Ironman Mode

Ironman Mode and Hardcore Ironman Mode are account-types that encourage the player to be entirely self-sufficient. Both types of Ironman mode are locked out of most forms of interactions with other players such as trading, the Grand Exchange, most group minigames, PvP, and almost all other group activities. The modes were released on 13 October 2014. They are accessible only via a dropdown menu on the character creation screen.

Once character creation is complete, these modes may only be turned off using in-game items such as the Jar of divine light and the Book of diplomacy, to turn off Hardcore and regular Ironman modes respectively. Both items are sold by Mr Ex, and neither action can be undone.

Hardcore players have the added challenge of only having one "life". As soon as they die, their account is permanently locked, unless they have purchased the Jar of divine light. If they have done so, the item will be activated upon death from either the player's bank or the inventory and will convert the account into a regular Ironman account. There is also an option to buy an extra life (divine coin) at total levels 1000 and 1600 for 100,000 and 10,000,000 coins respectively. This is so that people who have already progressed far into the game are able to avoid losing their accounts from lag, bugs, etc.

Hardcore Ironmen that have died may still access the in-game lobby, and death does not affect the Old School RuneScape game in any way.

Examining a tradeable item while in Ironman Mode will display the high alchemy price instead of its Grand Exchange Value. The Price checker will also function this way.

Ironmen are identifiable by a silver chat badge and title of " / " or " / ", and Hardcore Ironman accounts have a red chat badge (shaped as a skull) and the title of " / " or " / ".

Two separate highscores exist for the two types of Ironman. When a Hardcore Ironman account gets deleted or downgraded, that account is not removed from the Hardcore highscores, but their highest scores at the time of deletion or downgrading are kept, unable to change them further.

A global announcement will be issued whenever a hardcore ironman with a total level of at least 1000 dies.

"Safe" Deaths in Hardcore Mode
Deaths are non-permanent in hardcore mode if they are counted as "safe death" in the regular game. Examples include:
 * Clan Wars white portal
 * Falling off the pathway in Demon Slayer
 * Dying during Troll Invasion
 * Dying to Agoroth or a Crassian warrior during A Shadow over Ashdale
 * Dying to Dawn during The Death of Chivalry
 * Dying to Drakan during Lord of Vampyrium
 * Dying to Sharathteerk or Zemouregal during Dimension of Disaster: Curse of Arrav
 * Dying inside a Dungeoneering floor
 * Getting hit with a dragonkin fireball in Missing, Presumed Death
 * Dying in the mansion in Broken Home
 * Dying to the 4th stage of Koschei the deathless during The Fremennik Trials
 * Dying against TokHaar-Hok during The Brink of Extinction
 * Any death in which a player is resurrected by a sign of life / sign of death
 * Any death within the Duel Arena
 * Dying in the TzHaar Fight Cave, Fight Kiln or Fight Cauldron
 * Dying in a Player-owned house
 * Dying to the parasites on Tuska's back during the Tuska Comes world event

Death announcements
If the Hardcore account has at least a total level of 1000, a description of their cause of death is globally broadcasted.




 * 'to an unknown power' - default message
 * 'in a PVP battle with [NAME OF KILLER]' - killed in the Wilderness by another player
 * 'fighting against: [NAME OF NPC]' - killed in combat by an NPC
 * 'by succumbing to poison' - killed by poison
 * 'by standing in the fire' - being caught by the flames in The World Wakes
 * 'with their hand in someone else's pocket' - killed by failing a pickpocket
 * 'succumbing to the heat of the desert' - killed by desert heat effect
 * 'playing with fire' - killed during The Firemaker's Curse
 * 'setting off a trap'
 * 'by breaking the rules of Ironman mode' - Killed by a Jmod for rule breaking
 * 'to skittering insects in the dark' - killed by having a lightsource extinguished in a dark location
 * 'via electrocution' - Lightning Strike on Freneskae
 * 'by playing with fireworks'

Restrictions
Both Ironman and Hardcore Ironman modes restrict player-to-player interaction in the following ways:


 * Trading is disabled, except for certain quest-specific items such as the Shield of Arrav and bonds.
 * Items dropped by other players and the monsters they kill cannot be picked up, except special items like the Maul of Omens.
 * The Grand Exchange can only be used to purchase bonds.
 * Daemonheim cannot be entered with other players.
 * Co-op Slayer is disabled.
 * The assist system is disabled.
 * Grouping system can only be used for the Liberation of Mazcab raid.
 * Group buffs, such as Clan Avatars and or any such buffs from Treasure Hunter, are disabled.
 * Skilling in the Clan Citadel will only provide 25% of the xp normally earned.
 * Training Dummies and Divine Locations owned by other players cannot be used. Buffs from others using your own divine location are also disabled.
 * Features in other players' Player-Owned Houses are disabled.
 * All PvP activities will neither award XP nor loot.
 * Daily challenges will only provide rewards related to the challenge you have just completed (e.g. you will be rewarded with fishing related items for completing a fishing related challenge) and will reward you with only half the value of the initial resources (e.g. turning in 30 magic logs will result in a mystery bag containing 15 magic logs).
 * Vic the trader is disabled.
 * Ironman players are unable to hit the Wildywyrm.

Minigames

 * Various minigames and D&Ds are completely disabled, including Blast Furnace, Crucible, Demon Raids, Fishing Trawler, Fist of Guthix, Flash Powder Factory, Heist, Rat Pits, Stealing Creation, Sinkholes, Trouble Brewing, and Wilderness Warbands.
 * Music for disabled minigames can be obtained by trying to enter the minigame.
 * Several activities are otherwise limited, such as Clan Wars, Dominion Tower, and Vinesweeper.
 * Group rumble matches in the Tower are disabled.
 * XP rewards and certain item rewards are restricted or disabled in many minigames and D&Ds, such as Barbarian Assault, Clan Wars, Conquest, Mobilising Armies, Pest Control, Great Orb Project, Soul Wars, and the TzHaar Fight Pit.
 * Great Orb Project restrictions include teleport tablets (except one Blood tablet for Morytania tasks) and gear excluding cosmetics.
 * The zeal reward from Nomad's Requiem can be spent on xp.
 * Thaler can be obtained from minigames that are accessible to Ironmen, however it can only be spent on rewards that are otherwise available to Ironmen, with some exceptions.
 * All pieces of minigame hybrid armour can be bought.
 * Barbarian Assault armour is restricted.
 * Only pets can be bought in the Misc section.
 * Limited edition items cannot be bought.
 * Both the Duel Arena and Conquest have staking disabled.

Combat and bosses

 * Any NPCs killed will award XP depending on how much damage you have done to it, not the full exp set on the monster.
 * Ironmen have to deal over 50% damage to regular monsters or they won't get the drops.


 * Ironmen can only use custom encounters for bosses (instances set in the "Standard" spawn speed are free despite the requirements section stating otherwise, however instances with the "Fast" and "Fastest" spawn speeds are still paid for) except for Araxxor.
 * Only ironmen can join ironman instances.
 * LootShare and CoinShare can only be used inside boss instances with other ironmen. It is immediately turned off if a non-boss monster is killed (boss minions don't count).
 * Amount of players allowed in boss instances is limited further than regular accounts. It is 5 for most bosses, exceptions are:
 * Kalphite King: 10
 * Vorago: 10
 * Vorago Hardmode: 15


 * Group bosses—Barrows - Rise of the Six, the Kalphite King, Raids, and Vorago—can be fought only with other ironmen.
 * "Group" and "Other" spells (e.g. cure-, tele-, heal-, and vengeance-other) as well as boost potion share don't work when used on an ironman. The ice asylum ability will only heal you and non-ironmen near it.
 * Group Seren spells and prayers are disabled including all prisms.

Microtransactions

 * Treasure Hunter is completely disabled.
 * This includes non-cosmetic items (such as the Golem outfit) which are sometimes obtainable outside Treasure Hunter (like in the Thaler shop).
 * Wicked pouches, challenge gems and clan citadel boosters cannot be purchased (or used) from Solomon's General Store.
 * Some Legendary pet features cannot be used: life saver, slayer finisher, repair and fertiliser.
 * Recruit a Friend does not provide any bonuses to Ironmen (however, those recruited will still get their bonus).

First to achievements
Global announcements are broadcast for various firsts, including the first hardcore death, the first to achieve a total level of 500 and 1000, the first to reach level 99 in a skill, and the first to complete various quests.

Beta
On 30 September 2014, around 130 players were selected to participate in the Ironman Mode Beta after receiving a message on 26 September, while others were also selected from certain competitions.

These accounts have usernames in the format "irontrial###" ranging from 1 to 130; however, all players were allowed to change their name.

When Ironman Mode was officially released, the beta accounts could still be played, but they would not appear on the Hiscores.

Trivia

 * There is currently a glitch where the armour dropped by Revenant monsters (such as corrupt dragon/ancient warriors' equipment), when degraded, will refund the player with the Grand Exchange price instead of the high-alch price. This is currently being fixed.
 * Both types of Ironman accounts can receive a Veteran Cape, provided the account was created at least five years ago. This is only possible if the player never completed the character creation process.