How a Round Works

A round goes: lobby → headstart → hunt → result → lobby.

Headstart

/hounded start [seconds] gives runners a head start of up to 3600 seconds (1 hour). Until the hunters are released, they're frozen (they can look around, but can't act) and blind. Both are configurable, and the details are under headstart.* in Configuration. A countdown shows on the display, and the compass doesn't point anywhere yet.

The hunt

Hunters are released, their compass starts pointing, and the hunt timer starts.

Winning

• Runners win when the ender dragon dies.
• Hunters win when every runner is out.

Getting out

• A runner who dies is out. By default they watch in spectator mode until the round ends (rules.eliminated-runners-spectate).
• A runner who leaves the server has 5 minutes to come back (rules.runner-rejoin-grace-seconds). If they don't return in time, they're out too.

Hunters are never out: they respawn as normal and get their compass back.

Result

The winner is announced with the hunt time, and the game returns to the lobby. Spectating runners get their previous game mode back. Roles are kept for the next round.

During a round

• Roles can't be changed. Use /hounded stop first.
• /hounded stop ends the round with no winner.
• Optional combat and freeze rules: see rules.* in Configuration.