Fair Use Policy

Effective 1 October 2026

This policy explains how the limits on LobbyForge are meant to work, what we treat as abuse of them, and what happens when someone crosses the line. It expands on the acceptable-use section of the Terms of Service; it does not replace it, and if the two ever seem to disagree, the Terms win.

If you run one community and use LobbyForge the way the dashboard presents it, you will never notice this policy exists. It is written for the rare case, not for you.

What fair use means here

The free plan is for one community’s real use. Its limits — how many layouts a server may have, how many lobbies can be open at once, how many can be opened in a day, and how many servers one account may install the bot into — exist so that no single server can degrade the Service for everyone else. They are enforced by the bot itself, before it creates anything, and hitting one gets you a clear message saying which limit you hit and what would lift it — never a silent failure.

The free-server allowance is measured against the server’s owner as well as the account that clicked install, and a removed install keeps counting for a short cooldown. Both of those are anti-abuse measures, and both are described honestly in the FAQ.

What counts as abuse

  • Evading plan or install limits. Spreading one community’s use across multiple accounts, rotating which administrator invites the bot to dodge the per-owner allowance, or kicking and re-inviting the bot to churn through the free-server slot. The limits are the deal that keeps the free plan free; working around them is taking the deal without keeping it.
  • Automation beyond normal interactive use. Scripting the dashboard API or driving the bot at a volume no person at a keyboard would produce. The Service is built for humans designing layouts and opening lobbies, not for being someone else’s backend.
  • Exploiting bugs for advantage rather than reporting them. If you find a way to get more than your plan allows, telling us is helpful and using it is abuse. To say it plainly: good-faith bug reports in the support Discord are welcomed and will never be treated as abuse — finding the hole is not the offence, quietly living in it is.
  • Content abuse. Publishing content through the bot that the acceptable-use section of the Terms forbids. The Terms define it; this policy just confirms it is enforced the same way.

Enforcement

Enforcement is proportionate. For most breaches you will hear from us first — a warning and a chance to stop is the normal path. Severe or repeated breaches can mean immediate suspension, without a warning. We reserve the right to suspend or terminate any account found in breach of this policy or the Terms, at any time. That right has to be stated this bluntly to mean anything; it is used rarely, by a person, and never casually.

A suspension applies to an account: it loses access to the dashboard and the API, and every request is answered with the reason so an appeal can be about facts. In serious cases we may also remove the bot from the offending server. Consistent with how account deletion works, a server’s layouts remain with the server — suspending one administrator does not destroy a community’s setup for everyone still in it. A suspended account can still delete itself and its data; enforcement does not override the Privacy Policy.

Appeals

Appeals go through the support Discord or by email to support@lobbyforge.net. Suspension is a manual decision, not an automated one, so every suspension — and every appeal — is reviewed by a human. If we got it wrong, say so; being suspended does not stop you from being right.

Changes to this policy

We may update this policy as the Service and its limits change. When we do, the effective date at the top changes with it, and material changes will be announced in the dashboard or the support Discord before they take effect.

Questions about this document? Ask in the support Discord or email support@lobbyforge.net.