Glad to hear that! Yes you can replace the gate script with the /ss script. If you want to know what was wrong, compare it to yours to see the difference.
Alright, let's make this practical. I have made a resource and set everything up for you. Download this resource: https://www.dropbox.com/s/2piviqi6n5oqn ... e.zip?dl=0 and place it in server/mods/deathmatch/resources/[gameplay]. Refresh and see if it loads.
Well since the files are in a folder/.zip file, and nothing is wrong with your meta file, and the "server.lua" script is there, are you sure your resource is placed in the right directory?
This probably means either the resource files aren't in a folder nor in a .zip file OR something is wrong with the meta. Post your meta.xml file here please.
I'd recommend reading and learning more about Lua first and then reading MTA scripting tutorials. This is the best way to start scripting in MTA. Because MTA uses Lua as it's scripting engine.
This site is very useful for learning basics about Lua: http://www.tutorialspoint.com/lua/index.htm .
If you want to try out your codes, either use MTA or use this URL: http://www.lua.org/demo.html .
In line 8 of your code, replace "onPlayerJoin" with "onClientResourceStart" and "getRootElement()" with "resourceRoot". Make sure the script's type is "client" in meta.xml file.
It appears that you're trying to display that "splash screen" when player joins the server. All you need is to do is to see if player has joined and finished downloading by using onClientResourceStart. You don't need serverside to do that. If you want special effects on your "splash screen" though, i would recommend using dxCreateImage. But you must first bother with using DX functions to understand how it works.