Greetings, GM Bunyip here.
I'd be happy to. The point of confusion likely comes from the fact that we take action against some gate camps using this tactic and not others.

Our policy on the use of drones, containers, etc around gates is that it is allowed.

However, we have another policy that also must be adhered to, which is that creating lag for other players to gain a PvP advantage is an exploit.

In some camps, the number of drones/other debris is fairly low, and it's clearly been placed for the sole purpose of catching cloaking ships. These camps are absolutely fine and we have zero issue with them. In other camps, we see hundreds of drones/other debris, and when warping in to investigate, our clients lag out trying to load such a busy grid. It's these camps we have issues with, and take actions against.

If you are contemplating setting up a gate camp using this tactic, we'd suggest that you try and limit yourself to somewhere around 50 objects. This is usually plenty sufficient to catch cloakers, and won't typically cause any lag. If you are running one of these camps and notice that it is causing load on the server (people jumping in complaining about lag, your own people jumping in getting lag, etc) then we'd advise you reduce the amount of debris, otherwise a GM may intervene (by removing it all, and possibly handing out warnings as well).

Hopefully that clarifies things. If you have any other questions or problems, please let me know and I'll be happy to assist you further.

Best regards,
GM Bunyip
EVE Online Customer Support Team | EVE Online | DUST 514

Hi, GM Eskimo here,
Thank you for contacting Customer Support. The warning you have received is about more than 160 cans you and probably your corp mates have placed around the gate in Horkkisen. Proper ingame investigation has been conducted by GM Akilian, and it is confirmed that lags have been created by doing such.

While creating lag may have not been your intention in this case, the amount of cans placed was deemed excessive by the GM who went in game and investigated the issue. The warning issued to your character is therefore warranted and we will not be able to retract it.

Please let me know if you have any queries regarding this matter.

Best Regards,
GM Eskimo
CCP Customer Support | EVE Online | Dust 514

We're unfortunately not going to be able to define a specific number of items which can legitimately be deployed in space around a particular gate. The fact is that there are more factors than just the raw amount of items which need to be considered, we have internal guidelines to determine what constitutes as "excessive" which are followed when we receive reports of this nature.

To give you an example, we cannot really look at these two scenarios in the same way:

1. A 200 vs 200 man fight concludes with 50 assorted drones and wrecks in space around a gate.
2. A single player takes it upon himself to dump 50 drones around a gate.

We have a large amount of items at a single gate in both scenarios but they are inherently different due to the way the items came to be there.
Even if the number were the only factor (which it isn't), making it public would likely only result in players skirting and pushing the limit. This is not something we feel to be in the best interest of EVE as a whole and this is another reason for our inability to publicize a specific item deployment threshold.
In the end it basically comes down to an assessment by a GM; we will investigate reports of items deployed around gates when we receive them and take action accordingly if they're deemed to be an issue. Items in space become an issue when they are putting the server under undue stress and causing a great degree of server-side lag. A large amount of objects on a single grid can also result in poor client performance for players entering the area while the client loads all of the items, this is something we are rather averse to as well.

A good rule of thumb you can apply is considering what the EVE universe would be like if every gate in the game had that amount of items around it. Tens or hundreds of items around each gate would make EVE somewhat resemble a virtual junkyard and it would probably not make for a very fun playing experience if the game froze momentarily at each gate.

Best regards,
Lead GM Lelouch
CCP Customer Support | EVE Online | DUST 514

GM Morticia here.

The matter has been investigated, and unfortunately I must inform you that the warning will stand: the number of objects left in space for which you were initially warned, was excessive and enough to generate unnecessary load on the server. As stated by GM Lelouch, the matter is up to the investigating GM's discretion and not a fixed number.

Do you have any further questions or issues we may assist you with?

Best regards,
GM Morticia
CCP Customer Support | EVE Online | DUST 514

1. How accurate was the report done by the investigating GM? From what i was told in the reply he seen over 150 "cans" in space around the gate, when in fact it was 80 light drones (50 of witch were mine)
3. If i start a camp of this nature in the future with less items and leave will i get banned for people adding to it that take over the camp? (I dont plan on doing it tbh, this fiasco has ruined that tactic for me)

Hello there,

The report was quite concise and there was enough evidence to back up any claims. You were found to be one of the contributors to the unnecessary items in space.
We can unfortunately not comment on the response times of petitions such as the one you have described.
If you were to start a camp of this nature and leave enough items in space behind, we would indeed take action upon your account. We cannot disclose the amount of items you would have to leave behind but we urge you not to dump items in space.

With kind regards,
GM Banana
CCP Customer Support | EVE Online | DUST 514

Hi again,

I regret to inform you that unfortunately, the information provided to you by my colleague is not entirely correct. We cannot disclose any specific number of objects as it really does depend on each particular scenario when it comes to the question "how much is too much?". Game masters will generally not remove items from space without issuing warnings, so we would advise you to be extremely careful in these scenarios. We would like to advise you to simply refrain from dumping items in space. An example of an acceptable dumping of items in space would be to drop 4 or 5 jet-cans near the warp in on a drag bubble, although beware that if there is already an abundance of objects in space or if more items are dumped, this could lead to action being taken. We do hope that this clears things up a bit, if you have any further questions, please don't hesitate to contact us again.

With kind regards,
GM Banana
CCP Customer Support | EVE Online | DUST 514

Posting GM mail is against the forum rules. Each GM has the authority to read the rules as they see fit. One guy sees 20 cans and thinks OK. The next sees 20 cans and thinks it's excessive.

Didnt know its against forum rules... =/ please delete if so ... and sorry

Just wanna clarify a game play issue

The thing about lag is that most nodes include multiple systems. If you are dropping 100 drones 1 jump out from Jita on a Saturday then there will be an issue, if you are out in the back end of Minmatar space on Tuesday it wont matter.

Yup posting them is against it and i believe but am not 100% sure even discussing it is.

Discussing it is still a lockable offence. But from experience it seems CCP pick and choose when they want to implement the rules or not. The only reason they do it by the way is because the GMs seem to give out incorrect information all the time.

Sorry about that .... Now let me rephrase

As far as EULA it has been Brought to my Attention that are conflicting Ideals as to What are To many objects used to De-cloak at a Gate camp.

at first it was stated that 50ish Is a decent rule to go by

Then after a player compliant it was said that over 160 is too much

but after personal loading grid test we have no issues at 160ish

so I guess I would like you guys to help Discuss How much is to many drone/cans used for De-cloaking purpose's on a Star system Gate ?

And is it totally up to what ever GM that responds to a Complaint How many is to many ?

...

For one person who has a good computer, good internet connection, and in a back-end system with very little traffic, 500 cans might not even cause a small lag.

....