ok ok I know this is long, but please read as much as you can, I think this will help out the server a lot!
A new player level, No-Admin moderation. A player level between Regular and Moderator.
Currently Moderator is set to level 1, admin to level 2, etc.
How bout a "Power Player" level, level 1, while moderator level is level 2, admin level 3, management level 4 etc.
It might not necessarily be called Power Player, its just the first name that comes to mind
My suggestion is that, regular players, who is highly active in-game, knows all the rules, played a lot of hours with much experience etc, should get a level 1 with one simple ability:
To be able to vote-kick a hacker or rule-breaker when an admin is not around or afk.
Before you say this has been suggested before, there are a lot of changes and restrictions, and I think it will work out great. (admins always say they have a life, well this is a way to help the server while they're busy!)
The following is just an rough sketch but it gets the point across...
Power Players can kick hackers/rulebreakers on a vote based system, and also /spectate and gets a copy of any /report
for example if power player (id 4) types /vkick 13 health hacks, all the other "power players" will get a message that says "ID 4 request player 13 to be kicked for: health hacks", type /v 13 to confirm.
Power players can only /spectate the ID that has been brought up for voting.
If around 80% of the power players type /v 13, ID 13 will get kicked for "health hacks", etc.
If theres say, 5 power players on, then 4 /v is needed to kick, if 10 online, 8 /v needed, etc. etc.
There might be another thing, where a moderator (without an admin) can ban a hacker with the voting system.
same idea, but the Mod would type /vban 13 hacks, and around 80% of power players will need to type /vban confirm for the player to be banned.
With this system, the admins can stare at IRC a little less, Players won't be stuck with a full-on hacker spamming /report 100 times, simple rulebreakers like shooting at race can be kicked without admin's interference, faster and more efficient, its not only a backup system for no-admin situation, but also to assist the admins in maintaining rule and order in the server at times.
now to list out all the arguments I can see for it.
If a power player abuses the /v system, or a few power players abuses the system, their /v will be permanently removed, or in some cases, the power player could be banned a certain amount of time for the abuse, etc.
If a power player starts /vkick, but the kick is determined to be a bad kick, after 3 "false" kicks within 1 month, the power players involved in the kicks loses their level until further assessment
If there is 3 or less power players, all the votes are needed to kick, if there is only 1 power player, the player can make the decision to kick, but if it is a false kick, the player loses their level for an extended period of time. (couple weeks, etc)
To be a power player, there must be some strict requirements, such as must have 300+ hours in-game, no extensive flaming history, does not break any rules often, and be able to understand english to some extent. power players will need to be responsible, any abuse, spam, or flame of the /v system will result in an immediate level removal...