Managing lag at source?

If a server can detect when someone is about to add one prim too many to their land parcel, why can't server resources be rationed in other ways that manage them and prevent lag at its source? - Like by telling someone that they can't add a whole lot of rotation scripts, etc etc ...

Because the "lag" from rotational/particle items is purely client side. The sever has no way to know how much = lag. On high end systems with good video cards, a lot of rotating/particle items would produce no lag. On low end systems with poor video cards, a lot of rotating/particle items would produce substantial lag. But the server knows nothing about what is happening for each individual user. Incidentally this 'lag' is actually reduced framerates, as the user's computer system just cant handle drawing all the pixels. This contrasts with Client/Server lag, where there is a long delay between the server sending data and the client receiving it (network lag).

Ahh .. thanks Darien, I should have guessed. I'd just always wondered why the server couldn't detect say the 100th rotation script being put into a 512 square metre parcel; assume the worste, and stop the owner before it was too late .. thanks for the reply; much appreciated.
.. I think I'd better scrap my plans for the rotating scale model of Niagara falls with fog effect.