How to make a FiveM server for GTA V, step by step

What you need before you start

• A Cfx.re account and a license key for the server. The key is free and you generate it on portal.cfx.re. It is tied to your account, not to the server, so you keep it if you move the server.
• A server that runs around the clock. On your computer at home, the server goes down when you switch the computer off, and the IP address can change from one day to the next.
• A framework, if you run roleplay: ESX and QBCore are the most used. Both keep players, jobs and inventories in a MySQL database.
• FiveM installed on your computer, so you can join the server and test it.

Game plan or VPS

At NeoHost a FiveM server can run in two ways, both in Frankfurt, on AMD Ryzen 9 7950X:

• A game plan with NeoGame™ Panel, from €4.49 to €13.99 a month. You start, stop and restart from the browser, you see the live console and the files, and a MySQL database with phpMyAdmin is included. This is the option if all you want is the game server.
• A Ruby VPS with GameReady™ OS, from €15.90 a month. You connect over SSH, type fivem install and the installer sets up the recommended server build and txAdmin. You have root on the machine, so you can run other services next to the server.

If you do not know yet what you need, start with the game plan. Move to a VPS when you want several servers on the same machine, services the panel does not have, or root access.

Which plan to pick

The FiveM plans step up in cores, memory and storage, not in player slots. On a roleplay server, the maps, vehicles and custom scripts use up the resources, not the number of players as such.

• Street: 2 vCPU, 4 GB RAM, 40 GB NVMe, €4.49 a month.
• Heist: 2 vCPU, 6 GB RAM, 75 GB NVMe, €9.49 a month.
• Empire: 4 vCPU, 8 GB RAM, 100 GB NVMe, €13.99 a month.

Street is enough to build and test with a small group. Heist is the usual pick once you have an economy, jobs and daily events. Empire is for large communities with a lot of custom content. You can change the plan from the panel at any time, and your files stay where they are.

The steps, on a game plan

1. 1Order the plan from the FiveM page. The server installs itself in under a minute after payment, and the panel login details arrive by email.
2. 2Open server.cfg in the panel’s file manager and put the license key in sv_licenseKey. In the same file you give the server a name, with sv_hostname.
3. 3Create the framework’s tables in the database: in phpMyAdmin, import the SQL file that comes with ESX or QBCore. Put the database connection details in server.cfg, for example set mysql_connection_string for oxmysql.
4. 4Upload the resources over SFTP to the resources folder and start each one with an ensure line in server.cfg. There is no whitelist, and no resource is blocked.
5. 5Restart from the panel and watch the console: if a resource does not start, the error shows up there.
6. 6Join the server: in FiveM, press F8 and type connect followed by the server address. The default FiveM port is 30120.

The steps, on a VPS with GameReady™ OS

1. 1Order a Ruby VPS with the GameReady™ OS image from the configurator. The FiveM installer needs at least 2 vCPU, 4 GB RAM and 10 GB of disk, and every Ruby plan has that.
2. 2Connect to the VPS over SSH with the details from the activation email. If you have not done this before, read the guide to connecting over SSH.
3. 3Type fivem install. The installer sets up the recommended server build and txAdmin, then shows you the PIN for the first login.
4. 4Open txAdmin in your browser, log in with the PIN and follow its setup: the license key, the framework (ESX, QBCore or an empty server) and the database.
5. 5Connect from FiveM, with F8 and connect followed by the server address.

Where it usually goes wrong

• A missing or wrong license key: the server does not start or does not show up in the FiveM list. Check sv_licenseKey in server.cfg.
• A resource that is uploaded but not started: without its ensure line in server.cfg it sits in the folder and does nothing.
• A framework started without its tables: if you have not imported the SQL into the database, the console fills with errors as soon as the first player joins.
• The order of resources: a resource that depends on another has to start after it, so the order of the ensure lines matters.

The server is protected from DDoS attacks from day one: filtering is on from the start and there is nothing extra to buy. If an attack hits the server, the players stay connected.