Yeah, it's kinda...open. Let me explain.
First and foremost, introduction in brief: Hi, I am a very unsuspicious cat, and I'm an aspiring NSFW game developer. If you want to know more about my intentions, I've already said a lot on my Carrd page, so go read that instead.
We good? Ok, moving onto the actual post topic now.
So after reading Minecraft's EULA and Usage Guidelines for the hundredth time over in the name of making sure I'm within the limits of the law for an unrelated project, I noticed some very strange, but oddly specific (yet somehow also vague?) wording. I'm no legal expert, but based on what I've seen, there may be some room for non-monetized content utilizing Minecraft in the NSFW space. And no, I'm not talking about the already well-known "Jenny mod" situation; I'm talking about larger scale stuff such as adventure maps or, hell, maybe even online servers.
Now calm down already, I know you might be bringing this up. "If we distribute it, it's still commercial, so how does this even work???" Well, first and foremost, yes, I understand that Mojang/Microsoft is going to consider any distributed entity utilizing Minecraft or assets/properties from and/or related to Minecraft as "commercial usage." However, going back to the already well known Jenny mod and the fact it has been allowed by Mojang/Microsoft to stay up for at least two years now at the time of writing... I think you can see my point here. So, reading onward a bit, we find this:
There are also several other categories here. "Domain names and websites," "Constructed promotions," "Live in-game events," "Servers and hosting," "Extended functionality and modifications," but surprisingly...there is no specific section covering "adventure maps," also called "world files" or just "custom maps" by some in the community. The only thing that would potentially apply is the "in general" section, which is already exceptionally lenient in the fact that the only real guidelines are 1. don't do anything illegal and 2. obey the other rules that apply in the usage guidelines.
And yes, the "Essential Guidelines" section does contain the text "Do not do anything that would harm or damage our name, brand, or assets (for example: gambling, pornography, violence, terrorism, or other unsafe/mature content)" as part of the rules in the Minecraft usage guidelines. However, the "in general" section for "commercial use" states: "...unless we agree to allow it, or it is expressly allowed by applicable laws." So, if you can manage to get permission from Minecraft's creators, or if you can find a way to convince the government of whatever region you reside within that the content you have created is protected under whatever laws govern your freedom of creative expression (residents of Japan have a massive advantage in this area) then there's really nothing Mojang can do to stop you.
As for servers, if you don't charge for access to your server, sell in-game currency with real money, publicly ask for donations within the server, sell entitlesments, sell cosmetics, or have anything that looks like plagiarism against the Minecraft brand, the same rules as above apply here too.
I suppose this boils down to one single point: If you're not making money off it, just don't do anything that would "harm the Minecraft brand" by expostulating as much as possible that your creations aren't official or endorsed by Microsoft and you should be fine.
Yeah, that seems like a good TLDR. I wouldn't risk it with servers, though.
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