The Veja news magazine listed the Ten Commandments for surviving in the favelas:

In the favela, no one sees anything, no one hears anything. Informants are killed.

Shops must shut if a drug leader is killed.

Rap songs that include references to enemy factions are banned.

Clothes the color of rival gangs are banned.

Residents are forbidden from calling the police in any situation.

Residents may be obliged to hide guns in their homes at any moment.

In arguments between neighbors, the drug boss is the judge.

Businesses that work out of favelas have to employ residents of the same favela.

The traffickers decide which crimes are permitted and who can commit them. Punishments include expulsion, beatings, mutilations and death.

In some favelas, residents must paint their houses the same color to confuse the police.