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Transactions between Residents How can I protect myself when transacting with other Residents? Transactions between Residents Residents sometimes seek help with questions such as the following: I rented a land parcel from another Resident and they are taking it back from me, even though I paid the fees or rent. Another Resident is not upholding their agreement regarding real estate, group management, performance of services, or division of revenue. I paid for something, but didn't receive it as promised. I provided something, but the buyer didn't pay for it as promised. However, per the Second Life Terms of Service, Linden Lab is a service provider and is not responsible or liable for the Content, conduct, or services of users or third parties. Linden Lab cannot verify, enforce, certify, examine, uphold, or adjudicate any oath, contract, deal, bargain, or agreement made by the Residents of Second Life. Nor does Linden Lab enforce or uphold rental agreements between Residents. While you may have a valid agreement with another person, Linden Lab is not a party to and cannot resolve your dispute. Please contact the Resident involved and resolve the issue with them. If you'd like to read more about agreements with other Residents in Second Life, please see the Enforcement section of the Second Life Community Standards for specific information about third party transactions and interactions within the Second Life service. How can I protect myself when transacting with other Residents? Because Residents have a tremendous amount of control and freedom in how they set up businesses and services in Second Life, it's important to take step to be careful in transactions with other Residents. Most Residents aren't out to cheat anyone, but it's not uncommon that someone might not answer messages immediately, or for a vendor object to fail to deliver an item promptly. That said, there are some steps that any Resident can take to help avoid losing Linden dollars on transactions with other Residents: Whenever possible, try to do a little research before a large purchase. Read Marketplace reviews, talk to other tenants on a private region that has an available rental, or chat on the Forums with people who have had experiences with the purchases you're interested in. Don't spend more L$ or USD than you're comfortable losing if something goes wrong. Most Residents are honest! But real life can interfere and cause problems -- if someone has to cancel a private region due to a sudden medical emergency, you may not be able to get the six months of advanced rent you've paid back. If it's an option, consider paying on a month-to-month or weekly basis, and avoid paying too far in advance. If you're hiring someone for a service, consider paying only part of the fee in advance and the rest on delivery. This helps protect you, so if the service provider isn't able to deliver, you haven't lost the full amount. It also helps protect the service provider, who receives at least partial payment for their work even if the agreement falls through. For services like photography, modeling, event planning, or landscaping, it's an especially good idea to talk to people who've worked with your provider in the past, if you can. References go a long way to helping both parties feel comfortable with the agreement. Try to be prepared for a deal to fall through. If you've hired someone for an event that absolutely has to happen, try to have a backup provider in mind in case your initial provider can't make it or has to cancel. Computers can fail, Internet connections can drop, or general calamity can keep people offline. Leave fair and accurate Marketplace reviews on products you've purchased to help other Residents. If you have a problem with something you've purchased, first try contacting the merchant -- many Second Life merchants have dedicated staff to assist customers with products, and many also have vendor systems that can redelivery purchases if something has happened (such as an item being lost in inventory or failing to arrive). Sending a notecard with details about your problem and the purchase you've made is a great way to help ensure your message is seen (a notecard will arrive even if they receive so many messages that their offline IMs are capped). Although nobody enjoys waiting, it's best to give merchants a few days to get back to you. They might be in a different timezone or have real life responsibilities that prevent them from answering immediately. 48-72 hours is very reasonable, and most merchants respond in a timely fashion.

Avatar privacy Create a private area On a Private Region On a mainland parcel Limit avatar visibility outside your parcel Avatar privacy Second Life® is a social experience, but sometimes you just want some peace and quiet. Here are ways to get time and space to yourself inworld. Show your online status only to friends and group members You can set your preferences so only your friends and fellow group members see when you're online: Choose Me > Preferences > Privacy. Uncheck Show me in Search Results. Check Only friends and groups know I'm online. Hide your online status and location from a specific friend Hiding your online status from a specific friend can be done on the web profile page at my.secondlife.com/friends. In your web browser: Visit my.secondlife.com Click the People tab. Choose a Resident from the list, click on the Gear icon next to his or her name, and choose Permissions. Deselect See my online status to hide your status from them. Deselect See me on the map if you don't want your friend to be able to track your inworld location. Go into busy mode Select Me > Status > Set Do Not Disturb. Chat and instant messages are hidden, and an auto-reply is sent to those who IM you. If desired, customize the autoreply by opening the General tab of the Preferences window (Me > Preferences) and typing text into the Do Not Disturb response field. 📝 At one time, being in Busy or Do Not Disturb mode would cause all objects or inventory offers to decline automatically. Now, objects or inventory offers received while in Do Not Disturb mode will be sent to your Objects folder by default. Create a private area On a Private Region Private Regions in Second Life offer the greatest control and flexibility for configuring access. As the owner of a Private Region, you can control access and permissions for the entire region, as well as for individual parcels within it. For added privacy, you also have the option of ensuring that your region does not have an immediately neighboring region. For information about how to purchase a Private Region, please see Buying Private Regions. Follow these steps to configure your region to permit access only to designated Residents and groups: Stand on your Private Region. From the menu at the top of the Second Life viewer, select World > Region/Estate. The Region/Estate window opens. Click the Estate tab and set the following options: Allow Public Access - Leave this deselected; doing so will allow only those on the access lists to enter your Private Region. Allowed Groups - Use the Add function in this window to add the group you want to allow access to the Region. You may also configure the following options, which help grant administrative controls to others that you trust and further limit access to the region: Estate Managers - Residents who are estate managers have access to region/estate controls. Allowed Residents - If there are Residents to whom you wish to grant region access who aren't members of the allowed groups, add their names here. Banned Residents - Residents on this list will not be able to enter your Private Region. On a mainland parcel The Second Life mainland offers an alternative to Private Region ownership, with some considerations. The mainland is made up of many interconnecting regions managed by Linden Lab. This means that you have configuration options for your parcel but cannot control who your neighbors are, what content exists outside of your parcel, and who is able to visit nearby parcels. For information about purchasing a parcel on the mainland, please see Buying land. Configuring access to your parcel Once you have ownership of your parcel, follow these steps to configure your parcel's security options: Stand on your parcel. Choose World > About Land in the Second Life Viewer. Click the GENERAL tab. To set the land to the group that contains the students or Residents you wish to have access to the parcel, click the Set button next to Group. The GROUPS window opens. Select the desired group and click OK. The group is now set. Click the ACCESS tab and configure the following options: Uncheck Allow Public Access. Allow Group Access - Check this to enable your group of students or Residents to have access to the parcel. Allowed Residents - If there are Residents to whom you wish to grant parcel access who aren't in the allowed groups, add their names here. Banned Residents - Residents on this list will not be able to enter the parcel. This list is typically added to on an as-needed basis. Limit avatar visibility on your parcel Parcels have a privacy setting which prevents avatars who are outside of the parcel boundaries from seeing avatars inside it, essentially making avatars within a parcel invisible to the outside world. To limit avatar visibility on your parcel: While standing on your parcel, click World > About Land Click the Options tab On the right, uncheck the checkbox called Avatars on other parcels can see and chat with avatars on this parcel Note This visibility and chat limitation extends like a privacy bubble up to 50 meters above the ground's default shape. If you live more than 50 meters above the default terrain height, you may still be visible outside the parcel boundaries. Use a scripted security system Some Residents find that using a scripted security system is a more flexible way to manage their privacy on their land. Scripted security systems can be set to allow more than one person to add or remove people from the parcel access list, allowing Residents who share land to manage the parcel access without having to deed the land to a group. There are many scripted security systems (sometimes called 'security orbs') available on the Second Life Marketplace or at shops in-world. In some Linden Home areas, scripted security systems are used in place of parcel access settings like ban lists. For more information on security systems and privacy in Linden Home areas, please see Linden Homes 2019 - Privacy.

Translations: Français Deutsch Español Release Notes are a list of the new features and bug fixes added to each new version of Second Life. Second Life consists of the following two distinct pieces of software that work together: • The viewer, which is the program you downloaded from secondlife.com and installed on your hard drive. • The simulator, which runs the 3D simulation that you walk through and experience while in Second Life. Periodically, Linden Lab will upgrade the Viewer and the Server to new versions, but not necessarily at the same time. Because they are released separately, there are distinct Release Notes for each version released (see What do the numbers in a release version mean?) Release Notes for Second Life Release Candidates and Second Life Beta Viewers can be found in the links above. Note: The independent website secondlife.wikia.com also keeps an archive of Release Notes, especially for very old versions. Viewer, Server

One of the challenges created by name changes is that anyone with an external database that uses name lookups must adjust by replacing or reindexing to use agent IDs. The Name to Agent ID API is a publicly available REST endpoint to which a user submits a username/last name combination (Residents with a single username have the last name "Resident" by default), and is returned the agent_id associated with that name if it exists. Documentation for usage of this tool can be found through the APIs and Web Services Portal, or directly: Name to agent ID API documentation

Gambling is strictly prohibited in Second Life and operating, or participating in, a game of chance that provides a Linden Dollar payout is a violation of our Terms of Service. However, games of skill are legally permitted in many jurisdictions, and Second Life’s Skill Gaming Policy establishes that skill games offering Linden Dollar payouts are allowed, but each game, its creator, its operator, and the region on which it is operated must be approved by Linden Lab. Access to skill games offering Linden Dollar payouts are limited to Second Life users who are of sufficient age and are located in a jurisdiction that Linden Lab permits for this type of online gaming activity. For more information on this program, please read the Skill Gaming Policy and associated FAQs. Skill Gaming FAQs and policies Official policies and frequently asked questions about Skill Gaming can be found on the Second Life Wiki: Skill Gaming Policy Skill Gaming FAQ Skill Gaming Approved Participants

Creating a graphic preset Loading a graphic preset Deleting a graphic preset It is possible to save one or more arrangements of graphics preferences as presets, which you can then recall or swap at any time from the main Second Life window. This can be useful if you often find yourself in situations that require you to adjust your graphics settings to achieve your desired level of fidelity or performance, such as when taking screenshots or entering a crowded event. Creating a graphic preset Open the Preferences window to the Graphics tab by moving your mouse cursor over the Graphic Preset icon in the upper-right corner of the screen and clicking the Open Graphics Preferences button. Adjust your graphics settings as desired; you may also adjust advanced settings in the Advanced Graphics Preferences window by clicking the Advanced Settings button. When you are satisfied with the graphics settings, click the Save settings as a preset button. In the Save Graphic Preset window that appears, type a name for the preset and press the Save button. Alternatively, you may choose the name of an existing preset to replace that preset with the current settings. The preset now appears in the dropdown menu under the Graphic Preset icon Loading a graphic preset You can easily load a saved graphic preset at any time from the main Second Life window by moving your mouse cursor over the Graphic Preset icon in the upper-right corner of the screen and clicking the name of the graphic preset. This immediately adjusts your graphics preferences to match the settings defined by the preset. You can also load a graphic preset from the Preferences window: Open the Preferences window by choosing Me > Preferences from the top menu bar. Click the Graphics tab of the Preferences window. Click the Load preset button on the Graphics tab of the Preferences window. Choose a preset from the Select a preset dropdown on the Load Graphic Preset window that appears. Click the OK button to load the preset. Deleting a graphic preset You can delete a preset from the Graphics tab of the Preferences window: Open the Preferences window by choosing Me > Preferences from the top menu bar. Click the Graphics tab of the Preferences window. Click the Delete preset button on the Graphics tab of the Preferences window. Choose a preset from the Select a preset dropdown on the Delete Graphic Preset window that appears. Click the Delete button to delete the selected preset.

Welcome to Linden Realms! Linden Realms is a fun, creative, and engaging virtual experience produced and provided by Linden Lab. Linden Realms takes you through basic exploration and gameplay, where you can earn Linden dollars by gathering gems and completing quests. This article answers some frequently-asked questions about the experience. What do I need to access Linden Realms? How do I get back here? I tried to teleport to Linden Realms, but I got the error message "You do not have access to that region" I tried to enter through the portal, but it didn't work How do I get crystals? Is it safe? I'm suddenly somewhere different. What just happened? I was in Linden Realms, but was teleported out. What happened? How do I get the best visual appearance? Heads-Up Display (HUD) issues How did this HUD get attached to me? Why does the HUD disappear when I log out? I'm in Linden Realms, but my HUD is not loading. What happens if I detach my HUD? While I was working on a quest, my HUD changed to display a different quest. What happened? I'm having trouble completing quests. What can I do? I've completed several quests in Linden Realms, and now I'm not receiving any more. Why? What's a flare cannon? How do I report griefing/camping/cheating? How do I get more help? What do I need to access Linden Realms? To access Linden Realms, you need n valid Second Life account and a mesh-enabled vewer such as the official Second Life Viewer. How do I get back here? You cannot teleport to Linden Realms directly: you must find a portal inworld and walk through it to enter the experience. You can find portals inworld at various locations. See the Destination Guide for a list of portal locations. An example of a portal is shown at right. I tried to teleport to Linden Realms, but I got the error message "You do not have access to that region" Linden Realms regions work differently than normal regions. You cannot teleport directly to them, and you must go through the portals to get access to the regions. To get back in, find a portal (http://secondlife.com/destinations/realms) and walk through it. I tried to enter through the portal, but it didn't work If the Linden Realms regions have reached their maximum capacity, the portal turns off and will not allow more people to enter. Wait a while and try again. How do I get crystals? To get crystals, walk over them using your avatar, but remember to keep an eye out for rock monsters! Is it safe? Yes. Although the experience automatically attaches HUDs, animates you, and teleports you, your inventory is unaffected and you will not lose Linden dollars. It is entirely safe for you and your Second Life account. There are things in Linden Realms that can "kill" you: rock monsters, glowing toxic water (examples shown at left), and fireballs. However, you'll be reincarnated immediately. See I'm suddenly somewhere different. What just happened? I'm suddenly somewhere different. What just happened? You were just "killed" in the game by one of the hazards (like a rock monster, toxic water, or a fireball). Be more careful! When this happens, you will be teleported to a “resurrection circle.” These teleports occur automatically (without your permission). Don't worry: while this is not standard behavior in the rest of Second Life, it is the way Linden Realms is designed to work. I was in Linden Realms, but was teleported out. What happened? You will be teleported automatically out of Linden Realms if you perform an action not intended to occur within the experience. Linden Realms requires the Linden Realms HUD, along with flight and teleport being disabled. If the HUD is detached, or if your avatar manages to teleport or fly within Linden Realms, the region will automatically teleport you to your home. This is done to ensure that the Linden Realms experience continues to operate within the intended design. If this is a recurring experience for you, check your scripts and attachments to ensure that they are not attempting to perform any of the actions listed above. How do I get the best visual appearance? To see Linden Realms as it was intended, enable region environment (Windlight) settings : Choose World > Environment Editor. Select Use region settings. Click OK. Then enable atmospheric shaders: Choose Me > Preferences. Click the Graphics tab. Select Atmospheric shaders. If you experience any graphics issues, follow these steps: Return to your home location. Log out of Second Life. Log in again. Walk through the LR portal again. Heads-Up Display (HUD) issues Many issues you may encounter are related to HUDs. How did this HUD get attached to me? As part of the Linden Realms experience, a heads-up display (HUD) will be attached to you automatically. You won't be prompted to accept the attachment. Don't worry: while this is not standard behavior in the rest of Second Life, it is the way Linden Realms is designed to work. Why does the HUD disappear when I log out? We do not want to compromise your inventory, so the HUD ias a temporary attachment that leaves your inventory unaffected. I'm in Linden Realms, but my HUD is not loading. We apologize if you have issues loading your HUD. Please follow the troubleshooting steps below to resolve your issue. What happens if I detach my HUD? If you detach the HUD, you will automatically be teleported out of Linden Realms back to your home location. You will NOT lose your progress or status in the game. Linden Realms stores all of your game information in a server data store. You are free to come and go as you please, and get a new HUD without affecting your game data. If you detach your HUD outside of Linden Realms, occassionally you will teleport into mid-air, in your current region. This is a known issue. While I was working on a quest, my HUD changed to display a different quest. What happened? It is possible to have multiple active quests at the same time. If you have more than one quest active, the HUD will display only the quest with the highest priority. This means that if you are working on a quest, but then take on a new quest that is of higher priority, the HUD will display the new quest, not the the old one. However, LR is still tracking the older quest and you can still complete it. I'm having trouble completing quests. What can I do? While we do our best to ensure all users have a great experience, in rare cases technical issues may prevent you from interacting with quest objects or advancing past certain quest objectives. To help resolve such issues, follow these troubleshooting steps: Remove conflicting HUDs and attachments - Certain avatar scripts can conflict with the Linden Realms experience. To isolate this problem: Exit Linden Realms. Remove any other HUDs and attachments. Re-enter Linden Realms through a portal. Note: We understand that HUDs and attachments can be an integral part of your experience; this is a temporary troubleshooting step to narrow down the root cause of the issue. Reset your Linden Realms HUD Exit Linden Realms Detach your Linden Realms HUD. Re-enter Linden Realms. Switch to another LR instance - All instances of Linden Realms operate independently, so try another one to see if your issue resolves. Check the Destination Guide for a list of available instances. Try the Official Second Life Viewer - Use the official Second Life Viewer to determine whether the issue you are encountering is related to a specific viewer. I've completed several quests in Linden Realms, and now I'm not receiving any more. Why? There are a limited number of quests you can complete in Linden Realms. If you have completed all the quests that are currently available, you will not be offered any additional ones. However, even though you have completed the quest content, you can continue to collect crystals, earn Linden dollars, and hang out with other Residents as long as you'd like! It's also worth checking the workshop every once in a while to see if we've added any new quests to the experience. What's a flare cannon? One of the quests in the experience directs you to find a "flare cannon." An example of a flare cannon is shown at right. How do I report griefing/camping/cheating? Linden Realms is subject to the same rules, regulations, and guidelines as the rest of Second Life. In the Second Life Viewer, choose Help > Report Abuse to report abuse. For more information, see Filing an abuse report. How do I get more help? If you tried the troubleshooting steps above and were not able to resolve your issue, please create a support case on the Second Life customer support site. If the issue is particular to a specific inworld location or object, please provide the name of the object, along with the coordinates and Linden Realms instance number.

Use the Second Life email subscription page to manage your subscription to Second Life promotional and informational emails: Enter your email address. Normally, this is the email address you used when you registered for Second Life. Select the types of emails you want to recieve. Click Submit Typically, you will receive no more than two to three emails per month per category.