Mods are certainly nicer, that's for sure, and thus far, except in in ugly instances, everyone here has been intelligent and thoughtful, even in disagreement.
I think that federation here really helps - seems like the toxicity seems naturally get siloed as instances defederate from bad actors and users are blocked, and it really dilutes the impact a power-tripping mod can have on content, as it's far to easy to find another relevant community or instance that will accept your post.