this is why collin allows clients- (sorry if this is advertising) www.youtube.com/watch?v=Si9FzKCtVOE and www.youtube.com/watch?v=g-tF3w6mMKc
Seeing those videos again gave me a good laugh, but I don't allow hacks on Minetime solely because I used to use modified clients myself.
Collin has the Minecon cape because he attends Minecon yearly. You can pay money for an Optifine cape though.
One of the main reason hacks are allowed is, yes that. But also because there is no easy way to eradicate hacks, so he allows them. However, he uses plugins such as no-cheat+ etc to prevent the hacks being too OP to where the server is unplayable.
Could you please rephrase your question? I'm not sure I quite understand what you asked. If your inquiry was whether CollinPotato allows modified clients on Minetime or not, the answer is yes, yes he does.
All modified clients "hacks" are allowed on Minetime unless they harm the server (cause lag etc.). Also more than 50% of the server would be banned if we didn't allow modified clients.
I think another thing is, a server is easier to manage with modified clients being allowed. We have to remember that when Minetime was swordcraft/lostislands, the only staff was Collin and Awesome_Fish. With 200 players online at all times, that would be near impossible to manage.
Hacked clients are allowed because its a unique style of play and beings in a whole new era of PvP. Its what makes this server unique. If people dislike the server for its hacks, they should either leave or get hacks. That is the real reason, said by many of staff themselves.