FiveM and GTA RP glossary: the words of roleplay and of the server

01Roleplay: RP, OOC and scene rules

These terms come from server rulebooks. Their meaning is much the same from one city to the next, but the limits and sanctions vary: when in doubt, your server's rules are what count.

• Backstory (BG): your character's history before arriving in the city, their past, their job, what drives them. Many whitelisted servers ask for it in the application.
• CK (character kill): a character's permanent death, with no coming back. It usually needs the player's or the staff's agreement, and a scene that justifies it.
• Combat logging: disconnecting mid-scene to escape it, typically right before an arrest or a death. Almost every rulebook punishes it.
• FearRP: playing the fear of death. A character held at gunpoint reacts like a real person would: they comply, they negotiate, they do not draw on three weapons aimed at them.
• IC (in character): whatever happens within the character, the opposite of OOC. People also just say "in RP".
• Metagaming: using in game information you got outside the game, from a stream, a Discord channel or a voice call. Tracking down a rival because you saw their location on another player's livestream is the classic case.
• NLR (new life rule): after a death followed by a respawn, the character forgets how they died and does not go back to the scene for revenge.
• OOC (out of character): anything outside the character, what the player knows or says rather than the character. French servers call it HRP (hors roleplay). OOC talk in game goes through a channel meant for it and stays brief.
• Powergaming: forcing an impossible action or an outcome without giving the other player a way to respond, like shrugging off a gunshot in two seconds or announcing "I knock you out" with no scene.
• RDM (random deathmatch): killing another player with no RP reason and no scene leading up to it. French servers also say "freekill".
• RP (roleplay): the role-playing itself, playing a character and building scenes with others, with no script written in advance.
• VDM (vehicle deathmatch): using a vehicle as a weapon, running players over on purpose with no scene.

02Community and staff

An RP server lives on Discord as much as in game. These words cover how you get in, how the city is run and what happens when everything starts over.

• Application: the form you fill in to join a whitelisted server, often with your character backstory and a few questions on the rules.
• Ban, kick, warn: the three basic sanctions. A warn is a warning on your record, a kick removes you from the session on the spot, a ban stops you from coming back, for a while or for good.
• Faction: an organized group in the city, legal (police, EMS, a business) or illegal (a gang, an organization). Bigger factions often have a staff lead of their own.
• Interview: on many servers, the voice call that follows the application. A staff member checks you understood the rules before letting you in. French communities call it the "douane", the customs check.
• Restart: the server reboot, often scheduled once or several times a day. Some cities announce it in game with a storm or a "tsunami" so everyone can take cover.
• Staff: the team running the server, founders, admins, moderators, sometimes developers and department leads. On Nova, staff ranks follow the roles on your Discord.
• Ticket: a help request opened on the server Discord, in a private channel between the player and the staff: a report, a ban appeal, a refund after a bug.
• Whitelist (WL): the list of players allowed to connect. A WL server screens people at the door, an open server lets everyone in. The Nova Discord bot can keep that list for you.
• Wipe: a full reset of the city. Characters, money, vehicles and properties are erased and everyone starts from the same point, often for a new season or a change of base.

03Frameworks and resources

The framework is the layer that holds characters, money, jobs and inventory; resources plug into it. Choosing a framework means choosing the scripts that come with it.

• Dispatch: the system that routes the city's calls and alerts to emergency services, gunshots, thefts, crashes, often with a live map.
• ESX: the oldest open source RP framework still in wide use, with the largest script library. An ESX script will not run on QBCore or QBox without being adapted.
• Framework: the software foundation of an RP server, which every other resource plugs into. The ESX vs QBCore vs QBox comparison covers all three families.
• fxmanifest.lua: the file that describes a resource, its client and server scripts, its dependencies, its interface files. Without it, FiveM loads nothing.
• MDT (mobile data terminal): the police in-car computer, used to look up a citizen, check a record, issue a fine or a warrant.
• NUI: the interfaces shown in game (phone, inventory, menus), written in HTML and JavaScript and drawn by a browser built into FiveM.
• ox_inventory: the inventory from the ox family, with its slots, weight and containers. It is the standard inventory for QBox.
• ox_lib: a shared library (menus, notifications, server callbacks, zones) that QBox and many recent scripts depend on. On Nova, it is provided by nova_lib: a script's @ox_lib/init.lua line is replaced with @nova_lib/shared/lib_init.lua.
• ox_target: the targeting system. You aim at a door, a vehicle or a person, and the available actions show up.
• QBCore: the framework that came after ESX, with its own script library. It is still very widespread, and many servers start from it.
• QBox: a framework that grew out of QBCore, built on ox_lib, which runs most QBCore scripts. It is what Nova is built on; the guide to migrating to QBox covers what carries over.
• Resource: the basic unit of a FiveM server, a folder with its fxmanifest that adds a script, a map, vehicles or clothing. People say "script" when it contains code.

04The server and its settings

These are the terms of the console and the config files. Every tutorial uses them, even if a hosted server configured in game means you run into them less.

• ACE: the built-in FiveM permission system. add_ace and add_principal lines give a player or a group the right to use a command.
• Artifact: a numbered build of FXServer. You move to a newer artifact to keep up with FiveM, and some resources need a minimum artifact to start.
• Convar: a configuration variable, set in server.cfg or from the console. set keeps it server side, setr makes it readable by players, sets shows it in the server list.
• FXServer: the FiveM server program, the one that loads resources and lets players in.
• Game build: the version of GTA V the server enforces, set with the sv_enforceGameBuild convar. It decides which vehicles, clothes and places from GTA Online updates are available.
• OneSync: the FiveM sync system, which hands entity management to the server and lets you open far more slots. Its Infinity mode goes up to 2,048 players.
• Ports: by default FiveM listens on port 30120, over both TCP and UDP, and txAdmin on port 40120. A firewall that blocks either protocol makes the server unreachable.
• Resmon: the resource monitor, opened with the resmon command in the F8 console. It shows each resource's CPU time and memory, and it is the first thing to check on a laggy server.
• Routing bucket: a separate dimension of the server. Players and entities in one bucket cannot see those in another, which is how private interiors and instances work.
• server.cfg: the server startup file, holding the license key, the display name, convars and the list of resources to start (ensure), in order.
• Slots: the number of places on the server, meaning players connected at the same time. Past a certain number of slots, Cfx.re asks for a subscription tied to your account.
• txAdmin: the web panel shipped with FXServer to start the server, read the console, schedule restarts and manage players.

05Maps, vehicles and clothing

Content that changes how the city looks is downloaded when a player connects. The more of it there is, the longer a new player's first load takes.

• Addon and replace: an addon vehicle joins the game under a new name, a replace vehicle takes the place of a stock model. Addons leave the base game untouched, replaces spare you from spawning an unknown model.
• EUP: a pack of emergency service uniforms (police, fire, EMS), very common on RP servers to dress the public service jobs.
• MLO: a custom interior added to the map, a police station, a hospital or a nightclub, that you walk into with no loading screen. MLOs are among the most bought pieces of content, and among the heaviest.
• NPC: a non-player character (PNJ in French), a passer-by, a shopkeeper or a driver that the game runs around the players.
• Ped: a character model, player or not. An addon ped gives a character the look of a custom model.
• Streaming: the download, on connection, of the models, textures and maps the server adds. A server that streams several gigabytes keeps new players waiting.

06Licensing, stores and security

These words touch on money and on the safety of the server. They are also the ones that cost the most when ignored.

• Anticheat: the system that catches cheating, teleporting, money or weapons appearing out of nowhere. It can only be trusted if it decides on the server side, since the player's game can lie.
• Backdoor: hidden code inside a resource that hands a stranger control of your server, money, admin rights, sometimes the whole machine.
• Cfx key: the license key every FiveM server presents when it starts. You create it on portal.cfx.re and it begins with cfxk_; the Cfx key documentation explains what to do if it is refused.
• DDoS: an attack that floods the server with traffic to knock it offline. RP servers are frequent targets, and they need anti-DDoS that filters game traffic, not just web traffic.
• Escrow: the protection system Cfx.re launched with Tebex. A purchased resource is encrypted and only starts on a server whose key belongs to the buyer account; its protected files cannot be read.
• Leak: a paid resource stolen and handed out for free. It is copyright infringement, and it often hides a backdoor: the FiveM server packs guide goes through the risks.
• PLA (Platform License Agreement): the Cfx.re platform license, which sets what servers and creators may sell. In force since January 12, 2026, it was revised on September 10, 2026 and can be read at fivem.net/terms.
• Tebex: the payment platform partnered with Cfx.re. It is how paid resources are sold and how servers open their store, within the limits of the PLA.

07FiveM in 2026: the dates that matter

Some words only make sense with a date attached. These are the milestones that keep coming up this year, checked in mid-October 2026.

08What Nova takes off your hands

Much of this glossary describes work: tracking artifacts, tuning convars, checking that a script hides no backdoor, keeping an eye on resmon. Nova Studio provides a managed FiveM RP server, built on QBox and its 67 modules, hosted and updated by us, and configured from inside the game with the admin panel, without touching a file.

Three monthly plans: NOVA at €99, NOVA+ at €149 and NOVA INFINITY at €229. The pricing page shows the current offers and the ones you can buy today. The rules, the staff and the community stay yours: the guide to starting a FiveM RP server shows where to begin.

Frequently asked questions