Everything we know about FiveM,
written down.
Minimaps are what we build, but running a FiveM server is the rest of the job — so these cover both. No fluff and no filler: they are the answers we give server owners in Discord, written down.
- 12guides
- 120 mintotal reading
- 5topics
- QBCore · ESXframework agnostic
Minimaps
Installing, branding and understanding the GTA V minimap on a FiveM server.
Install a custom FiveM minimap in under five minutes
Step-by-step guide to installing a custom GTA V minimap retexture on a FiveM server: where the resource goes, what to put in server.cfg, how to clear the client cache, how to remove a conflicting map, and how to verify the map actually loaded.
Copy the resource folder into resources/, add one ensure line to server.cfg, stop any other minimap resource, then clear the FiveM client cache and reconnect.
Postal codes on a FiveM server: baked into the map, or drawn by a script?
How FiveM postal codes actually work, the difference between a postal grid baked into the minimap texture and one drawn by a resource, which one to run, and how to avoid ending up with two sets of numbers on screen.
Either the numbers are part of the minimap image, or a resource draws the nearest one on the HUD. Pick one. Baked costs nothing and cannot desync; a script can show one big number and can be renumbered without a re-render.
The technical specification of a FiveM minimap
Exact dimensions, file formats, texture layout, VRAM cost and radar zoom data for a GTA V minimap replacement — what the game expects, and what a correct replacement has to provide.
The map is 6144 × 9216 across a 2 × 3 grid of land textures and a matching sea layer, DXT5 compressed, plus a LOD texture and 65 .ydd geometry files. Radar zoom levels must be set in a client script or the art will not line up.
Brand the minimap with your own logo and text
How to add a server name, a logo or a Discord tag to a FiveM minimap so it looks deliberate rather than pasted on: placement, size, contrast, what reads at radar scale and what does not.
Put branding in the ocean, not over the city. Keep it under about 8% of the map width, match the palette rather than fighting it, and check it at radar scale before committing.
What makes a good minimap for a redzone server
Combat and redzone servers read the map differently from roleplay servers: at speed, under pressure, and for boundaries rather than addresses. Which palettes work, which do not, and why.
Combat servers need high contrast, a clearly separated freeway tier and an obvious coastline. Dark ground with one bright road colour beats a detailed, low-contrast map every time.
GTA 6 and FiveM: what happens to your minimap
A level-headed look at what a new Grand Theft Auto means for FiveM servers and for map assets: what carries over, what does not, what is worth buying now, and what is worth waiting for.
GTA V servers will run for years after GTA 6 ships. A minimap is a $8 asset for a server that is live now — the question is not whether it will still be useful in five years.
Server setup
server.cfg, artifacts, txAdmin, hosting and the things that break on day one.
The FiveM server.cfg, line by line
A complete, annotated FiveM server.cfg reference: endpoints, sv_licenseKey, OneSync, ACE permissions, resource start order, convars and the settings that quietly break a server. With a working template you can copy.
server.cfg is executed in order at startup. Put endpoints and convars first, ACE permissions second, resources third, and sv_licenseKey last so the server never starts half-configured.
Choosing and updating FiveM server artifacts
What FXServer artifacts are, the difference between latest and recommended, how to pin a build, how to update a live server without losing a night to it, and how to roll back when a new build breaks a resource.
Run the current recommended artifact, pin it by keeping the exact folder, and test any new build on a copy before touching the live server. Rolling back is just pointing the start command at the previous folder.
Streaming assets
Vehicles, MLOs, clothing, textures — how streaming actually works and why it fails.
Performance
Finding the resource that is eating your frames, and OneSync at scale.
Development
Manifests, frameworks, databases, security and debugging crashes.
Everything you can put in an fxmanifest.lua
A full fxmanifest.lua reference for FiveM resources: fx_version, game, script loading order, shared scripts, NUI files, data_file, dependencies, escrow, and the mistakes that stop a resource starting.
fxmanifest.lua declares fx_version, game, and the client, server and shared scripts. Load order inside each list is the order you write them — dependencies first.
How to actually find what is crashing your server
A practical method for FiveM crashes: reading the client crash dialog, finding the server console line that matters, isolating a resource by bisection, the common crash causes, and what a crash dump can and cannot tell you.
Establish whether it is the client or the server, whether it is reproducible, whether it started after a change, and which resource is loaded when it happens. Bisection finds the resource in log2(n) restarts.