Locking or unlocking a single customer | The customer's page, under **Management**, then **Users**                                                                       |

***

### Age verification

The code asks operators to consider restricting play to people aged 18 and over and to use a reasonable age verification process.

The **Age Verification** section of the Standards page has two settings that can help with this:

* **Require Date of Birth at Registration.** When this is on, new customers must enter their date of birth when they sign up, and they must be 18 or over to create an account. Anyone who enters a date of birth that makes them under 18 sees the message "You must be at least 18 years old to register." and cannot complete sign up. The date of birth also becomes a required field when customers update their details in their account settings.
* **Enforce Date of Birth for Existing Customers.** When this is on, any existing customer who does not yet have a date of birth on their account must add one before they can complete a purchase.

When **Enforce Date of Birth for Existing Customers** is on, a customer without a date of birth on file sees two prompts:

1. **A reminder banner** on their basket and at the checkout, which says "Please add your date of birth to your account before purchase." It has a **Quick Set** button that opens a small **Set Your Date of Birth** window, where they pick their date and click **Save**.
2. **A date of birth field at the checkout**, so they can add it as part of placing their order if they have not used the banner.

In both places the customer must be 18 or over for the date to be accepted. Once a date of birth is saved, the banner and the extra checkout field disappear for that customer.

{% hint style="info" %}
**Which setting do I need?** **Require Date of Birth at Registration** only covers people who sign up from now on. If you already have customers, switch on **Enforce Date of Birth for Existing Customers** as well so that everyone ends up with a date of birth on their account.
{% endhint %}

To turn these on:

{% stepper %}
{% step %}

### Open the Standards page

In your admin panel, open **Settings** in the left-hand menu, then click **Standards**.
{% endstep %}

{% step %}

### Turn on age verification

In the **Age Verification** section, switch on **Require Date of Birth at Registration**. If you want existing customers to be covered too, also switch on **Enforce Date of Birth for Existing Customers**.
{% endstep %}

{% step %}

### Save

Click **Save Settings**. You will see a **Standards settings saved successfully** message.
{% endstep %}
{% endstepper %}

{% hint style="warning" %}
A date of birth is something the customer tells you. These settings help you put a reasonable age check in place, but they do not independently prove someone's age. Think about whether you need any further checks, for example before paying out a large prize.
{% endhint %}

***

### Safe playing, spending limits, and timeout

The code asks operators to consider spending limits (set by you or by the player, including allowing a limit of zero) and account controls such as a self-imposed break from playing.

Rafflex has three settings for this on the **User Experience** settings page:

* **Enable Safe Playing** adds a **Play Safe** page to your customers' account menu, where they can set their own spending limit per week, per month or per year, disable their account, or remove a limit. A limit of zero is allowed, and it stops every card and PayPal purchase.
* **Spend Limit Cooldown (Hours)** is the cooling off period before a customer can relax their own limit. The minimum is 24 hours.
* **Enable Timeout** adds a **Timeout** page to your customers' account menu, where they can take a self-imposed break from your site.

You can also add, change or remove a customer's spending limit yourself from the **Spending Limit** tab on their customer page. Changes you make there apply straight away.

The pages below walk through how to set these up and how limits behave when a customer pays:

{% content-ref url="/pages/2BbjvkHU5YAAISfNfqfd" %}
[Safe Play Setting](/additional-settings/safe-play-setting.md)
{% endcontent-ref %}

{% content-ref url="/pages/aGKDPbyiLZWATorxfMBp" %}
[Spending Limits at Checkout](/additional-settings/safe-play-setting/spending-limits-at-checkout.md)
{% endcontent-ref %}

#### How a customer timeout works

When a customer takes a timeout, they open **Timeout** in their account menu, choose a **Timeout Period** (from **1 Day** up to **6 Months**, or **Permanent**), type **I confirm** into the **Confirm** box, and click **Save**. Before they save, the page shows the date their account will be disabled until.

While the timeout is active:

* They cannot open your competition pages or the checkout. Instead they are taken back to your homepage.
* They are unsubscribed from your email marketing.
* Their **Timeout** page shows the date and time their account is disabled until.
* They cannot delete their account (see Account controls below).

When the timeout period ends, it clears by itself and the customer can play again. A **Permanent** timeout does not end on its own.

{% hint style="warning" %}
**Customers cannot shorten or lift their own timeout.** Once a timeout is in place, the **Timeout** page no longer shows the form. It only shows the date their account is disabled until, so there is no way for them to change or cancel it. This is deliberate, so the break they chose genuinely protects them.
{% endhint %}

#### Locking a customer's account yourself

If you are worried about a customer, or a customer asks you to take a break on their behalf (for example over the phone or by email), you can lock their account for them:

1. In your admin panel, find the **Management** group in the left-hand menu, click **Users**, and open the customer.
2. Click **Lock Account** at the top of the page. A **Lock User Account** window opens.
3. Choose a **Timeout Duration**, from **1 Day** up to **6 Months**, or **Permanent**.
4. Click **Lock Account** to confirm.

This works in the same way as a timeout the customer sets themselves. They cannot buy tickets or open competitions until it ends, and they are unsubscribed from your email marketing. **Lock Account** only appears when the customer is not already in a timeout.

{% content-ref url="/pages/TIQk4RRDr2seu2jnYbJm" %}
[Customers](/managing-your-site/customers.md)
{% endcontent-ref %}

***

### Behaviour interventions

The code asks operators to consider monitoring activity to identify possible harm and to step in with a tailored and proportionate response.

Rafflex gives you **Enable Behaviour Interventions** on the Standards page. When it is on, you choose your own limits for how many orders a customer places, and how much they spend, over a rolling day, week and month. If a customer goes over one of your limits, Rafflex emails them and asks them to read and respond to a reality check page before they carry on playing. You can also enter an **Admin Notification Email** address so that you are told each time it happens.

Every intervention is recorded on the **Interventions** screen (in the left-hand menu, under **Customers**), where you can see who has and has not acknowledged their reality check and follow up where needed.

{% content-ref url="/pages/05g4YeGXcyNJHTJf56kW" %}
[Behaviour Interventions](/standards/player-protections/behaviour-interventions.md)
{% endcontent-ref %}

***

### Signposting players to support

The code asks operators to consider signposting players to organisations that can help. Rafflex does not set this up for you automatically, so this is something you handle through your own site content, for example by adding links to recognised support organisations in your footer, your terms, or a dedicated support page.

{% hint style="info" %}
A good place to add support links is the **Reality Check Page Content** for behaviour interventions, as customers see it at exactly the moment they may need help. See [Behaviour Interventions](/standards/player-protections/behaviour-interventions.md).
{% endhint %}

{% content-ref url="/pages/Ud53XcxrMbQGWwoPlW2N" %}
[Add Terms & Conditions](/essential-settings/add-terms-and-conditions.md)
{% endcontent-ref %}

***

### A complaints process

The code asks operators to consider having a complaints process that is appropriate, transparent, and robust. Rafflex does not impose one on you. You decide how complaints are raised and handled, and you set this out in your own terms and contact details so customers know where to go and what to expect.

***

### Credit card use

The code raises the use of credit cards by players. This is something you manage through your own payment settings and your payment provider, rather than through a setting on the Standards page.

***

### Account controls

The code asks operators to consider letting players close their account permanently.

The **Account Deletion** section of the Standards page has one setting, **Allow Account Deletion**. When this is on, customers can permanently delete their own account from the **My Account** page in their account area.

Here is what the customer sees:

1. At the bottom of their **My Account** page, a **Danger Zone** area explains what they will lose (such as their wallet balance and credits, and access to active tickets and upcoming draws). It also suggests the timeout feature if they only want a break.
2. When they click **Delete Account**, a **Delete Your Account** confirmation window opens.
3. To protect against mistakes, they must type **Delete My Account** exactly as shown, then click **Permanently Delete**.
4. They are logged out and see the message "Your account has been deleted."

The confirmation window also tells the customer that their email address will be temporarily blocked from creating a new account.

{% hint style="info" %}
If a customer is currently in a timeout, they cannot delete their account until the timeout ends. They see a message saying their account cannot be deleted while a self-exclusion timeout is active, along with the date it expires. This keeps the break they chose in place.
{% endhint %}

{% hint style="info" %}
**Testing this yourself?** The **Danger Zone** area does not appear when you are logged in with an admin account, and admin accounts cannot be deleted this way. Use an ordinary customer account to see what your customers see.
{% endhint %}

To turn it on:

1. In your admin panel, open **Settings** in the left-hand menu, then click **Standards**.
2. In the **Account Deletion** section, switch on **Allow Account Deletion**.
3. Click **Save Settings**.

{% hint style="warning" %}
**Deleting an account cannot be undone.** Make sure your terms explain what happens to any wallet balance or tickets in upcoming draws when a customer closes their account.
{% endhint %}

***

### Monitoring activity

The code asks operators to consider monitoring activity so they can spot possible harm. Alongside behaviour interventions, the reports in Rafflex can help you keep an eye on customer activity over time.

{% content-ref url="/pages/pBrIcucwiixucWBpYhpn" %}
[Overview](/downloads-and-reports/downloads.md)
{% endcontent-ref %}