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I've been, ahem, farming spam/offensive flags due to a bug related to handling spam/offensive flags (which has since been fixed). In doing so, I noticed I haven't received the Marshal badge, despite having:

  • 139 helpful moderator flags
  • 355 helpful spam flags
  • 21 helpful offensive flags
  • 7 helpful comment flags

Which add up to 522. It should qualify, but I still don't have it after a week. For what it's worth, I wasn't a moderator yet when I received the Deputy badge.

Bill the Lizard was a moderator before the Deputy and Marshal badges were introduced. He got Marshal using spam/offensive flags anyway, but the same doesn't appear to be happening for me.

As far as I can tell, spam-flagging posts marks them as handled by the community user, so they should count toward the badges regardless of my mod status. Or did something change as part of the aforementioned fix?

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  • 8
    As a member of the official Meta Moderator Oversight Team, you realize I must now open up a question about moderators abusing their power to game the flag system and gain badges, right?
    – Cody Gray
    Commented Mar 30, 2012 at 3:18
  • 7
    I can sell you a marshal badge, how bad do you want it?
    – slugster
    Commented Mar 30, 2012 at 3:24
  • I get the undertone here, but really; why should moderators even have the option to flag posts? It violates trust and (since they have the "hammer" on whether flags should be accepted or not) as such should not be able to unwieldy swing it around. It seems appropriate that you should not have had the honor of "wearing" the badge that I (all too recently) acquired. Shame on you for doing as much work as me. ;)
    – M.Babcock
    Commented Mar 30, 2012 at 4:12
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    Please forgive the previous comment that was nearly as long as your question as it was not meant to be either spam or offensive.
    – M.Babcock
    Commented Mar 30, 2012 at 4:13
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    @M.Babcock: What's the big deal about flags? Yes, for a moderator, the flag votes are binding, but that's the same as all of their other votes. Is there really a difference when it comes to the abuse rhetoric (all that hammer swingin') between them choosing to flag or just hitting delete? They have the same effect.
    – Cody Gray
    Commented Mar 30, 2012 at 4:18
  • @TheEstablishment - Not being a mod on any of the SE sites I can't say for certain, however, based on my understanding doing so taints the record of who signed-off on the flag thus possibly leading to confusion of other moderators who have to answer when the flag is questioned (Less formally... it was my sad attempt at humor).
    – M.Babcock
    Commented Mar 30, 2012 at 4:24
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    I'll go with the humor thing.
    – user102937
    Commented Mar 30, 2012 at 4:25
  • @RobertHarvey - It was a very poor attempt at making a joke of something apparently all too serious.
    – M.Babcock
    Commented Mar 30, 2012 at 4:26
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    It's not that serious. If it were serious, we'd have fixed it in the system by now. We are, after all, talking about spammers and offensive people. It's not like they don't deserve it.
    – user102937
    Commented Mar 30, 2012 at 4:26
  • @RobertHarvey - I agree completely. It must've really been a bad joke then to not be recognized as such (across 2 comments and all).
    – M.Babcock
    Commented Mar 30, 2012 at 4:29
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    Just for the record, I don't actually see this as abuse or inappropriate. Heck, the moderators should probably earn Deputy and Marshal badges for the flags they process... And like Robert says: they're spammers. So wut.
    – Cody Gray
    Commented Mar 30, 2012 at 4:36
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    @M.Babcock: I think Jon once said that he's more interested in answering questions than handling flags :)
    – BoltClock's a Unicorn Mod
    Commented Mar 30, 2012 at 5:43
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    I don't see what the big deal is with moderators raising flags. Internally spam/offensive are votes, and moderator votes are binding. If they just outright delete a spam post, they're effectively rescuing the perpetrator from the penalties (-100 rep, and probably a big factor in the automatic post ban).
    – a cat
    Commented Mar 30, 2012 at 11:50
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    As a moderator I've flagged a couple times -- once as spam/offensive because I didn't know if the poster would get the penalty if I just deleted (there were other flags already), and once as the easiest way to get another mod to reconsider something he had posted.
    – Monica Cellio
    Commented Sep 6, 2012 at 20:37
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    Since posting my last comment I've increased my use of flagging as a mod. It was pointed out to me that a flag creates an audit trail, while if I just delete something there's no reason on record. If somebody questions it later, I'll have to try to remember. So I, for example, clean up comment conversations via flags (unless purging all comments). And no badge yet, though I was under the impression I couldn't earn one so that doesn't bother me.
    – Monica Cellio
    Commented Jun 2, 2013 at 19:59

3 Answers 3

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These flags do count towards the badges when appropriately dismissed as helpful, but moderators aren't eligible to receive either Deputy or Marshal badges according to Geoff Dalgas:

The Deputy and Marshal badges are only granted to registered users - not moderators.

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  • 2
    What happens when a user is no longer a moderator?
    – Mr.Wizard
    Commented Sep 17, 2012 at 0:18
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    @Mr.Wizard They will be awarded the badges if they're eligible for them.
    – Adam Lear StaffMod
    Commented Sep 17, 2012 at 0:35
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    Moderators meaning 10K users or just diamond users?
    – fedorqui 'SO stop harming'
    Commented Jul 8, 2013 at 13:55
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    @fedorqui Just diamond moderators.
    – Adam Lear StaffMod
    Commented Jul 8, 2013 at 14:45
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    Thanks @AnnaLear, I just updated the Marshall description to reflect that.
    – fedorqui 'SO stop harming'
    Commented Jul 8, 2013 at 14:51
  • So apparently moderators aren't registered users? That's ironic :-P
    – ɥʇǝS
    Commented May 25, 2014 at 15:42
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The implementation has been changed early this year.

In the old implementation (the visible flag weight era), these flags did count. In the new situation only the helpful flags count.

But if you got the badge during the old implementation, it isn't taken away.

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    I don't think this is relevant - spam/offensive flags can still be dismissed as helpful and a moderator using them marks them helpful pretty much by default.
    – Adam Lear StaffMod
    Commented Mar 31, 2012 at 3:43
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As far as I know, only your 139 helpful moderator flags count for the badge; that is true for moderators as for the normal users.
That is what happen since January 20, when the flag weight has been replaced with useful flags.

It seems moderators cannot obtain any badge for the number of helpful flags: I have more than 500 helpful flags, but I don't have the Marshal badge. I am referring to the "moderation attention" flags, and to the number shown as, "deemed helpful."

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  • This doesn't seem to be the case; if it were so, Bill the Lizard wouldn't have received the badge. See his post that I link to.
    – BoltClock's a Unicorn Mod
    Commented Mar 30, 2012 at 5:39
  • Did Bill the Lizard get the badge before January 20?
    – avpaderno
    Commented Mar 30, 2012 at 5:53
  • Yes, he did. Maybe the requirements did change since then.
    – BoltClock's a Unicorn Mod
    Commented Mar 30, 2012 at 6:15
  • Unless that has changed, the number of helpful flags is mod flags + spam votes + offensive votes + comment flags deemed helpful.
    – a cat
    Commented Mar 30, 2012 at 11:43
  • @lunboks In that case, I would have two badges on Drupal Answers, but I have just one.
    – avpaderno
    Commented Mar 30, 2012 at 11:46

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