FiveM glossary

FiveM has its own vocabulary, and GTA V adds a second one for its file formats. This page explains each term in a sentence or two and points to the page that goes deeper. Terms are grouped by topic, not alphabetically, so related ideas sit together.

Platform and server

Cfx.re: The company and platform behind FiveM and RedM, owned by Rockstar Games. “Cfx” shows up in the forum (forum.cfx.re), the portal (portal.cfx.re) and join links (cfx.re/join/abc123).

FXServer: The dedicated server program. You download it as an artifact and run FXServer.exe on Windows or run.sh on Linux.

Artifact: One numbered build of FXServer, published at runtime.fivem.net/artifacts. There is a recommended build and a latest build. Some builds are known to be broken, so check our Artifacts page before you update. More in Updating artifacts safely.

Legacy and Enhanced: Since July 2026 there are two FiveM platforms. Legacy is the classic FiveM on the original PC version of GTA V and uses FXServer. FiveM for GTA V Enhanced runs on the Enhanced edition and uses a separate server build called Cfx Server. They are separate: a Legacy client cannot join an Enhanced server.

txAdmin: The web panel and in-game menu built into FXServer. It deploys servers from recipes, restarts on crash, schedules restarts, bans and warns players and runs a Discord bot. See txAdmin.

Recipe: A YAML file that tells the txAdmin deployer how to build a server: which repositories to download, which files to move, which SQL to run. See Recipes explained.

License key: The free key from portal.cfx.re that every server must set with sv_licenseKey. Keys look like cfxk_....

server.cfg: The config file FXServer executes on start. It is a list of console commands and convars. See server.cfg explained.

Convar: A console variable, like sv_hostname or sv_maxclients. You set it with set, sets (also shows in the server list info) or setr (also replicated to clients so client scripts can read it).

Endpoint: The IP and port FXServer listens on, set with endpoint_add_tcp and endpoint_add_udp. The default is 0.0.0.0:30120.

Game build: The GTA V update your server asks clients to run, set with sv_enforceGameBuild (for example 3751). Newer builds unlock newer DLC vehicles, clothes and maps.

Pure mode: sv_pureLevel blocks modified client game files. Level 1 still allows audio files and known graphics mods, level 2 blocks all modified files.

OneSync: FiveM’s server side sync system. With onesync on the server knows about every entity and player and decides who gets what, which allows more than 32 players and server side entity control. Without a Cfx.re subscription the slot limit is 48. Up to 2048 slots are possible with OneSync and the right tier.

Routing bucket: A separate “dimension” on a OneSync server. Players and entities in different buckets cannot see each other. Used for instanced interiors, character selection and races.

Entity lockdown: sv_entityLockdown stops clients from creating networked entities themselves, which blocks a common cheat. Modes are inactive, relaxed and strict.

Resources and scripting

Resource: A folder with an fxmanifest.lua file. It can contain Lua, JavaScript or C# scripts, a web UI, streamed assets and data files. You start it with ensure name where name is the folder name.

fxmanifest.lua: The resource manifest. It declares fx_version, game, which scripts run on the client or server, which files to send to clients, data_file entries and dependencies. Generate one with the fxmanifest Generator.

Category folder: A folder in brackets, like [local] or [qb]. It only groups resources, it is not a resource itself. ensure [qb] starts every resource inside it.

Client script / server script / shared script: Client scripts run on each player’s game. Server scripts run once, in FXServer. Shared scripts run on both. See Client, server and events.

Event: A named message. TriggerEvent fires one on the same side, TriggerServerEvent sends one from a client to the server, TriggerClientEvent sends one from the server to one or all clients. Network events must be registered with RegisterNetEvent.

Callback: A request that expects an answer, for example “server, how much money does this player have?”. FiveM has no built in callback between client and server, so libraries like ox_lib (lib.callback) and the frameworks provide one on top of events.

Native: A function of the GTA V engine or of FiveM itself, like GetEntityCoords or SetPedIntoVehicle. There are thousands, listed at docs.fivem.net/natives. See Natives.

Hash / joaat: GTA identifies models, weapons and many other things by a 32 bit hash of their name, computed with Jenkins one-at-a-time (joaat). GetHashKey('adder') or `adder` in FiveM Lua gives you the number. Try the joaat Hash Calculator.

Export: A function one resource makes callable from other resources, like exports.ox_inventory:AddItem(...). See Exports and dependencies.

State bag: A key/value store attached to the server (GlobalState), a player (Player(src).state) or an entity (Entity(ent).state) that FiveM syncs for you. See State bags and OneSync.

NUI: “New UI”, FiveM’s embedded Chromium browser. It lets you build HUDs, menus and phones in HTML, CSS and JavaScript (React, Vue, Svelte and so on). See NUI basics.

DUI: Direct-rendered UI. A web page drawn onto a texture in the world, like a TV screen or a billboard.

KVP: Key value pairs, a small built in storage (SetResourceKvp, GetResourceKvpString) on the client or server. Good for settings, not for large data.

Tick / thread: A Lua loop created with CreateThread that runs every frame or every Wait(ms). Code that runs every frame costs performance. See Threads and performance.

resmon: The resource monitor. Type resmon in the F8 console to see how much CPU time and memory each client resource uses.

Profiler: The built in FiveM profiler (profiler record, profiler saveJSON) that records exactly which resource and function uses time. Read its output with the Profiler Analyzer.

Framework: A shared base for roleplay style servers: player data, characters, jobs, money, items. QBCore, Qbox, ESX Legacy, ox_core and ND_Core are the common ones. See Frameworks.

Asset escrow: Cfx.re’s system that encrypts paid resources sold on Tebex so they only run on the buyer’s license key. See Publishing a resource.

Permissions

ACE: Access Control Entry. A rule like add_ace group.admin command allow that allows or denies an object (for example command.ban) for a principal.

Principal: Who a rule applies to: a group (group.admin), an identifier (identifier.fivem:123456, identifier.license:abc..., identifier.discord:...) or a resource (resource.myresource). add_principal child parent makes one principal inherit another.

Identifier: A player ID that FXServer receives on connect: license: (Rockstar license), fivem: (Cfx.re account), discord:, steam: (needs a Steam Web API key), xbl:, live: and ip:.

GTA V file formats

RPF: Rockstar’s archive format. Singleplayer mods ship as dlc.rpf. FiveM does not load RPFs from resources, you extract their contents into a stream folder and meta files instead.

Streaming: Loading assets into the game as they are needed. In FiveM, any supported file in a resource’s stream folder is sent to clients and registered with the game automatically.

YDR: A single drawable model (props, simple objects).

YDD: A drawable dictionary, several drawables in one file. Used for clothing and ped parts.

YFT: A fragment model, a model that can break or has moving parts. Vehicles are .yft files (plus a _hi.yft high detail version).

YTD: A texture dictionary. Holds the textures for a model. Oversized YTDs are the most common cause of texture loss on busy servers. Shrink them with the YTD Optimizer.

YBN: Static collision (bounds). Without it players fall through your map.

YMAP: A map placement file. It lists which objects (entities) are placed where, with rotation and LOD distance. Build one with the YMAP Builder or in CodeWalker.

YTYP: An archetype definition file. It tells the game about new model names, their bounding boxes and LOD distances, and defines MLO interiors. Create one with the YTYP Creator.

MLO: “Map Loaded Object”, an interior with rooms and portals, defined in a .ytyp and placed by a .ymap. Custom shops, police stations and houses are usually MLOs.

YMT: A binary metadata file. For clothing, the ped variation .ymt lists how many drawables and textures each component has. Generate one with the YMT Creator.

YNV / YND: Navmesh and path nodes. They tell peds and traffic where they can walk and drive.

.meta files: XML data files the game reads, like vehicles.meta, handling.meta, carcols.meta, carvariations.meta and weapons.meta. You register them in the manifest with data_file.

AWC / dat54.rel: Audio: .awc holds the sound data, dat54.rel (and friends) define how the game plays it. The Native Audio Builder turns WAV, MP3 or OGG files into this format.

CodeWalker: The free community tool for browsing the GTA V world and editing YMAPs, YTYPs and many other formats. Get it from github.com/dexyfex/CodeWalker.

Sollumz: The free Blender add-on for importing and exporting GTA V models (YDR, YDD, YFT, YBN) as CodeWalker XML. Get it from github.com/Sollumz/Sollumz.

LOD: Level of detail. Models have simpler versions for far away views, and the game switches between them by distance.