Modlog

The modlog is a subreddit's internal record of moderator actions. Every post removed, every comment removed, every user banned, every flair assigned, every AutoModerator rule that fired — all of it gets logged in the modlog, visible to the mod team but not to regular users. Some subreddits publish their modlog publicly via tools like r/[sub]/about/log to demonstrate transparency, but most keep it private.

For mods, the modlog is the primary audit trail. It's how they catch other mods making bad calls, how they verify whether a user's claim of "I was banned without warning" is true, and how they detect coordinated brigading by looking at removal patterns. Reddit's admins can also pull modlog data for sitewide investigations.

For users marketing on Reddit, the modlog matters indirectly. When a mod removes your post, they likely left a removal reason in the modlog — and they can look up your account's removal history before deciding whether to ban you. An account with three prior soft removals across various subs gets less benefit of the doubt than a clean account, even if no single removal was severe.

A few subreddits use public modlog tools (toolbox-published feeds, third-party modlog aggregators) so the community can audit moderation decisions. These public modlogs are how some controversies about over-moderation become visible. For subs that publish their modlog, anyone can see what's being removed in near real-time, which sometimes surfaces patterns that inform whether a sub is friendly to your category.

When you appeal a removal via modmail, mods almost always pull your modlog history before responding. Owning past mistakes ("I see I had a removal in this sub a year ago for self-promotion, this post is structured differently") tends to land better than denying or rationalizing.