CityVille private server: how accounts, neighbors, chat and support work

What does a CityVille private server mean here?

In this case it means an independent server that is not Zynga's. FB Games hosts its own edition of CityVille, based on the 2013 version of the game, and your city is saved to an account on that server. It is not an official server, and Zynga has nothing to do with it.

There is no program to install and no server address to type into a launcher: you use the website in your browser. Accounts are also independent from the other FB Games titles, so a CityVille account does not log you into any other game.

How do accounts work on the CityVille server?

The account is required and it is your own: a username and a password. Email is optional and is kept only as contact information. There is no Facebook sign-in, no login through other services and no terms checkbox on the sign-up form.

The username must be 3 to 24 characters, using letters, numbers, dots, hyphens and underscores, and it has to start with a letter or a number. The password must be 8 to 128 characters, not a common one, different from the username, and with at least 4 different characters. Sign-up also refuses a username that is already taken, and it limits how many accounts can be created from the same network.

If you forget your password, the server sends no emails. You request a reset on the recovery page, the team looks at it and hands you a code to choose a new password. Inside the game, the My account section lets you change your password, add an email and see the sessions that are open. Close any you do not recognize.

Who can you play with on the CityVille server?

City Sam, a simulated neighbor, is always available, which is handy for your first visit. Real neighbors live in the Neighbors panel, with the tabs My neighbors, Requests and Add neighbor. You can search for players by name (2 to 24 characters), see suggested neighbors, send requests, visit their cities and help them.

There are limits: a cap of 20 requests sent and 50 received, requests that expire after 30 days, and a neighbor list that tops out at 300. The first time you visit a neighbor you earn 100 coins and 1 XP.

Gifts and invitations between players do not exist, and Facebook friends do not carry over because there is no Facebook link. The neighbor system is live on the server, but it has not yet been tried with two real accounts there, so tell us if anything looks odd.

How does the global chat work?

The chat is global and has two channels, Spanish and English. A message can be up to 280 characters long. With the default settings you can send one message every 2 seconds and up to 15 per minute.

You can report or ignore messages, a filter blocks insults and links, and the chat is moderated. There are no private messages, so keep anything personal out of the chat.

How do you get help or report a problem?

Inside the game, the header has a Support link, and the account menu offers Support and tickets and Report a problem. They open in a new tab, so your game stays open while you write.

A ticket belongs to a category: Game bug, Account and sign-in, Payments and donations, Suggestion, Other, or a category for reporting abuse and rule-breaking. By default you can have up to 10 tickets open at once. You can also use the public form on the FB Games site, choose CityVille as the related game and keep the tracking code you receive.

What are the rules, and what happens if you break them?

Accounts can be suspended. A suspended account shows the reason and the date the suspension lasts until, or says that it is permanent. If someone is abusing the game or other players, use the ticket category meant for that.

There are no tricks on this server: no coin tools and no secret codes for CityVille, and anyone selling them is trying to scam you. Coins come from playing, and City Cash comes from leveling up. The only public rules are the ones on the front page and in the how-to-play page: the game is free, it is a beta and it is unofficial.

What does the beta mean for you?

CityVille is not part of the FB Games donation system. There is no City Cash for sale and there are no prices or packages for this game, so nobody should ask you to pay for anything.

The game site has no terms or privacy pages of its own yet, and there is no published policy about keeping or resetting progress, so this page promises nothing either way. Part of the artwork is still missing and you may run into bugs. Our CityVille overview lists what is missing.