Unwritten and continuing rules:

Council:
A Council Member may not vote on a claim or modification that changes a nation they are citizen of.
A Council Member should base their vote upon whether the overall development of the nation in question merits the addition of the land being claimed.  Activity, culture, military, economics, history and use of current land are the main features of development Council Members should base their claim on. Personal bias is not permitted.
A claim is passed when a majority of the votes (of council members able to vote) support the claim. A tie results in a denied claim.
Every icon requested to be added on the Quetzal Iconified map must receive the approval of two Council Members
There shall be five full Council Members, with assigned roles, and a Junior Cartographer.  The Junior Cartographer's vote shall only count when one of the other Council members is unable to vote on a claim (whether disallowed or on LOA).
When a Council Member retires, the Junior Cartographer shall become a full Council Member, and the Council shall meet to decide the new Junior Cartographer.  Once the Junior Cartographer is decided by the Council, their name shall be submitted to the organisation for a general vote of confidence.
A Council Member or Junior Cartographer may be removed by a 75% vote of no confidence by all member states.
The Administrator General is the leader of the Council and one of the full Council Members.

Land:
Only land can be claimed on the MCS map.  The only exception to this rule is where the claimant claims a small city on ice in reasonable proximity to their land, or can demonstrate the city is on an island too small to be showed on the map (that is, smaller than half a pixel).
No nation may claim more land than Shireroth.  Shireroth may not claim further unclaimed land.

Cities:
All of a nation's cities must be on land they own.
When a nation is removed, their cities will be left as ruins on the map until another nation claims the land.  It is up to that nation whether they retain the ruins in their claim.
City names may not contain blatantly offensive words such as swear words.

Nations:
Istvanistan will always hold land on the MCS map (don't ask).
The Apollo Foundation will not hold land on the map.
No individual may rule multiple nations at once.
The MCS will allot land to one-citizen micronations ONLY on the basis that they are starting out and will gain more citizens. This does not apply to micronations which have gone inactive.

Claims:
The MCS is not obliged to uphold any claims made by any nations, regardless of any past affiliations with the MCS.
Claims submitted less than a month apart may be denied merely on the basis of too many small claims too close to each other.
Multiple claims for a single micronation will not be allowed, nor will half claims by colonies. This means a colony or autonomous entity of a larger micronation may not claim land on the map unless it's parent constituent is already on the map. This also works in reverse, so that is the parent country ends it's membership, the colony is removed as well (unless circumstances dictate otherwise, such as if it were to become independent). 
Broadly spread-out land claims stretching across the map are subject to re-assessment and possible relocation at the discretion of the MCS. These claims may be subject to rearrangement for geographical realism and for cartographical purposes in maintaining consolidated and streamlined claims.
New nations may request a Council Member to organise their initial claim for them and/or make a claim map for them, as long as they clearly indicate where they would like the land to be placed, and provide several city names.

Claim Etiquette:
Only use approved symbols displayed on the key. (Grandfather clause - those symbols already on the map that aren't in the key can stay, but no more).
You may only have 1 Capital City.
All text should be in Times New Roman, size 8 in MS-Paint and unblurred, other graphics editors may vary, check the size against current text.
Symbols and city names should be red (rgb(255,000,000)/#FF0000).  Where this colour is unreadable on your nation, you may use yellow (rgb(255,255,000)/#FFFF00).  Exceptions may be made where both are unreadable, but you must ask permission of the Council first to use any colour other than red or yellow.
Regional names and regional borders should be in black (rgb(000,000,000)/#000000).  Ideally, regional borders should be like normal borders, but every second pixel removed.
All borders may only be 1 pixel thick at all points.  Where your borders are two pixels thick (corners etc) at any point, the Council reserves the right to thin your borders our when adding your claim to the Claimsmap.
The first post in all claims thread needs to include the approved Claims/Modification form.
All claims (except for new nations claims which have requested a Council Member to do so) should come with an image, of a standard ready to be put on the map, of how your would like your land to look.  Claims that are not up to claimsmap standard will be rejected.

Membership Qualifications:
A new nation should have established an active online presence for at least three months (90 days) before seeking admittance to the MCS.  A nation established and populated by experienced micronationalists may lower this period to two months (60 days).  Exceptions to this may be granted where the nation can show sufficient evidence that a high degree of development has already occurred within a shorter period of time.
The MCS is for forum-based nations.  Nations intending to violently secede from real world nations are not allowed.

Removal:
If a nation spends 3 consecutive months with an average of less than 1 post per day each month the Council is at liberty to force a reduction on them. If they continue this for a fourth month, or refuse a reduction, the Council is at liberty to remove them.
If a nation spends 3 consecutive months with 0 posts per day each month the Council is at liberty to remove them.
The land from a removed or reduced micronation will have it's land declared unclaimable for a period of one (1) month. During that time, if the removed nation reconstitutes itself, it may reclaim the lost land. After that time, the nation can be claimed by any new nation seeking admittance to the MCS. 

Other Maps:
The MCS produces various maps beyond the claimsmap to aid in the common geophysical simulation of members.  Where these maps do not include nations (eg Physical, Resource, Ocean) the physical layout of the maps cannot be changed.  The only exception is for changes necessary to maintain the integrity and usefulness of the map, and where there is a 75% majority of council members agreeing with the change.

Forum Guidelines:
No annexing stupidly, YAC (Yardistani Annexation Corporation) is for Shireroth, not here.
Try to maintain good spelling.
English only or translations.
Try not to double post within 3 days of the last post.
No being constantly offensive. A civil argument where both parties are happy to argue is allowed, but when one party is unwillingly being repeatedly offended by other parties, it is not allowed.
No ridiculously large and irritating signatures/avatars.
1000th post, 10,000th post, 100,000th post etc are significant milestones 53433rd post and 1337th post are not.

Amendment:
Reproductions of the MCS maps are allowed but it is requested that you keep a list of all cartographers involved in the creation of that map. These should be provided on the maps on MCS site.
The MCS reserves the right to expand, reduce or amend these policies as it sees fit. If any such changes are made, all parties using MCS services will be notified.