Install your first server with txAdmin

Download the recommended artifact

Open the official Cfx.re Windows artifacts page.

https://runtime.fivem.net/artifacts/fivem/build_server_windows/master/

Download the recommended build. It is the highlighted green row on the page. That is your default choice. The newest build sits at the very top of the list, but pick that one only when you need a brand-new fix that has just landed, since it is less tested. Click the recommended build, then download its server.7z.

One rule for later: if a build ever misbehaves after an update, drop one build down. That is the only reason to ever run an older one. You do not pin or freeze anything yet. That comes once your server is live and public.

Only download from this Cfx.re page. Do not use Discord mirrors, YouTube links, or random upload sites.

Extract and run FXServer

Make a clean folder, extract the archive into it, and run the server binary.

C:\FXServer\server\        <- extract server.7z here

txAdmin stores its server data (your config and resources) in C:\FXServer\txData by default, and it creates that folder for you during setup. You do not make it yourself.

Double-click C:\FXServer\server\FXServer.exe. A black console window opens and starts txAdmin. Allow the Windows Firewall prompt if it appears, then wait for your browser to open the dashboard.

http://localhost:40120

Keep the black FXServer console open the whole time. Closing it stops txAdmin.

The PIN is a random 4-digit code generated fresh on each first boot. It expires after roughly 15 minutes, so finish setup promptly; restart FXServer.exe for a fresh one. The number 0427 above is only an example. Type the exact digits YOUR console prints, not these. If you need a fresh PIN (for example the PIN expired, or you restarted before finishing setup), close and reopen FXServer.exe and it generates a new one.

Claim txAdmin with your Cfx.re account

On the txAdmin setup screen, enter the PIN printed in the console, then link your Cfx.re account (the same account you used to get the license key at the portal). Authorize txAdmin, set a local txAdmin password, and name your server profile.

This course describes txAdmin v8 (mid-2026); labels shift between versions, so match the intent, not the exact text. Two logins exist and they are not the same thing:

• Cfx.re account is your global identity at portal.cfx.re.
• txAdmin password logs you into this dashboard only.

Security: set a long, unique txAdmin password. The txAdmin dashboard on port 40120 controls your whole server, so never expose port 40120 to the open internet. On your own PC it stays on localhost. On a VPS, leave 40120 closed in the firewall and reach it over an SSH tunnel or VPN, not a public port.

Run a framework recipe

When txAdmin asks how to set up the server, use the Server Deployer and pick one of its recipe templates. The deployer's built-in recipe list is CFX Default, QBCore Framework, and ESX Legacy. For a new 2026 server:

• The easiest guided path is the QBCore recipe or ESX Legacy for the biggest script catalog and the most copy-paste tutorials.
• Qbox is an ox-based QBCore fork for later. It is a maintained recipe but is not in the built-in list, so you install it via its remote recipe URL (the advanced manual path).

Either way, read the official framework docs and check the compatibility list for the scripts you plan to install.

The deployer then asks for the database connection and your license key. Enter the database fields from the tools lesson: host 127.0.0.1, port 3306, username root, and the MariaDB root password you set earlier. The database name you type is the one the recipe creates before it imports tables (use fivem if you have no preference, or qbcore if you are running the QBCore recipe). Then paste the key from your password manager into the key field. (Haven't created a key yet? Go to portal.cfx.re, open Servers, then the registration keys page, click Generate Key +, enter a display name, click Generate, and copy the cfxk_ value it gives you.) You do not edit any file by hand here. txAdmin writes the key into server.cfg for you as the line below. Let every recipe step finish, then click Save & Run Server.

sv_licenseKey "cfxk_yourkeyhere"

Exact wording varies by txAdmin build (illustrative). What matters: the recipe shows a progress list that finishes without a red error, and txAdmin then offers to start the server.

Choose the game build, then start the server

The artifact build from Step 1 is the FXServer software version. sv_enforceGameBuild is a different number: the GTA V content build clients must load. If you omit it, the server serves the base build 1604 (vanilla GTA V content); it does not auto-detect the latest. The artifact download page does not tell you which game-build number to use. Edit it in txAdmin's sidebar CFG Editor page. Keep the value written by your recipe. Change it only when a resource or map needs a newer build, and check the supported game-build list in the Cfx.re server-command reference linked below (newest supported as of mid-2026 is 3751).

sv_enforceGameBuild <supported_game_build>   # use the Cfx.re game-build list, not the artifact number

Save the file, then use txAdmin's Restart Server action. sv_enforceGameBuild is startup-only, so changing it requires a full server restart; restart without a resource name is not the server-restart command.

Wording is illustrative and varies by build. Success signs to look for: a line confirming license-key authentication, no repeating red errors, and the server reaching an online/listening state.

Check your database in HeidiSQL

HeidiSQL is the free GUI from Step 02 that lets you look inside the database. Open it, click New session, and fill in:

• Host: 127.0.0.1
• User: root
• Password: the root password you set when installing MariaDB
• Port: 3306

Click Open. Look for the database named what you typed in the deployer (for example qbcore or fivem); inside it you will find tables like players.

The recipe creates the database with the default charset. ESX declares utf8mb4 in its own schema; QBCore does not, which is fine for a first server.

Connect from your FiveM client

Open the FiveM client (the game launcher, not the black FXServer window). While FiveM is in focus, press F8 on your keyboard to open the in-game client console, then type this command and press Enter to connect to your own machine:

connect 127.0.0.1:30120

If the server is on a VPS instead, use its public address and the same port:

connect YOUR_SERVER_IP:30120

Once you spawn in, go back to txAdmin. The Players panel shows 1 online and the Live Console logs your connection. That is your proof: the server runs, and you are on it.

txAdmin writes its own data under txData/. On most installs the per-server logs sit here:

txData/<your-server>/logs/admin
txData/<your-server>/logs/fxserver
txData/<your-server>/logs/server

The path can move between builds. If you do not see txData, search your FXServer folder for txData and look for the logs folder inside the server profile.

Add the base resources and write server.cfg by hand

A raw artifact cannot spawn you into the world on its own. It needs a small set of base resources (chat, the spawn manager, the session manager, the map manager, and a couple of housekeeping resources) to put you in Los Santos. These do NOT ship inside the artifact. They live in a separate Cfx.re repository called cfx-server-data, and the vanilla setup clones it. (When you use txAdmin recipes above, they include these for you, which is why you never see this step there.)

Create the data folder next to your artifact:

C:\FXServer\server-data\

Now put cfx-server-data inside it. Either way works:

• With git: open Command Prompt in C:\FXServer\server-data\ and run git clone https://github.com/citizenfx/cfx-server-data.git . (the trailing dot clones into the current folder).
• Without git: open https://github.com/citizenfx/cfx-server-data, click Code, choose Download ZIP, and extract its contents into server-data\ so you see a resources folder directly inside it.

Then create server.cfg inside C:\FXServer\server-data\ with this minimal config:

# How players reach your server
endpoint_add_tcp "0.0.0.0:30120"
endpoint_add_udp "0.0.0.0:30120"
 
# Your license key from portal.cfx.re (paste the cfxk_ value, no prefix)
sv_licenseKey "cfxk_your_key_here"
 
# What players see in the server name
sv_hostname "My First FiveM Server"
 
# Base resources from cfx-server-data - vanilla needs these to spawn you in
ensure mapmanager
ensure chat
ensure spawnmanager
ensure sessionmanager
ensure hardcap
ensure rconlog
 
# OneSync: not on by default - this line enables it
set onesync on
 
# Maximum players (values 32 and up require OneSync)
sv_maxclients 32

OneSync is the networking layer that lets a FiveM server hold more players and sync more entities. It is NOT on by default: set onesync on is the modern standard every server should set. Without OneSync a server caps at 31 slots; onesync legacy reaches 64 in a compatibility mode that is not recommended; set onesync on reaches up to 2048. Any sv_maxclients of 32 or more requires set onesync on (or legacy), which is why the line above is 32 with OneSync on.

That's the whole file. You don't need tags, Discord links, sv_enforceGameBuild, or extra resources yet.

Start the server

Do NOT double-click FXServer.exe. Launching the exe with no arguments starts the txAdmin setup wizard instead (the recipe path above). For this minimal server you point the exe at your server.cfg by hand.

Open Command Prompt, change into your data folder, and run the exe with +exec:

cd C:\FXServer\server-data
C:\FXServer\server\FXServer.exe +exec server.cfg

+exec server.cfg tells the server to read the config you just wrote. The console will validate the license key, load the base resources, and then settle. Watch it until it stops scrolling and prints its ready/started lines. How long that takes varies by machine.

Join your server

Open the FiveM client. Press F8 to open the in-game console (the command box built into the FiveM client). Type:

connect 127.0.0.1:30120

127.0.0.1 is your own PC. If you want friends on your local network to join, use your PC's local IP instead:

connect 192.168.x.x:30120

Find your local IP with ipconfig in Command Prompt.

A fresh local server is not something friends across the internet can reach. Internet play needs port forwarding and extra config, which is a later lesson. For now you reach your own server directly with the connect command above.