Root Cause Taxonomy
A standard vocabulary for event network failure
Every incident record is classified with exactly one code. The code determines which party the record attributes responsibility to, and whether the record counts toward a vendor's Reliability Score.
| Code | Category | Responsibility | Counts against vendor | Records |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Venue | ||||
| VEN-PWR | Venue power failure / generator switchover Loss of mains or failed transfer to generator at the venue. |
Venue | No | 0 |
| VEN-CBL | Venue cabling / structural Pre-existing venue cabling, conduit or structural limitation. |
Venue | No | 0 |
| VEN-HVA | Venue environmental (HVAC / thermal) Equipment thermal shutdown due to venue environment. |
Venue | No | 0 |
| Upstream provider | ||||
| ISP-FIB | Upstream fiber cut Physical break in the upstream provider path. |
Isp | No | 0 |
| ISP-BW | ISP bandwidth throttle / congestion Contracted throughput not delivered by the provider. |
Isp | No | 0 |
| ISP-RTE | Routing / peering / BGP Upstream routing, peering or BGP anomaly. |
Isp | No | 0 |
| ISP-DNS | Upstream DNS resolution failure Provider-side resolver outage. |
Isp | No | 0 |
| Network vendor | ||||
| NET-CFG | Vendor misconfiguration VLAN, DHCP, QoS, firewall or ACL configuration error. |
Vendor | Yes | 0 |
| NET-HW | Vendor hardware failure Switch, AP, router or transceiver failure on vendor equipment. |
Vendor | Yes | 0 |
| NET-CAP | Under-provisioned for load Delivered capacity below the concurrency the event required. |
Vendor | Yes | 0 |
| NET-NOBK | No redundancy / failover in place Single point of failure with no contracted or configured failover. |
Vendor | Yes | 0 |
| NET-MON | Monitoring gap / late detection Fault present but not detected within the agreed window. |
Vendor | Yes | 0 |
| Publisher | ||||
| GAM-SRV | Game server / publisher-side Fault located in publisher infrastructure or matchmaking. |
Publisher | No | 0 |
| Organizer | ||||
| ORG-SCH | Organizer scheduling / operations Delay caused by run-of-show, staffing or player management. |
Organizer | No | 0 |
| External | ||||
| EXT-WX | Weather / force majeure Events outside the control of all listed parties. |
External | No | 0 |
| Undetermined | ||||
| UNK-TBD | Undetermined — investigation open Cause not yet established to the Verified standard. |
Undetermined | No | 0 |
Why the distinction matters
A fiber cut upstream of the venue and a misconfigured VLAN both look identical to a player: the game stops. Without a shared vocabulary, both get remembered as "the network failed". The taxonomy makes the difference a matter of record.
The "not attributable" flag
Even where a vendor was on record, an incident may be flagged as not attributable to them. That flag is shown on the incident page and excludes the record from their score, while the disruption itself remains publicly logged against the event.