spot rolls

[Origomar]

if something is out of your sight at night and you roll a 20, can you see through the dark, or how far can you see from where you are(its not attempting to hide)

its 3.5 ed

[Toliudar]

If it's out of your sight, by definition you can't see it. You might be able to make a passive listen check.

[Elfin]

Skill checks, unlike attack rolls, don't auto-succeed on a natural 20. So probably not.

[Origomar]

Skill checks, unlike attack rolls, don't auto-succeed on a natural 20. So probably not.

the character has a passive +8 to spot(only level 2 though) they are about 30 feet away at 3 oclock in the morning(same sky/moon/rotation of earth and in a moderately dense forest)

gah so many factors

[Strife Warzeal]

It depends on the DC and how high the spot modifier the character has.

EDIT: a 28? I would say they can. Look at the SRD if you need help.

Every 10 feet equals a -1 on the check, and I would say the dark wouldn't be to much more maybe a -3 or -4 depending on how bright the moon is.

[HunterOfJello]

If a single light source exists somewhere within visual distance, a quick reflection from a piece of metal or something shiny could always be seen.

This wouldn't be relevant against an enemy that has nothing shiny on them, but is the kind of thing I would give as a result if a player rolled a 30 on a spot check while in a dark area. However, that's just my DMing style. You could just as easily say that it's too dark to see anything. If the spot check was to survey an area, then I would definitely just say, "you don't see anything, it's too dark. Man, seriously. I told you to play a dwarf. Dwarves are awesome. I still can't believe you guys were all lame enough to play 5 humans, what do you guys have against the other races anyway? All the townsfolk think that you're part of some kind of human supremacy hate group. You do know that's why that cute elf barmaid wouldn't go out with you earlier. "