In a recent answer about GM-ming in D&D, I had to resort to [Rule 0][1]<sup>*</sup>, upon which doppelgreener did correctly point out that it is not universal about all games but the core of D&D mentality. In the chat then kviiri did point out that "The GM is always right" is actually a pretty crap rule on itself.

**Now I wonder: Where and when did the rule 0 as "The GM is always right" or rather "The GM has the final say in any question" actually got codified in an RPG for the first time?**

I have the faint feeling that it might have come from the origins of Pen and Paper in wargaming, where it was the job of a judge to decide *"this is what the rules mean, this is how it is to be interpreted"*, but I can't put my finger on it more precisely.

This is NOT about when the GM is asked to improvise or to handle something akin to his own Fiat, it is about where the "Rule 0" was first mentioned in a print product explicitly. It has been in various variants since then. Some examples of this:

> The Guide  [...]**They also have the final call
on rules disputes** and typically control
what stays and what goes if something
seems out of line.<sup>Hc Svnt Dracones, p5</sup> 

>The GM Rules - This is not a democracy. The GM is the boss. You should feel free to ask questions, **but when a ruling is made, accept it.**<sup>Sengoku Revised Edition, p7</sup>

Or... and in this case the emphasis is not added:

>**GM Rule #1. You are IN CHARGE. You are ALWAYS RIGHT.**

>We give you these rules as guidance. Use them when you do not know what you’d like to have happen in the game. When you do know, ignore them. We have tried to make the rules as helpful and powerful as we can, but **if you don’t like a rule, the rule is wrong**. Good rules help a lot but bad rules were made to be broken, tortured, lobotomised and summarily executed. Dice are handy for giving players the illusion they control their destiny. This is valuable but roll your dice out of the players’ sight, behind a screen. **If a die roll gives you a result you don’t like, the die is wrong**. Change the result to the number you want. You can dock the die credits or beat it up, though in our experience this has little effect.<sup>Paranoia 25th Aniversary Edition, p40</sup>

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<sup>* - There is an ongoing dispute what is Rule 0 and what the Golden Rule. One is "the GM is right" the other "have fun, and to do that you can ignoe the rules as needed.</sup>

  [1]: https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Rule%200