Dev Environment Setup

VS Code is the standard editor for FiveM development. It's free, fast, and has the best Lua support.

• Download from code.visualstudio.com
• Install with default settings
• Open VS Code after installation

• Lua by sumneko — syntax highlighting, IntelliSense, linting (REQUIRED)
• FiveM Natives — autocomplete for all FiveM native functions
• Prettier — auto-format your code on save
• GitLens — git blame, history, and diff tools
• Error Lens — show errors inline next to the code

{
  "Lua.diagnostics.globals": [
    "Config", "RegisterNetEvent", "TriggerEvent",
    "TriggerServerEvent", "TriggerClientEvent",
    "RegisterCommand", "GetPlayerPed", "PlayerPedId",
    "exports", "MySQL", "lib"
  ],
  "Lua.runtime.version": "Lua 5.4",
  "editor.formatOnSave": true,
  "editor.tabSize": 4
}

You need a local server for testing. This runs on the same machine as your FiveM client.

• Download server artifacts from runtime.fivem.net/artifacts/fivem/build_server_windows/master/
• Extract to C:\FXServer\ (or any path without spaces)
• Run FXServer.exe — txAdmin opens in browser
• Complete txAdmin setup with a framework template
• Your resources go in: C:\FXServer\server-data\resources\[local]\

• 1. Edit code in VS Code and save
• 2. In txAdmin or F8 console: /refresh then /restart [resource-name]
• 3. Check F8 console for client errors (red text)
• 4. Check txAdmin console for server errors
• 5. Use print() for debugging (shows in F8 or txAdmin)
• 6. Use resmon 1 in F8 to check performance impact

For scripts that use a database, you'll need a GUI tool to view and edit data:

• HeidiSQL (Windows) — lightweight, fast, free
• DBeaver (cross-platform) — feature-rich, supports all databases
• Connect to: localhost:3306 with your FiveM database credentials
• Use this to inspect tables, run queries, and debug data issues