Account

An Account is the means by which a player is identified in RuneScape. It holds all the information on the player's in-game activities, including their skills and achievements, all the items they possess, and the quests they have done. It also makes the player accountable for anything they have said via the game's chat interface, specifically including any breaches of the Rules of RuneScape.

A player's account is similar to, but separate from, his or her character. The character is represented by an avatar that exists in-game. The avatar is customizable to allow the player to feel individual. Jagex has stated that accounts and characters are generally kept separate, meaning that black marks received on an account (such as in the RuneScape Forums) do not reflect on a player's character (with the exception of a ban or mute).

A player must create an account in order to play the game, requiring a username and a password. The account starts out as free-to-play by default, but the player can choose to pay a monthly fee to gain extra pay-to-play content and functionality.

A player can create more than one account, and can interchange between playing them with no limits. However, they may not be logged into more than one of their accounts at the same time, and may not allow anyone else to use any of their accounts at any time. Jagex prohibits the sale of accounts. Jagex keeps a strict surveillance on players attempting to sell accounts, and an offender is liable to incur severe penalties, such as being banned, if they should attempt to either buy or sell an account.

Players may receive messages from Jagex via their Message Centre when they log into the game. This is the only means by which Jagex contacts players individually - they never use email. Players also need to log into their account to use certain functions on the RuneScape website, including posting on the RuneScape Forums, (for those that have not attained 1million overall experience) vote in official polls, using QuestHelp, and accessing the player moderator centre (if the player has player moderator status).