Night 0

From SA Mafia Wiki

Night 0 is a Night phase that occurs before a game of Mafia begins. During Night 0, select players get to use their night action; this is especially useful for Cops in a large game, who can get across an investigation before the thread starts.

Night 0 is optional, with the majority of games played on SA keeping it out. When an SA mod does use a Night 0, it is typically only for a Cop head-start. On other sites, such as mafiascum, the Mafia get to perform a nightkill, but the general SA consensus is that Night 0 kills suck, so almost all games with Night 0 keep scum from carrying out kills.

Oftentimes mods will use a fictional Night 0 to provide background flavor, and start the game off with a death of a non-player. This should not be confused with a real Night 0 and a Night 0 kill; if you ask "wait was alasdair even playing?", expect to be laughed at.