I’ve been looking into the ToS and it seems that are some undefined terms. Specifically when it reads " Covering costs incurred from third parties ( server rent , product licensing, …)"
I’ve made contact with FiveM 4 times over the last two months and had no response, was wondering if anyone here could give me some insight.
Mainly wondering if the following are classed as server costs as the server owners are in no way making from from these:
Donations to FiveM patreon.
Donations to Mapping resource patreons
Website hosting
Teamspeak hosting
Development costs (Paying for outside help to enhance the stability of the server)
Individual project/product licensing (buying specific maps/resources)
I’ve read through the terms of service a few times and can’t seem to find anything that specifically states these wouldn’t be allowed. It states that you cannot make profit, but obviously as a server owner paying for these, you wouldn’t be making profit. I could well be wrong, and that’s why I’m here.
This has been repeatedly stated to be firmly against TOS. I made a topic months ago about Patreon being covered under costs and was told that it would be. I can’t speak for the others.
Nobody should be making direct money from FiveM. If anyone is charging for anything that’s FiveM specific, they’re breaking the ToS.
As long as the things you’re paying for aren’t breaking the FiveM ToS (i.e. the guy makes them specifically for FiveM and is making money from them), and it is helping the server, donations should be allowed to pay for it.
I feel like you and Schwim both just said the complete opposite.
I’m trying to ask for specific things as I’ve read the ToS and no matter what way you read it, it can be taken differently, it’s not nearly specific enough. Other than don’t make profit, but if you are spending 100% of all income on things that enhance the FiveM server, it’s not profit, yet that’s also… profit… depending on who you ask.
Hopefully you’ll get an official answer from an element.
Praying.
These questions have been thrown around so much and there’s never a definitive answer on specific costs.
The current ToS’ has gaping loop holes. There are servers out there making tens of thousands, and element are well aware.
I’ve never seen a official definitive answer relating to all of your questions, unfortunately. I can’t speak towards groups making thousands but can only say we’re in the hole almost two hundred monthly with our current setup(hosting, Patreon, Tracky, etc). If you’re not doing it because you love to do it, you likely won’t be doing it for long 
Completely agree!
I don’t want a penny in my pocket from this but if people want to donate, I want to know if I can use that to benefit the server, with what I included in original post.
The way i’ve been looking at it > Could be wrong, but if you’re paying a developer to create scripts for your server, that are also going to be made public release, it’s helping the entire FiveM community. It’s an incentive to create new/original products. I can see the complications with it though, with the ToS… kind of… could go round in circles ahah.
Put it into 
terms You cannot financially benefit from fivem however, you can use fivem to cover your server costs
I put in the original post that I have read the terms of service, I understand them to the extent of most people, but in no part of the entire terms… does it state what concludes as server costs.
From Original post:
“Donations to FiveM patreon.
Donations to Mapping resource patreons
Website hosting
Teamspeak hosting
Development costs (Paying for outside help to enhance the stability of the server)
Individual project/product licensing (buying specific maps/resources)”
Do these count as server costs? Realistically they are server costs, they are expenses relating to the server, that leave the owners, and the people receiving donation amounts with no profit, which is stated as a term of service.
No where does it say this isn’t okay, which leads to, like I said, gaping loop holes.
Development costs are something that’s not allowed as far I as know from TOS. You cannot pay someone to create your scripts as it’s giving financially gain to a single entity.