How to Make Custom FiveM Chains: Files, Fit and Install
A custom FiveM chain is a piece of GTA clothing: a 3D model in the Accessories slot (component 7) of the freemode male and female peds, skinned to the neck and chest, with its own textures and a small collection file so your clothing menu can list it. You can build one by hand with Blender and a few community tools, or design it in your browser with the FiveMRides Chain Studio and download a ready add-on resource. Here is how chains work, both routes, and how to get the chain on your server.
- Slot: chains are clothing component 7 (internal name
teef), the same slot as ties and scarves. One item per slot at a time. - Files: a
.yddmodel and a.ytdtexture per chain and per ped, plus a.ymt, a shop meta and anfxmanifest.luafor an add-on. - Build it for the outfit: a chain shaped for a bare chest sinks into a t-shirt. Decide what it is worn over before you shape it.
- Install: copy the resource, add
ensurewith its name toserver.cfg, restart the server and reconnect. - No 3D skills? Make it in the FiveMRides Chain Studio: 10 credits per chain, male and female included.
What a FiveM chain is, file by file
GTA does not have a “jewellery” system. A chain is one of the twelve clothing components of the freemode peds (mp_m_freemode_01 and mp_f_freemode_01), and the game picks one model and one texture variation for each component. Chains live in component 7 next to ties and scarves, which is why a player cannot wear a tie and a custom chain from the same slot at once.
| File | What it holds | Notes |
|---|---|---|
.ydd | The chain mesh (high, medium and low detail), skinned to the freemode skeleton. | One per chain and per ped. Without skinning the chain floats while the body moves. |
.ytd | The textures: colour, plus normal and specular maps that make metal shine. | FiveM cannot load a single texture over 16 MiB. |
.ymt | The collection: how many chains it adds and their texture variations. | Add-on packs only. It is what makes the chains new items instead of replacements. |
| Shop meta | Registers the collection for the clothing shop data. | Loaded with a data_file 'SHOP_PED_APPAREL_META_FILE' line. |
fxmanifest.lua | Tells FiveM what to stream and load. | Files in stream/ are streamed automatically. |
Add-on chain or replacement: why add-on wins
Many free chains you find online are replacements: the files are named after a base game chain (a teef number) and simply overwrite it. That is why their install notes say “rename the number if it is already taken”: two replacement chains with the same number fight, and the last one loaded wins.
An add-on chain comes with its own .ymt collection. The game adds its items after the base game ones, so nothing is overwritten and two add-on packs do not clash. The trade-off is that you need the extra collection files. Every chain the Chain Studio exports is an add-on.
What makes a chain look right in game
It sits on the clothes, not in them
The chain does not move out of the way of the top a player wears. A chain shaped around bare skin disappears into a t-shirt collar, and one shaped for a t-shirt cuts through a jacket. Shape it over the outfit it is meant for, keep a few millimetres of air, and make it long enough to clear the neck. On the freemode peds that is about 50 cm on bare skin, 53 cm over a t-shirt and 70 cm over a jacket (the minimums the Chain Studio uses). Hoodies need even more.
It moves with the body
The mesh has to be weighted to the neck, upper spine and collarbone bones of the freemode skeleton, so it follows the chest when the ped breathes, runs or turns its head. Male and female bodies differ, so each gender needs its own fitted version.
It reads as metal
Gold that looks like yellow plastic is the most common complaint. The GTA ped shader needs a specular map and a normal map to show highlights; a flat colour alone looks dull in daylight. Large flat faces on pendants catch the sun as one tone, so a slightly domed or bevelled face reads better than a flat plate. Glow finishes use the ped emissive shader.
It does not cost your players frames
Every triangle is drawn on every player wearing the chain. Link chains are dense by nature (each link is its own little ring), so plan lower detail versions for distance and a triangle budget per chain. The Chain Studio caps one chain at 60 000 triangles at its highest detail, builds the medium and low versions for you, and shows the count while you design.
Making a chain by hand
- Model the chain in Blender as one loop around the neck of a freemode ped of the right gender, over the outfit you chose. Keep pendants as separate solid pieces with a loop that goes through the chain.
- Skin it to the freemode skeleton (neck, upper spine, collarbones) so it follows the body.
- Make the textures: colour, normal and specular maps, and keep each texture well under 16 MiB.
- Make lower detail versions for medium and long distance.
- Export the
.yddwith the Sollumz add-on and pack the textures into a.ytd(CodeWalker can create and edit texture dictionaries). - Register it as an add-on: a clothing pack tool (community tools such as grzyClothTool or Durty Cloth Tool) builds the
.ymt, the shop meta and the file names for you. - Repeat for the other gender, then test both in game with your clothing menu.
It works, but it is a lot of steps per chain, which is why most servers pay a 3D artist for each custom chain.
Making a chain in your browser with the Chain Studio
The FiveMRides Chain Studio does every step above for you. You design on a GTA freemode ped, male or female, and the export writes the add-on resource for both.
- Pick a chain: 14 link styles (cuban, miami cuban, rope, figaro, franco, tennis, baguette tennis, box, rolo, bead, byzantine, snake, herringbone, paperclip), width, length, strands, iced or plain, and what it is worn over (t-shirt, bare chest or jacket).
- Add pendants from 120 shapes and icons, or make your own: type a name for 3D lettering or a nameplate (stock fonts or your own TTF or OTF), upload a logo to turn it into raised metal, or a photo for a flat picture tag.
- Pick finishes per part from 100+: golds, silver, platinum, black, enamels, opal, abalone, marble, damascus, carbon, camo, holographic, glow in the dark.
- Keep it in My chains, add more chains (up to 30 in one resource), or import a chain pack you already have and add to it.
- Export to FiveM: 10 credits per new chain, charged after the resource is built.
Installing the chain on your server
An exported Chain Studio resource looks like this (the folder name is your resource name):
resources/
fmr_chain_mychains_ab12cd/
fxmanifest.lua
README.txt
mp_m_freemode_01_mp_m_fmr_chain_mychains_ab12cd.meta
mp_f_freemode_01_mp_f_fmr_chain_mychains_ab12cd.meta
stream/
(.ymt collections, .ydd models, .ytd textures)- Copy the folder into your server’s
resourcesfolder (any subfolder in brackets works too). - Add this line to
server.cfg, with your resource name:ensure fmr_chain_mychains_ab12cd - Restart the server, then reconnect your game. New clothing is read when the game loads, so a live resource restart is often not enough.
Finding the chain in your clothing menu
Open your clothing menu on a freemode ped and go to the neck slot. Add-on chains are usually at the end of the list, after the base game items.
| Clothing menu | Where chains are |
|---|---|
| illenium-appearance, fivem-appearance | Scarf and chains |
| qb-clothing | Neck Accessories |
| esx_skin, skinchanger | chain 1 (model) and chain 2 (variation) |
| vMenu | Scarfs & Chains, in the MP ped clothing list |
Nothing there, or the chain goes through the shirt? Work through FiveM chains not showing: 8 fixes. For problems with whole clothing packs, see fixing GTA clothing packs for FiveM.
Questions about making FiveM chains
What files does a FiveM chain need?
A chain is clothing in the Accessories slot (component 7, internal name teef). It needs a .ydd with the mesh skinned to the freemode skeleton, a .ytd with its textures, and for an add-on chain a .ymt that registers the collection, plus the shop meta and an fxmanifest.lua that streams the files. One set is needed per ped: mp_m_freemode_01 and mp_f_freemode_01.
Is a FiveM chain a prop or clothing?
Usually clothing. Most chains, including every chain the FiveMRides Chain Studio makes, are drawables in clothing component 7, chosen in the clothing menu. Props are a separate system for hats, glasses, ears, watches and bracelets. Some scripts attach a chain model to a bone instead, but then it does not appear in clothing menus.
How do I make a name chain or nameplate for FiveM?
Model the letters as one solid piece with a loop to hang from the chain, keep the letters thick enough to read at game distance, and skin it with the chain. In the Chain Studio you type the name, pick a stock font or upload your own TTF or OTF, and the lettering is generated and hung on the chain for you.
How many triangles should a FiveM chain have?
There is no official number, but every triangle is drawn on every player wearing it. The FiveMRides Chain Studio caps one chain at 60 000 triangles at its highest detail and builds lower detail versions for distance; a plain link chain usually needs far less.
Do I need Blender to make a FiveM chain?
Not with the FiveMRides Chain Studio, which runs in the browser. By hand, you need a 3D tool such as Blender with the Sollumz add-on to model, skin and export the .ydd, a texture tool for the .ytd, and a clothing pack tool or a hand-written .ymt and shop meta for an add-on.