FiveM Glossary:
25 Terms Server Owners Use
This FiveM glossary defines the 25 terms you meet when you buy, install or fix vehicles, maps and peds on a FiveM server, from MLO, YMAP and YTD to modkit, LOD and the 16 MB texture limit. Each entry starts with a one-sentence definition, then the context and the page that fixes or sells it.
FiveM and GTA V terms, defined
FiveM runs on the GTA V RAGE engine, so most of these terms come from the game's own file formats and meta files. The definitions describe a standard FiveM server; frameworks and scripts can change the details, so test on your own server.
16 MB texture limit
The 16 MB texture limit is the FiveM cap on a single streamed texture: one texture larger than 16 MiB, such as most 4096 x 4096 maps, cannot be paged in and shows up as missing or broken.
The limit applies to each texture inside a .ytd, not to the size of the file on disk. Resizing oversized maps to 2048 px and using the right compression per texture type (BC5 for normal maps, BC7 or DXT for the rest) keeps every texture under the cap and lowers the total video memory a car uses.
Add-on vs replace
An add-on vehicle is a new model with its own spawn name that sits alongside the base game cars, while a replace vehicle overwrites an existing GTA V model by reusing its file names.
Add-on cars need their own meta files (vehicles.meta, carvariations.meta, and usually carcols.meta and handling.meta) declared in the fxmanifest. Replace cars only need the model and texture files with the original names in the stream folder, but every player sees the swap wherever that vanilla car appears, traffic included. Most roleplay servers use add-on vehicles so the base fleet stays intact.
Bulletproof (armored) vehicle
A bulletproof (armored) vehicle in FiveM is a car configured to resist gunfire, usually through bulletproof glass, reduced weapon damage and protected tyres.
The protection lives in the vehicle files, not in a script: the glass setup and collision material of the model, the weapon-damage values in its meta files and a tyre-protection flag. Garage, damage and repair scripts on your server can override the result, so test it with your own weapons and resources.
Car pack and map pack
A car pack is one FiveM resource that bundles several vehicles, and a map pack bundles several MLOs or map edits, so you install one folder and one ensure line instead of many.
Packs cut the number of resources to manage and keep the vehicle meta files in one place. A pack is only as light as its heaviest asset, though: one unoptimized car or one heavy interior affects every player near it. Check the included list and the texture sizes before you buy or build one. For interiors, see the FiveM map packs.
carvariations.meta and carcols.meta
carvariations.meta gives each vehicle its paint colours and the ids of its modkit, light settings and siren settings, while carcols.meta defines the modkits, light settings and sirens those ids point to.
The two files are linked only by ids. If an id in carvariations.meta has no matching entry in carcols.meta, the car still spawns, but tuning, window tint or emergency lights silently stop working. Load order matters too: the fxmanifest should declare carcols before carvariations.
Debadged car
A debadged car is a vehicle model with the manufacturer logos, badges and brand lettering removed from its body, textures and interior.
Debadging covers more than the grille emblem: wheel caps, the steering wheel, trunk lettering, interior trim and plate frames often carry logos too. Removing badges does not by itself grant rights to the underlying design; it is one part of a server content policy, not a guarantee. You can also remove badges yourself in Vehicle Studio.
ELS vs non-ELS
ELS (Emergency Lighting System) is a separate FiveM resource that drives emergency lights through vehicle extras and a configuration file per car, while non-ELS vehicles use the native GTA V siren system defined in carcols.meta.
Non-ELS cars work on any server without an extra resource. ELS cars need the ELS resource and their own configuration file, and in return offer staged lighting such as stage 1, 2 and 3, cruise lights and a traffic advisor. Pick one system per fleet so keybinds and scripts stay consistent.
fxmanifest.lua
fxmanifest.lua is the manifest file at the root of every FiveM resource that declares its game, its files and, for vehicles, the data_file lines that load each meta file.
A vehicle resource usually lists fx_version, game 'gta5', a files block for the meta files and one data_file line per meta type, for example VEHICLE_METADATA_FILE for vehicles.meta. A missing or misspelled data_file line is one of the most common reasons an add-on car does not spawn. The older __resource.lua format is deprecated.
GTA V Enhanced (gen9) vs Legacy
GTA V Legacy is the original PC edition that FiveM has always run on, while GTA V Enhanced (gen9) is the newer PC edition, and FiveM treats them as separate targets because Legacy vehicle files do not load on the Enhanced client.
A FiveM server is set up for one edition or the other, and every streamed model and texture has to be in the matching format. Legacy assets can be converted to gen9, but each converted vehicle should be loaded and driven on an Enhanced test server before it goes live. "Enhanced", "gen9" and "next-gen" are used interchangeably.
handling.meta
handling.meta is the vehicle data file that sets how a car drives, including mass, engine power, top speed, gears, braking, traction and suspension, matched to the car through its handlingName.
Each add-on car either has its own handling entry or reuses a vanilla one. Two resources that define the same handlingName overwrite each other, so give each car a unique name unless the reuse is intended. Change one value at a time and test in game.
Livery
A livery is a selectable graphic layer, such as stripes, decals or police and company markings, drawn over a vehicle body through a dedicated texture slot without changing the base paint.
On a GTA V vehicle the liveries are extra textures in the car's .ytd and only show on panels that use the livery shader, which is why many custom cars have no livery option at all. The meta files also have to declare the liveries before they appear in a menu.
LOD (level of detail)
LOD (level of detail) is the set of simpler versions of a model that GTA V swaps in as the camera moves away, so distant vehicles and buildings cost less to draw.
A GTA V vehicle normally has several levels (high, medium, low and very low), and lodDistances in vehicles.meta control when each one switches. The _hi.yft file is the extra high-detail model used close up. Many custom cars ship with a single detailed level, so they either render at full cost from far away or vanish too early.
Lore friendly
A lore-friendly vehicle is a car designed to fit the GTA V universe, using the game's fictional brands such as Ubermacht, Bravado or Pegassi instead of real manufacturers.
Lore-friendly cars can be original designs or reworks of vanilla models, and they keep a server visually consistent with the base game world. They differ from debadged cars, which are real models with the logos removed, and from rebrand cars, which wear lore badges on a real model.
MLO
An MLO is a custom enterable interior added to the GTA V map, with its own rooms, collision, portals and lighting, that streams to every player on the server.
Portals and occlusion decide what the engine renders, so a badly built MLO can lower FPS for a whole street even when nobody is inside. An MLO installs like any resource: drop the folder in resources/ and add one ensure line. Browse the FiveM MLO shop for interiors.
Modkit
A modkit is the carcols.meta entry that lists a vehicle's tuning parts and upgrades, such as bumpers, spoilers, engine, brakes and suspension, identified by a numeric kit id that carvariations.meta points to.
Window tint and tuning shop upgrades only work when the kit attaches. Kit ids must be unique on the server and stay below 1024: a duplicate or an oversized id leaves the car drivable but with no tuning and no tint.
Ped
A ped is any character model in GTA V, from the player model to every NPC, and a FiveM custom ped is an add-on or replace character resource that players or scripts can switch to.
Add-on peds need their own peds.meta entry and are selected by model name in a menu or script; replace peds overwrite a vanilla model. Clothing for the freemode characters is a separate kind of resource. You can also turn a photo into a ped with the AI Ped Creator.
Poly count
Poly count is the number of polygons (triangles) in a 3D model, the main measure of how much geometry a vehicle asks the GPU to draw.
Showroom-quality vehicle mods can carry several hundred thousand polygons on their top detail level, far more than a vanilla car. Poly count matters most when many cars are on screen at once, and good LODs matter as much as the top-level number.
Rebrand car
A rebrand car is a real-world vehicle model whose badges are replaced with fictional GTA V lore brands, so it keeps its real shape while wearing in-universe logos.
Rebranding sits between debadged (logos removed) and lore friendly (fictional designs). Like debadging, it changes the branding, not the rights to the underlying design.
Siren settings
Siren settings are the carcols.meta entry that defines an emergency vehicle's native lights, including colour, flash pattern and timing for each light, referenced by a siren id from carvariations.meta.
The model needs siren bones (siren1, siren2 and so on) where the lights sit, and the vehicle has to be flagged as an emergency vehicle. Two resources that use the same siren id override each other, a common cause of police cars with no flashing lights.
Spawn code (JOAAT hash)
A spawn code is a vehicle's model name, for example adder or police, which the game turns into a JOAAT hash to identify and spawn the model.
Spawn commands, vMenu and garage scripts all use it. For add-on cars it is the modelName in vehicles.meta, which has to match the .yft file name; a mismatch is a classic cause of a car stuck spawning.
Stream folder
The stream folder is the directory inside a FiveM resource where model and texture files such as .yft, .ytd and .ydr go, so the server streams them to players automatically.
Files in stream/ need no manifest line of their own, unlike meta files. On Linux servers the folder name is case sensitive: a folder named Stream with a capital S can stop the vehicle from loading.
Texture loss
Texture loss is the FiveM symptom where roads, buildings or vehicles turn blurry, low resolution or invisible because the game has run out of memory for streamed textures.
It builds up as players see many heavy custom vehicles and maps; a few oversized cars can push a whole area over the limit. Client settings help a little, but the lasting fix is lighter textures in the server's own resources.
txAdmin
txAdmin is the web control panel bundled with FXServer that sets up, starts, restarts and monitors a FiveM server, with player management, scheduled restarts and a live console.
It runs on the server machine and is opened in a browser, on port 40120 by default. Its recipes can deploy a framework such as ESX or QBCore in a few steps. For a full server stack, see the FiveM Server Panel.
YFT, YTD, YDR and YDD
YFT, YTD, YDR and YDD are GTA V streamed asset formats: YFT holds fragment models with physics such as vehicles, YTD holds texture dictionaries, YDR holds single drawables such as props, and YDD holds drawable dictionaries such as ped clothing.
A typical vehicle ships as name.yft, name_hi.yft and name.ytd, plus optional tuning part models. Editing these files needs tools that rebuild them correctly, such as CodeWalker or Sollumz for Blender.
YMAP and YTYP
A YMAP is a map placement file that positions objects and entities in the world, and a YTYP is an archetype file that defines those objects and the interiors an MLO relies on.
Map mods usually ship both: the YTYP declares what exists, the YMAP says where it goes. A YMAP on its own can only place props, while an enterable interior needs an MLO archetype defined in a YTYP.
Put the terms to work
Step-by-step fixes for texture loss, cars that will not spawn and LOD problems are in the guides. Vehicles and interiors in the shop ship as ready FiveM resources.