Rockstar tightens its mod rules ahead of GTA 6: what changes
Rockstar’s new mod guidelines ban mixing maps between games, porting its titles to unofficial platforms and extending their stories. Who is affected and how.
A little over two months out from GTA VI, Rockstar Games has published mod guidelines that cover all of its games, not just the next GTA. They went up quietly on September 10, 2026, in the community resources section of its official site, and they make one thing clear: buying Cfx.re (FiveM and RedM) in 2023 didn't mean a free-for-all. If anything, the list of don'ts is now longer and more specific than ever.
The document itself stresses that it isn't a license. It summarizes the minimum requirements set out in Rockstar's Terms of Service and its Creator Platform License Agreement, which are the texts that actually govern modding.
What's no longer allowed
Under its first section, "Respect Our Games," Rockstar sets out four red lines:
Rule | What it hits |
|---|---|
No expanding or altering official storylines, missions or characters | Mods that continue or rewrite a game's plot |
No combining maps, locations, characters, stories or assets from different Rockstar games | Projects like bringing Liberty City or Vice City into GTA V |
No modifying games to run on consoles or devices Rockstar hasn't released them on | Unofficial ports to Switch, Android or retro consoles |
Multiplayer mods are limited to Rockstar's Creator Platform or platforms it directly authorizes | Servers outside FiveM and RedM |
Intellectual property: logos, music and real voices
The second block is about rights, and it's broader than it looks:
- No cheat menus or software that interferes with official multiplayer, online services or the Creator Platform.
- No using Rockstar's logos to promote a mod or server, or implying Rockstar endorses it.
- No third-party material: artwork, characters, music, photos, games, ads, brands, logos or even real-world locations.
- No modifying or reusing voice performances from Rockstar games, and no using a real person's voice, image or likeness without written permission.
The community
Mods have to follow Rockstar's user rules and community guidelines. Pornography, violent extremism, promoting self-harm, threats, harassment and anything that endangers minors are all banned. In roleplay, conflict roleplay and military simulations depicting real-world armed organizations are also off-limits.
Money: only through Rockstar
This is probably the section with the biggest consequences. Rockstar's Creator Platform is the only authorized place to make money from mods; outside it, modding must be strictly non-commercial. Even inside it, there are limits:
- Sales must go through digital storefronts approved by Rockstar, such as the Cfx Marketplace.
- No real-money gambling, loot boxes, gacha systems or similar chance mechanics, and no selling in-game currency for real money.
- No cryptocurrency, NFTs, tokens or memecoins.
- No advertising, product placement or sponsored content.
- No charging for access to assets, missions or DLC created by Rockstar.
The fine print
The document closes by giving Rockstar a free hand: it doesn't endorse any third-party project, it can revise these rules at any time, and it reserves the right to remove any mod or user-generated content "at any time and for any reason." Nor do the guidelines limit Rockstar's or Take-Two's right to enforce their intellectual property.
Who's actually affected
- Fan ports: the clearest hit. Projects like the GTA III Dreamcast port or reGTA for the New 3DS are now explicitly out of bounds, and Take-Two has gone after similar efforts before.
- Map mods: conversions that carry cities from one GTA into another, hugely popular on PC, fall squarely under the ban.
- Roleplay servers: FiveM and RedM remain the official route, now with clearer rules on content and payments. That licensed framework is what makes projects like nopixel possible in the first place.
- Creators funded by Patreon or tips: if their mods are sold outside Rockstar's platform, they're now in a tough spot.
- Single-player mods for personal use: textures, cars, graphics upgrades and quality-of-life tools don't look like the target, as long as they don't touch the stories or get sold.
Update: the first consequences
The rules didn't take long to bite. In late September, Rockstar warned streamer IlloJuan over a mod used in a GTA San Andreas series that recreated the voices of Ibai and other public figures with AI, exactly what the real-voices rule prohibits. On October 3, the unofficial GTA V port for Switch shut down after a cease-and-desist from Take-Two, citing the unofficial platforms rule; we covered it in our roundup of fan ports to Nintendo consoles. The FiveM team, meanwhile, publicly backed the guidelines.
Press reaction has been mostly critical, though some analyses point out that many of these rules already existed, scattered across the terms of service and the FiveM license, and that the document mainly gathers them in one place.
Our take
The rules are broad, and some harmless mods that have been around for years technically break them. But the underlying message is about GTA VI: Rockstar wants the ground rules set before a game arrives that will attract enormous modding interest, especially once it reaches PC. Protecting the story, the online side, the mod economy and the game's platform presence is the priority. Expect the most visible projects, ports and map conversions, to be first in line for takedown notices, as is already happening.
