GTA 6 Custom Vehicles: Planning and Legal Considerations

Custom vehicles are the number one modding error that gets GTA servers taken down. Real-world branded vehicles, real-world car models, or otherwise branded mods from unauthorised sources can get you in a lot of legal trouble. Here's how to manage custom cars and vehicles in GTA 6 without waking up to a takedown notice.

The legal landscape, in one paragraph

Every major automobile company owns trademarks on their logos, distinctive designs, and brand names. Putting a Ferrari logo on your mod, naming your mod "Lamborghini", or using an accurate 1:1 model of a BMW M3 on a commercial server without a licence exposes you to legal liability. Rockstar themselves use a workaround: fictional brands (Pfister, Vapid, Declasse) that evoke real-life cars without directly using them. Your server should take that route as well.

What you can safely do

• Use vehicles that Rockstar provided in-game. No increased liability.
• Include custom cars of fictional brands by reputable modders who've stated they own the IP.
• Hire a modder to make completely original vehicles specifically for your server, and get it in writing.
• Install community packs that state they were created as original works, not conversions like "BMW to GTA".

What you should not do

• Make use of Forza, GT Sport, Assetto Corsa, or any other game assets imported into GTA. Almost all of them are legally distributed by the game they came from, not by the person or team that ported them.
• Use Turbosquid or other stock 3D model marketplaces for branded cars if the licence doesn't explicitly state games are okay.
• Use "handling brand X" cars that someone modelled off a real-life car and put a logo on. These get servers taken down weekly.

GTA 6-specific considerations

As GTA 6 hasn't released any modding toolchain yet, we don't know what formats it uses for its vehicles. However, here's what we can anticipate:

• New car file formats, likely some sort of revised .rpfx archives.
• Increased polygon budgets. Expect vehicles to use anywhere from 200k to 400k tris, up from 100k-200k in GTA 5.
• Expect more complex material and shader requirements. Cars will likely require PBR materials for best results.
• Physics model upgraded. Handling configs will have to be retuned for how GTA 6 handles physics, so don't expect a direct GTA 5 port.

For the same reason we recommend waiting on MLO production, hold off on GTA 6 vehicle exports until tools land. Reference/modelling work is fine to do now.

If you monetise vehicles, be extra careful

A server selling Donator roles for $5 per month that grant "Lamborghini access" has, legally, sold a Lamborghini trademark. That's the blueprint for takedowns. If you sell access to vehicles, use only:

• Rockstar-owned vehicles (these are fine to use for paywalls).
• Custom cars of fictional brands that you own or have a licence for.
• Community vehicles whose licence explicitly allows commercial use.

Quality tips for custom vehicles

• Test vehicles in isolation before adding them to your production server. One poorly tuned handling config can kill the feel of your server's physics.
• Version your vehicles. The fifth version of a community car will probably far surpass its first.
• Budget polygon counts per slot. 50 custom cars at 300k tri each takes more VRAM than some consoles have to work with.
• Always include a handling.meta update when you ship. Handling on a custom model usually defaults to terrible.

Related reading

See our modding tools overview for information on the modding ecosystem. Check out the MLO planning guide for information on MLOs. For donation and Patreon setups that avoid legal pitfalls, read our revenue models guide.