Start, restart, stop: your daily dev loop

Make the resource folder

Inside your server's resources folder, create this folder:

resources/qu_dev_loop

Create the files

Create this exact file layout:

resources/qu_dev_loop/
fxmanifest.lua
server.lua

Write fxmanifest.lua

Open fxmanifest.lua and paste this:

fx_version 'cerulean'
game 'gta5'

server_script 'server.lua'

Older tutorials add a lua54 'yes' line here. As of June 2025 that setting is deprecated and ignored: Lua 5.4 is now the only Lua runtime, so you leave it out.

Write the lesson code

Open server.lua and paste this:

print('[qu_dev_loop] resource started')

RegisterCommand('dev_loop', function()
print('[qu_dev_loop] command fired')
end, false)

There are two prints on purpose. The first one is at the top level of the file, so it runs the moment the resource starts. That is what proves your restart actually reloaded the code. The second one lives inside a command handler, so it only runs when you type the command.

Start and test it

Open server.cfg and add this line:

ensure qu_dev_loop

Save the file. Because this folder is brand new, the running server has not scanned it yet, so first tell it to look, in the txAdmin Live Console (the server console):

refresh

Then start the resource, also from the server console:

ensure qu_dev_loop

Use ensure, not restart, the first time: the resource has not started yet this session, and restart only reloads a resource that is already running, so it would do nothing here. (Once the resource is already up, restart is the command you use after each edit.) You should see the start line print immediately. Now run the command, also from the server console:

dev_loop