Releases rules
We’ve seen some misconceptions regarding the ‘rules’ for the Releases category. With this post we want to list the common rules that all users must follow. Please note that these are not the only rules on the forum and you must still follow the rules mentioned on the FAQ page and any other rules that apply.
Advertising
Any advertisement is not tolerated. This includes any mentions of support through third-party services like Discord and websites. If you would like to contact a user do so via Direct Messages or find their contact details via their profile description. Advertising includes, but is not limited to:
- Any Discord link/user (this includes extra support)
- “Early Access” or extra features
- “Go to my site to download”
- Mentions to your FiveM server community
- External ‘donation’/‘buy me a coffee’ links or other monetization
Credits & Copyright/DMCA
Sharing content that is not yours is allowed as long as you credit the original author and don’t violate their terms/license. Try to contact the author via their contact information found on their profile, leaving a comment/reply, or by creating an issue (if it’s a repository). After allowing the original author time to reply (~1 week) and you’ve not received a reply, you may use their content under the terms that you credit them and share your contact attempt (i.e. with a screenshot).
- GitHub content. If you share content obtained through a repository (i.e. from GitHub), make sure you read the repository’s LICENSE. If the repository has no license, contact the author via their contact information found on their profile or by creating an issue.
- FiveM forum releases. You may not re-release any already existing releases from the FiveM forum, unless the original author has given you permission. Generally, one should share improved/edited resources in the original forum topic and/or by submitting a Pull Request if the release has a repository.
- Third-party mod websites. “Converting” content from a third-party website for use in FiveM (i.e. vehicles) is allowed as long as you credit the original author with a link and follow their own terms. However, the release must include original content. That is, creating a FiveM resource with only existing files is prohibited. Only exception is if said author of third-party mod is the FiveM topic creator.
- Paid content. Release of any paid content is only allowed if adhering to the FiveM ToS, being the full owner or having explicit permission of said content, abiding by Tebex rules, and having the ‘paid’ tag. For example, you must tag your custom vehicle made by you with ‘paid’ and share a link to the content only if it’s on your Tebex shop as per Addendum D in the ToS.
- Licensing your work. Make sure you properly license your work to avoid issues surrounding permission or copyright. Unlicensed work can’t be used by anyone, including the use on servers. You can use the choosealicense.com website for more information about software licensing and helping you choose a license.
If you are caught lying about content being yours, you risk your account being suspended.
See a violation? Flag the topic or email support@fivem.net. Do not start an argument. Flag it and let staff take care of it. For more information, check out the F.A.Q. at the bottom of this post.
TLDR: Credit original authors, don’t plagiarize, and ask the original authors for permission to release their creation.
Topic
Make sure your release topic is formatted nicely and has information about the resource and how to use it. We encourage users to post screenshots/videos if applicable.
For paid releases you must include the following template in your topic:
| | |
|-----------------------|----------|
| Code is accessible | Yes/No |
| Subscription-based | Yes/No |
| Lines (approximately) | Number of lines |
| Requirements | Requirements |
| Support | Yes/No |
For example
| Code accessible | No |
| Subscription based | No |
| Lines (approximately) | 130 |
| Requirements | es_extended, notify |
| Support | Yes |
For releases without code the not applicable fields can be written as N/A
Please keep the forums tidy for example by combining similar releases into one topic and not reposting your releases, use your current topic to post updates. You may only post new topics every 12 hours.
Files & Download
Whenever possible, make use of the file upload feature on the forum. Sharing a GitHub repository link is allowed as long as the content on the repository is not compressed. If you are using the ‘paid’ tag, you may link directly to a Tebex shop package instead.
A release over the file size limit of any of the two aforementioned upload methods may be shared via a third-party upload service as long as it’s not a money generating or URL shortened link (i.e. adf.ly, bit.ly). Examples of trusted third-party upload services: MEGA, Google Drive, Tebex.
To protect your content, use the official Asset Escrow system. If you’re using the Asset Escrow system, you must mention this in your release topic so users know what they are receiving. Don’t roll your own obfuscation or licensing:
- No obfuscation. Source code may not be obfuscated or minified. At all times must your release include source code. You may include compiled files (i.e. for a C# script) as long as source code is provided.
- No remote code. We take security very seriously. At no point in your resource is the loading of remote code permitted, in any way or form. Loading remote code is extremely dangerous, regardless of the situation it’s used for.
- No external downloads. Any resource, free or paid, must be immediately available. For resources provided on Tebex, this means that you must provide a direct download link after purchase. Requiring the user to join a Discord server, enter license tokens, register accounts, or similar to acquire and/or run a resource is not permitted.
- Licensing note: The use of IP lockers or other forms of license authentication is prohibited as the no obfuscation and no remote code rules make this impractical.
- Free releases: Releases that are released for free must contain a download other than Tebex (such as a direct download or GitHub). You may include a Tebex link but it must not be the only download.
If a download link is not working, or you believe a resource is in violation of the above rules, flag the topic and let staff investigate. Do not discuss the matter in the topic to avoid arguments.
Quality
We want to encourage everyone to create scripts and release them for others to use and learn from. However, we do expect you to follow some quality guidelines.
-
Deprecated methods. Make sure your release does not contain deprecated methods, such as creating chat commands without the
REGISTER_COMMANDnative. - Tutorials. Scripts created using a ‘tutorial’ is not allowed unless you have expanded it in such a way that there is added value for the community.
- Few Lines. Releases with minimal code (such as only one script file that contains less than 50 lines) are considered too simple and is not allowed. We want users to release meaningful, configurable and complete scripts. Everyone starts somewhere, but not every little script you create needs to be shared.
- Server dumps. You may not release server dumps. Release individual resources instead.
- Default resource replacements. You’re not allowed to release a modified version of resources found in the default cfx-server-data repository.
- Bugs. Software is bound to have bugs. Try to minimize them by testing your release with other community members before creating a post.
- Good code. Please try to optimize your code as much as possible. When creating threads/loops, think twice before putting a lot of code into it. Code that gets executed every tick is usually bad. Try to keep this to a minimum and add sufficient delays wherever possible. There’s a great topic by @Syntasu on how to improve performance, take a look at that topic here: [Best practice] Improve your resource performance
- No politically charged releases - Content that contains politically sensitive topics, such as historical Nazi flags or even current day controversial political memes won’t be allowed due to the negativity it brings amongst members. We are all here to have fun!
Remember that the quality of your release impacts your image in the FiveM community. Take your time when releasing a resource.
User interaction and behavior
It’s important that you interact with users on your topic, however, make sure to follow the forum rules (see the FAQ page for our community guidelines). Posting hate comments is not allowed. If you see a problem, FLAG it, do not reply to the comment yourself. This only makes things worse.
We encourage positive and constructive criticism. Any replies/arguments without constructive feedback are not tolerated. If you believe the resource is doing something against the FiveM terms of service, or something malicious in any other way, flag the topic and provide sufficient information for our staff members to investigate.
Topic Management
The moderation team has the right to close, unlist, and edit a release at any time. If you do not agree with a decision on your own topic, flag it using a custom flag for clarification and/or to start a discussion. Do not encourage others to mass flag the topic.
FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions)
I want to release something, but I cannot create a release topic?
Being able to post a topic in the Releases category requires at minimum trust level 1. This should automatically be granted for accounts that are over a day old and have interacted with the site on both days. For more information about trust levels, see Understanding Discourse Trust Levels.
My/Someones content is being shared without my/their permission. What can I do?
Email support@fivem.net or flag the topic with a takedown request that includes proof that the content is yours/theirs (i.e. screenshots of the original files, links to the original files, diff’s of the original and released files). Staff will look into it as soon as possible.
Please do not encourage others to mass flag the topic and don’t start an argument in the topic.
