Add mods to a FiveM server: cars, MLOs, clothes

To add mods to your FiveM server, such as an addon car, an MLO interior or clothing, put the mod’s files in a resource folder with a stream folder and an fxmanifest.lua, then add ensure with that resource’s name to server.cfg. Players download the files when they join, and the steps are the same on ESX, QBCore, Qbox or a server with no framework.

Mods for your own game as a player are a different topic; nothing on this page changes a player’s game folder.

Before you start

• A server you can stop and start, with access to its resources folder and server.cfg. If you have never added a resource, read how to install FiveM scripts first.
• A mod made for FiveM. One usually ships as a resource with an fxmanifest.lua. A single-player mod has none, so you build the resource from its files, as in “Lay out a stream resource”.
• For a paid, escrowed pack: the Cfx.re account that bought it must also own the server’s license key.

Lay out a stream resource

1. In resources, create a category folder such as [mods]. A folder name in square brackets is a category, and ensure [mods] starts every resource inside it.

2. Put each mod in its own folder inside [mods]. The folder name is the resource name.

3. In that folder, put model, texture and map files (.yft, .ytd, .ydr, .ydd, .ymap, .ytyp) in stream, and .meta files in data. Files in stream need no line in the manifest.

4. Check that fxmanifest.lua starts with these two lines. cerulean is the current manifest version, and gta5 means the resource runs on FiveM.

   fx_version 'cerulean'
   game 'gta5'
   

   Keep lua54 'yes' in an escrowed pack: Cfx.re’s escrow FAQ still lists it as a requirement, although the manifest reference calls it deprecated.

5. In server.cfg, add ensure [mods] after your framework and its dependencies. To undo a mod that breaks the server, delete its folder or move it out of [mods], then restart.

Add an addon car

The free iak_wheelchair resource is a drivable wheelchair, and it has the standard addon vehicle layout:

[mods]/iak_wheelchair/
  fxmanifest.lua
  data/handling.meta
  data/vehicles.meta
  data/carvariations.meta
  stream/iak_wheelchair.yft
  stream/iak_wheelchair_hi.yft
  stream/iak_wheelchair.ytd

1. In fxmanifest.lua, list every .meta file in files, so players download it, and give each a data_file line, so the game knows what it is. This is the wheelchair’s own manifest:

   fx_version 'cerulean'
   game 'gta5'
   
   files {
   	'data/vehicles.meta',
   	'data/carvariations.meta',
   	'data/handling.meta'
   }
   
   data_file 'HANDLING_FILE'			'data/handling.meta'
   data_file 'VEHICLE_METADATA_FILE'	'data/vehicles.meta'
   data_file 'VEHICLE_VARIATION_FILE'	'data/carvariations.meta'
   

2. If the car ships more files, add their lines with these types: carcols.meta is CARCOLS_FILE and vehiclelayouts.meta is VEHICLE_LAYOUTS_FILE. The type names come from Cfx.re’s data file list; a misspelt type loads nothing.

3. Find the spawn name: it is the <modelName> value in vehicles.meta, and it usually matches the .yft name in stream. For the wheelchair, <modelName>iak_wheelchair</modelName>.

4. Check that <handlingId> in vehicles.meta equals <handlingName> in handling.meta. In the wheelchair both are iak_wheelchair.

Our Advanced Ambulance Job uses this exact resource. Config.Wheelchair in its config.lua sets the model to iak_wheelchair, and the README lists the wheelchair model as a requirement. Start iak_wheelchair in server.cfg with the job, and the wheelchair item places that model.

Add an MLO interior

An MLO is a map interior with its own doors, placed at one spot on the map. Free or paid, it installs the same way; what changes is escrow.

1. Read the pack’s README for its location and any resource it needs, and start that resource as well.
2. Copy the whole pack into [mods]. Keep every file in stream, including _manifest.ymf: Cfx.re’s map guide says this file “is necessary to load the models correctly”.
3. Check that fxmanifest.lua has this_is_a_map 'yes'. It marks the resource as a map and reloads the map storage when the resource loads.
4. Check that no other map in resources covers the same building, such as two versions of one police station. Keep one and delete the other’s folder.
5. For an escrowed pack, copy the folder with a tool that keeps hidden files. The .fxap file must be on the server, or the console prints Failed to verify protected resource.

Cfx.re Asset Escrow protects Lua, .yft, .ydd and .ydr files, and an escrowed pack starts only on a server whose license key belongs to the account that bought it. If the console prints You lack the required entitlement, follow the entitlement fix.

In our Housing System V3 & Shell Creator, the property creator has an MLO type: you draw the house over an MLO you installed and place its doors. To choose between MLOs and shells for homes, read shells or MLOs for housing.

Add addon clothing

Addon clothing adds items to the multiplayer peds, mp_m_freemode_01 and mp_f_freemode_01, without replacing the game’s own.

1. Prefer a pack that ships as a resource. To build one, the author of Cfx.re’s addon clothing tutorial suggests their grzyClothTool over the manual steps.

2. Put the .ymt, .ydd and .ytd files in stream. Each clothing file name starts with the full YMT name and ^, such as mp_f_freemode_01_p_tutorial_clothes^p_head_000.ydd in the tutorial.

3. In fxmanifest.lua, list the pack’s .meta file in files and give it a SHOP_PED_APPAREL_META_FILE line. The tutorial’s manifest:

   fx_version 'cerulean'
   game 'gta5'
   
   files {
       'mp_f_freemode_01_tutorial_clothes.meta'
   }
   
   data_file 'SHOP_PED_APPAREL_META_FILE' 'mp_f_freemode_01_tutorial_clothes.meta'
   

4. A pack for both peds has one .meta file per ped. List each in files with its own data_file line.

Use the mods in your scripts

In our Advanced Police Job, each station in Config.PoliceStations (config.lua) holds its points and garages. The station points default to the Gabz MRPD MLO; if you run another police station map, move them to it in the config.

An addon police car goes into a category’s vehicles list in a garage’s vehicleCategories, with its spawn name as model, like the rows the config ships:

{label = 'Cruiser', model = 'police', price = 0},
{label = 'Gauntlet', model = 'polgauntlet', price = 0, minGrade = 1}

By default, our Advanced Jail System V2 puts its prison at Gabz Bolingbroke and Advanced Ambulance Job puts its hospital at Gabz Pillbox. You can move either to any MLO in its config.

Check it works

1. Restart the server and watch the console while [mods] starts. No Asset ... MiB of physical memory or virtual memory line should name your resources.
2. Join, and as an admin run /car with the spawn name, such as /car iak_wheelchair. ESX, QBCore and Qbox all register /car for admins. The car appears.
3. Travel to the MLO’s location. The walls, floors and doors load, and you walk in.
4. Open your clothing menu on the matching ped. The pack’s items are listed after the game’s own.

If it fails

• Asset ... uses ... MiB of physical memory.: the server prints this when a file in stream takes over 16 MiB of physical or virtual memory. Over 48 MiB it adds Oversized assets can and WILL lead to streaming issues (such as models not loading/rendering)., and over 64 MiB the line is red. Resize the textures in that file, or ask the mod’s author for a lighter version.
• /car spawns nothing: likely the spawn name differs from <modelName>, or the resource is not started. Run ensure with the resource name and read the console.
• The car drives like another car: likely its HANDLING_FILE line is missing, or <handlingId> and <handlingName> differ. Compare the manifest and both .meta files.
• The interior loads with parts missing: check that the pack’s _manifest.ymf is in stream, or copy the pack again, whole.
• Two buildings overlap: two maps cover one place. Keep one.
• You lack the required entitlement: the pack was bought on another Cfx.re account than the server key’s. Follow the entitlement fix.
• A clothing item is invisible: check the tutorial’s naming rules. The .ymt name is all lowercase, and each drawable’s _u or _r ending matches its textures.