Create a usable item in ox_inventory (and qs-inventory)

Two inventories, one idea

Before you touch a file, fix one thing in your head. ox_inventory and qs-inventory are different resources made by different people, and they store items in different files with different field names. But the idea is identical in both: an item is a key in a Lua table, and the value is a config table that describes the item.

• ox_inventory is Overextended's free, open-source, slot-based inventory. Items live in data/items.lua. You can read its source on GitHub.
• qs-inventory is Quasar Store's paid, encrypted inventory (it supports ESX, QBCore, and Qbox). Where its items live depends on your framework: on QBCore it reads qb-core/shared/items.lua (you edit qb-core's item list, not a file inside qs-inventory), while on standalone or ESX it uses qs-inventory's own items file. Either way the shape is QBCore-style. There is no public source to read, only the docs.

This lesson builds the item in ox_inventory first because it is free and open, so you can verify every claim against the real source. Then it maps the same item onto qs-inventory.

Where each inventory's items live

Three common inventories, three different homes for the item list. Note that qs-inventory does not always own its own file; on QBCore it borrows qb-core's.

Give an item without code

Once an item exists in the items file, you do not need to write a script just to hand one out. Every major inventory ships a built-in admin command:

/giveitem [id] [item] [count]

Run it from the server console or in game as an admin. [id] is the target player's server id, [item] is the item key, and [count] is how many. Most inventories also expose an in-game admin menu that gives items by clicking. This built-in command is ACE-gated, so grant it to your admin group before an in-game admin can use it, for example add_ace group.admin command.giveitem allow.

That built-in command (or the admin menu) is the owner path: no code, just an item that already exists. Writing your own command resource is the developer path. You only need the developer path when you want custom logic (a capacity pre-check, a cost, a cooldown) around handing out the item. To simply give an item, reach for /giveitem first.