How to Make a Custom FiveM Pause Map and Minimap
You make a custom FiveM pause map and minimap by styling the six map tiles the pause menu reads and the one square texture the radar reads, then exporting them as a FiveM resource. In the FiveMRides Map Studio you do it in the browser: pick a template, change colours, names and zones, check the pause map and radar previews, and download the resource.
- Pause map: six
minimap_sea_*tiles, sharp up to 4096 px per tile. - Radar (on foot): one square texture,
minimap_lod_128, exported at up to 8192 px, plus the game’s vector road files replaced so they do not draw over your art. - Start fast: 20 premade templates, then change anything. Nothing to install.
- Result: a ZIP with a resource folder (
fxmanifest.luaand astreamfolder). It exists for FiveM Legacy and for GTA V Enhanced.
How the GTA V map is built (and why it matters)
The pause menu map is a grid of six square textures named minimap_sea_0_0 to minimap_sea_2_1, two columns by three rows. The radar you see while walking reads something else: one square texture that holds the whole map squashed, with the game’s own vector roads drawn on top. A tool that only repaints the six tiles changes the pause menu and leaves the radar in its vanilla look. The Map Studio builds both from the same design, so the pause map and the radar agree.
Make the map, step by step
1. Open the Map Studio and pick a template
Open the Map Studio. The Templates panel offers 20 premade looks: Neon Synthwave, Toxic Slime, Ice Chrome, Clean Dark, Vice Sunset, Cyber Grid, Gold Rush, Blood Moon, Arctic, Toxic Waste, Candy Pop, Military Ops, Retro Arcade, Gang Turf, Police Dispatch, Lowrider, Tropical, Midnight Purple, Desert Storm and Halloween. Every template is a normal project: nothing is locked, so you can start from the closest one and change it.
2. Choose a base map
The base is the picture under your styling. There are 15 base maps, including a clean vector map built from the game’s own geometry (sharp at any size), dark and light variants, a terrain map and an HD satellite map. The satellite map is the Oulsen satmap, released under the MIT licence and credited in the export. Roads, land, water and building blocks each have their own colour, so a vector base can look like anything from a blueprint to neon.
3. Style roads, land and water
Set the colour of each road tier, the land, the blocks, the shallow and deep water and the coast line. Add a glow to the main roads for a neon look, or keep it flat for a clean one. The sea outside the island can stay transparent (the blurred game shows through) or be painted solid.
4. Add names, zones and icons
District names come with defaults you can rename, move, resize and restyle: fonts, outline, shadow and several label styles (outline, sticker, neon, plain). Text can follow a road: draw the path and the name bends along it. Zones are coloured areas with a name, a fill, a border and an optional hatch or dot pattern, which is how a server marks turf, a no-go area or a police sector. The library has 88 icons (police, hospital, court, helipad, shields and more) with an optional round, square, pin or shield background. You can also upload your own icons, such as gang logos, business logos or job icons (PNG, WebP, JPG or SVG, up to 50 in your account, reusable in every map): they get the same backgrounds, captions, sizes and radar option as the library icons.
5. Postal codes and street names
Switch on the postal layer to print numbered postal codes on the map, and the street names layer for road names. The export can ship a small postal script that matches the numbers (see the postal map guide). The engine keeps postals, street names and your own labels from sitting on top of each other.
6. Frame, background shapes and AI frames
The island can sit inside a decorative frame. Premade frames come with the templates; you can also generate AI frames around the island or add background shapes. AI frames are 5 credits each, with a few free every week on Studio plans. A frame that fails costs nothing. AI heal and erase run in your browser. Both are optional: the map works without them. If a corner of the art looks wrong, AI heal and erase fills it in, and a quick patch hides a rectangle with a colour or text.
7. Check the pause map and the radar
Use the Pause map and Radar previews before you export. The radar preview shows the squashed square the game reads, which is where a map most often surprises people: small text that is fine on the pause map can be too small on the radar, so keep radar labels few and large.
8. Export
Choose the game (FiveM Legacy or GTA V Enhanced), the sharpness (up to 4096 for the pause map, up to 8192 for the radar) and a resource name, then export. You get a ZIP. Installing it is covered in the install guide. If you run a test server you can skip the manual copy with Live sync.
Using your own art, packs and expansion maps
You can place your own images on the map, draw freehand, and import a map pack you own (a ZIP of minimap_sea style tiles) as a base. Expansion maps such as Roxwood can be restyled to match your theme: you supply your own copy of the pack. Tiles that sit outside the vanilla grid need the third-party Extra Map Tiles resource on your server, which the Map Studio does not ship. Only import tiles you own or have the right to use.
Share and reuse
Maps can be shared to the Community gallery, so other server owners can start from a design someone else made.
Tips that save a rebuild
- Keep a strong contrast between roads and land: the radar is small.
- Few, large radar labels beat many small ones.
- Start from the template closest to your server, then change colours first and names last.
- Test on a private server before your players see it. We have checked exports in game on our own test setups, which is not the same as your exact mix of scripts.
Questions about custom FiveM pause maps
How do I make a custom pause map for FiveM?
Style the six minimap_sea tiles the pause menu reads and export them as a FiveM resource. In the FiveMRides Map Studio you do this in the browser: pick a template or a base map, change colours, names, zones and icons, check the previews and download the resource ZIP.
Is the minimap (radar) the same as the pause map?
No. The pause menu uses six map tiles, while the on-foot radar reads one separate square texture plus the game’s vector roads. A complete custom map has to replace both, which the Map Studio export does from one design.
Is the Map Studio free to use?
An export costs 10 credits (included with the Unlimited plan). Designing and previews are free. AI frames are 5 credits each, with a few free every week on Studio plans. A frame that fails costs nothing.
Do I need to install anything to use the Map Studio?
No. The editor runs in your browser. You only install the exported resource on your FiveM server.
Does it work for GTA V Enhanced as well as FiveM Legacy?
Yes, you choose the game when you export. The two editions use different file formats, so each export is built for one edition. We checked both in game on our own test setups.
Can I use a satellite map?
Yes. One of the 15 base maps is an HD satellite map (the Oulsen satmap, MIT licence, credited in the export). You can style over it, add names and postal codes, and frame it.
Can I use my own map pack or an expansion map like Roxwood?
You can import a map pack you own and restyle expansion maps to match your theme. You supply the pack. Tiles outside the normal map grid also need the third-party Extra Map Tiles resource on your server, which we do not ship.