Raid signup rules: cutoffs people actually respect
A signup cutoff only works if it's clear, reminded and fair to the bench. Three settings, a copyable Discord rules post, and a quiz to pick how strict to be.
In this post
A signup cutoff people respect has three parts: one fixed time, a reminder before it, and a clear rule for what happens to late signups. Late signups go to the bench in the order they signed. Raiders who sit on the bench are credited. Write it down once and stop arguing about it every week.
- Relaxed: a cutoff a couple of hours before the pull, for small raids that need every body.
- Standard: a cutoff the evening before, with the comp built then and late signups benched in queue order.
- Strict: the cutoff is when the roster is posted, a day or more ahead, with late signups as bench only.
Why do raiders ignore signup cutoffs?
Because most cutoffs are a time nobody wrote down, enforced only when it suits the raid leader. If a late signup sometimes gets a seat and sometimes doesn’t, raiders learn that the cutoff is a suggestion. The fix isn’t a stricter rule. It is the same rule every week.
A cutoff fails in three predictable ways:
- Nobody knows when it is. It lives in an officer’s head, not on the sheet.
- Nobody is reminded. People who meant to sign up simply forgot.
- Nothing happens after it. A late signup gets the same seat as an early one, so signing early earns nothing.
When should the signup cutoff be?
At the moment you build the comp. That is the only time a signup actually changes anything. Before that, every signup is equal. After it, a new signup can only go to the bench or replace someone who already has a seat.
How far ahead depends on the size of the raid you’re filling. WoW Forever’s first raids open on 9 December at three sizes: Barrow Deeps for 10, Hyjal Summit for 20 and Onyxia’s Lair for 40 (Wowhead’s raids hub). A 40-player comp takes longer to build and has more seats to swap, so it wants an earlier cutoff than a 10. Use the quiz above if you’re unsure.
What should happen to late signups?
They go to the bench in the order they signed up, and they get the next seat that opens. That is the rule that makes signing early worth it, without punishing anyone for signing late.
GuildPro’s sheet numbers every name in the order people pressed the button. When a seat opens, the lowest number on the bench gets it. Nobody has to scroll back through the channel to settle who was first.
The bench also has to be worth sitting on. In GuildPro, everyone who said yes or late and wasn’t seated is on the bench when you post the roster, and a benched night counts in their attendance. If the bench isn’t credited, people stop signing up on nights they think they’ll be benched, and your sheet gets thinner every week. The full rule is in raid attendance tracking that counts the bench.
How do reminders get people to sign up on time?
Remind the channel before the cutoff, and message the people who haven’t answered. Most late signups are people who forgot, not people who don’t care.
GuildPro’s bot can do three things on a timer. Each is off until an admin turns it on on the Automations page:
| Automation | What it does | Default timing |
|---|---|---|
| No sheet up yet | Posts a notice that a raid night is close and has no sheet, with a Post a sheet button | 5 days before |
| Raid starts soon | Posts a reminder with how many have signed up, are tentative or are out. Can ping @here | 1 hour before |
| Chase the silent | DMs everyone on a posted roster who hasn’t answered, once a day until they do | 4 hours before |
Quiet hours and a daily cap stop the bot from pinging people at 3 a.m. The details are on the automations docs page.
Should Tentative count as a signup?
No. Tentative means “no seat yet”. Ask people to turn it into a yes or a no before the cutoff. A sheet full of tentatives tells you nothing about whether the raid can happen.
GuildPro treats it the same way. On the attendance page, Tentative on its own is not counted as signed, excused or a no-show. Late and Can’t make it pressed before the start are notice, and count as excused if the raider doesn’t come. That gives raiders an honest way to say “not this week” without it counting as a broken promise.
What are the three settings in GuildPro?
The raid night, the reminder and the close. Set them once and the rule enforces itself.
- The raid night. Set your standing nights on Raid teams. The Signups page then shows a Coming up, no signup yet card when a night is inside its notice window, so the sheet goes up early enough for people to answer.
- The reminder. Turn on Raid starts soon and, once you post rosters with a start time, Chase the silent.
- The close. Turn on Close the sheet, which closes signups once the raid has started: anywhere from straight away to 6 hours after (30 minutes by default). For a cutoff before the raid, an officer can close a sheet any time from the Signups page, and reopen it if needed.
How raiders answer, and how officers manage sheets, is on the signups docs page.
What should our signup rules post say?
When the cutoff is, what happens after it, and what each button means. Paste this into your #signups channel, change the times, and pin it.
**Raid signup rules**
**Cutoff:** sign up by **[day] at [time] server time**. That's when we build the comp.
**Before the cutoff:** everyone who signs up is considered for a seat.
**After the cutoff:** you go on the bench in the order you signed up. If a seat opens, the next person on the bench gets it.
**The bench counts.** If you signed up and we didn't seat you, that night counts in your attendance.
**The buttons:**
- Tank / Healer / Melee / Ranged: I'm coming, on this character
- Late: I'm coming, but late (tell us how late)
- Bench: I'm available, happy to sit out
- Tentative: I don't know yet. No seat until you change it to yes before the cutoff
- Can't make it: I'm out this week. That's fine, it isn't a no-show
**No-shows:** signing up and not turning up without a word is the one thing we ask you not to do. If plans change, press Can't make it, even 10 minutes before.
Questions? Ask an officer.Keep the post short. Every line should answer a question someone has asked in your channel at least once.
GuildPro numbers every signup in queue order, credits the bench in attendance, and can remind and chase raiders for you. It’s free for every guild. Build the comp in the comp builder, and the bench is set when you post it.
For the rest of what your guild should settle before 4 November, see the WoW Forever guild checklist. If you’re choosing a signup bot, read our Raid-Helper comparison.
FAQ
When should a raid signup cutoff be?
At the moment you build the comp. For a 40-player raid that is often the evening before. For a 10-player raid a few hours before can be enough. Pick one time and keep it every week.
What should happen to people who sign up after the cutoff?
They go to the bench in the order they signed up, and they get a seat if one opens. Don't punish them for signing late, but don't move someone who signed on time either.
Should Tentative count as a signup?
Treat it as no seat until the person confirms before the cutoff. In GuildPro, Tentative on its own is not counted as signed, excused or a no-show.
Can the GuildPro bot remind people to sign up?
Yes. It can post a reminder before the raid with how many have signed, DM people on a posted roster who haven't answered, and close the sheet after the start. Every automation is off until an admin turns it on.