How to Add Resources to Your FiveM Server

Scripts, maps, vehicles and frameworks are all installed the same way on FiveM: as a resource. Every resource is its own folder that contains an fxmanifest.lua, sits in your server's resources directory and is started from the server.cfg.

Where is the resources folder located?

Resources are loaded from a folder called resources/ in the server data directory. Where that directory is depends on how you set up your server:

Upload the resource

1. Stop the server
   Stop your server via the dashboard before changing any files.

2. Extract the archive
   Extract the downloaded archive on your PC. The server cannot read ZIP or RAR files.

3. Check the folder structure
   The fxmanifest.lua has to sit directly inside the resource folder. Many downloads are nested twice (for example my-script-main/my-script/) – in that case only upload the inner folder:

   resources/
   └── my-script/
       ├── fxmanifest.lua
       ├── client.lua
       └── server.lua
   

4. Note the folder name
   The folder name is the name of the resource – this is exactly the name you enter in the ensure line later.

5. Connect via SFTP
   Connect to your server via SFTP.

6. Upload the folder
   Upload the resource folder into your resources directory.

Categories with square brackets

Every folder inside the resources directory is read as a resource – except folders in [square brackets]. Those are categories and may contain multiple resources:

resources/
├── [standalone]/
│   ├── script-a/
│   └── script-b/
└── my-script/

Categories can also be nested. A category name never becomes part of the resource name: a resource located at [standalone]/my-script is still simply called my-script.

Start the resource in the server.cfg

1. Open server.cfg
   Open your server's server.cfg via SFTP or through the CFG Editor in the txAdmin web interface.

2. Add the ensure line
   Add one line for every new resource:

   ensure my-script
   

3. Mind the order
   Resources are started in the order the lines appear in the server.cfg. Dependencies therefore have to be listed above the scripts that need them – so your framework and your database resource first, then the individual scripts.

4. Start the server
   Save the file and start your server via the dashboard.

ensure, start and stop compared

ensure, start, stop and restart all work with category names as well.

Check the console

After the start, watch the console in the dashboard – or the Live Console in txAdmin if you use it. Typical messages:

• Started resource <name> – the resource started successfully.
• Couldn't find resource <name>. – the folder name does not match the ensure line, or the folder is in the wrong resources directory.
• <name> does not have a resource manifest (fxmanifest.lua) – the fxmanifest.lua is missing from the folder. This typically happens when a doubly nested folder was uploaded.
• An error while starting a script – usually a dependency is missing or listed below the script in the server.cfg.

Remove a resource

1. Stop the server
   Stop your server via the dashboard.

2. Remove the ensure line
   Delete the matching ensure line from the server.cfg, or comment it out with a # at the beginning of the line.

3. Delete the folder
   Delete the resource folder from the resources directory via SFTP.

4. Start the server
   Start your server and check the console for follow-up errors from other scripts that depended on the resource.