1. What Are Cookies?

Cookies are small text files that a website stores on your device when you visit. They allow the site to remember information about your visit — such as your login session or your preferences — so you don't have to re-enter it every time.

Cookies are not programs; they cannot execute code or install software. Each cookie has a name, a value, an expiry date, and an associated domain. Your browser only sends a cookie back to the domain that set it.

2. Essential Cookies

Essential cookies are strictly necessary for the website and game to function. They cannot be disabled without breaking core features such as logging in and maintaining your session.

Name	Purpose	Duration	Required
sf_session	Maintains your authenticated login session.	Session (30 days if "Remember me" is selected)	Yes
sf_csrf	Cross-Site Request Forgery protection token. Prevents malicious form submissions.	Session	Yes
sf_lb	Load balancer affinity — routes your requests to the same server during a session.	Session	Yes

Legal basis: Legitimate interests (Article 6(1)(f) GDPR) and the ePrivacy Directive exemption for cookies strictly necessary to provide a service explicitly requested by the user.

3. Analytics Cookies

We use Plausible Analytics, a privacy-first analytics tool that does not collect personally identifiable information, does not use cookies by default, and does not share data with third parties. Plausible is GDPR-compliant without requiring a cookie consent banner for analytics.

Plausible aggregates anonymised statistics including page views, referral sources, and device types. Individual visitors are not tracked across sessions or sites.

Name	Purpose	Duration	Required
(none)	Plausible uses no cookies. Visitor identification relies on anonymous hashing of IP + user-agent, discarded after 24 hours.	N/A	No

You can opt out of all analytics by enabling "Do Not Track" in your browser settings — Plausible honours this signal. You may also use the Plausible opt-out extension available at plausible.io/docs/excluding.

4. Preference Cookies

Preference cookies store your in-game and website settings so your experience is consistent between visits. These are not essential — you can clear them at any time — but doing so will reset your preferences.

Name	Purpose	Duration	Required
sf_lang	Stores your chosen interface language.	1 year	No
sf_gfx	Stores your graphics quality setting (low / medium / high).	1 year	No
sf_audio	Stores your sound and music volume preferences.	1 year	No
sf_notif	Stores your notification preferences (in-game alerts, email digest opt-in).	1 year	No

Legal basis: Consent (Article 6(1)(a) GDPR). You can withdraw consent at any time by clearing preference cookies via your browser settings (see Section 6).

5. No Third-Party Tracking Cookies

We do not use any of the following:

Advertising or retargeting cookies (Google Ads, Facebook Pixel, etc.)
Cross-site tracking cookies
Affiliate tracking cookies
Social media "Like" or "Share" button trackers
Third-party analytics that profile individual users (Google Analytics, Mixpanel, etc.)

Our commitment: your data stays on our servers and with Plausible (privacy-first). We do not sell, rent, or share your browsing behaviour with advertisers or data brokers.

6. How to Manage & Delete Cookies

You can control cookies through your browser settings. Below are links to cookie management instructions for popular browsers:

Important: Deleting or blocking essential cookies (those prefixed sf_session, sf_csrf) will prevent you from staying logged in to Starforge MMO.

You can also clear preference cookies from within the game via Settings → Privacy → Clear Preferences. This will reset your graphics, audio, and language settings to their defaults on your next visit.

7. GDPR Compliance

Under the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and the UK UK GDPR, we are required to have a lawful basis before setting non-essential cookies. Our approach:

Essential cookies — set under the ePrivacy Directive exemption; no consent required.
Analytics (Plausible) — no cookies are set; cookieless analytics are not subject to PECR/ePrivacy consent requirements.
Preference cookies — set only after implicit consent (using a feature that requires them); you can withdraw by deleting the cookies at any time.

We do not use a cookie consent banner because our non-essential cookie usage is minimal and relies on legitimate or consent-based grounds that do not require an explicit banner under current guidance. We will review this position if our cookie usage changes.

For any data protection questions relating to cookies, contact our Privacy Team at privacy@starforgemmo.com.

8. Contact

If you have any questions about our use of cookies, please contact us:

Email: privacy@starforgemmo.com
Legal index: starforgemmo.com/legal

Cookie Policy