Hosted QBox, extended: 67 modules ready to run

01QBox in short: what the framework does

QBox, whose core resource is called qbx_core, was created on 27 September 2022 as the successor to qb-core, the heart of QBCore. It is released under the GPL-3.0 licence by the Qbox project and its contributors, and builds on well-known pieces of the FiveM ecosystem: ox_lib for shared functions and oxmysql to talk to the database.

• Several characters per account, with character creation and selection on join.
• Several jobs and several gangs per player, if the server allows it.
• A built-in queue, for the nights the server is full.
• A compatibility bridge that lets QBox answer most resources written for QBCore.
• An export-based API, so other scripts can read and write core data.

What QBox is not, though, is a city. The core knows a player is a police officer, how much they have in the bank and which grade they work at; it does not ship a police terminal, a phone, a bank counter or a dealership. All of that is added on top, one resource at a time, and that is where the real work of running a roleplay server begins.

02Self-hosting QBox: what it takes

Setting up a QBox server by hand almost always follows the same path, whether you start from a bare machine or from a game host that only gives you the machine:

1. A machine to run FXServer, the FiveM server, with a MariaDB or MySQL database next to it.
2. A Cfx key, created on the Cfx.re portal, without which the server will not start.
3. The qbx_core resource and its dependencies (ox_lib, oxmysql), then the inventory, targeting and voice, each at a version that works with the others.
4. The city resources: jobs, police, medical, phone, vehicles, housing, to be picked, installed and made to work together.
5. Configuration, in Lua files: QBox jobs live in shared/jobs.lua, gangs in shared/gangs.lua, and every script adds its own.
6. Updates: keeping up with FiveM, QBox and every script, then reapplying your own edits with each new version.

None of this is beyond a developer. It is simply a job in its own right, and it does not end on opening day: the guide on what a FiveM server costs breaks it down line by line, over twelve months.

03Hosted QBox with Nova: the core left untouched

Nova does not rewrite QBox. The qbx_core resource ships exactly as the Qbox project publishes it, as source code, with a single fix: an extra check when a character is deleted, which stops a modified client from wiping other players’ characters. The fix is declared in the resource’s notice and reapplied with every new version of the core.

Keeping the original core means keeping what makes QBox worth using: its API, its bridge to QBCore, and compatibility with what the community writes for it. A script built for QBox calls qbx_core, and finds it right where it expects it.

04What Nova adds: 67 modules, a whole city

On top of the core, Nova ships 67 modules written for it, delivered and updated together. They fall into eleven families:

These modules are not scripts dropped side by side. They share the same configuration, the same interface and the same update schedule, and they write into QBox instead of working around it: a job created in the panel is registered in qbx_core itself, so a third-party script reading a player’s job sees the ones you created in game.

05QBox resources replaced, under their original names

A standard QBox server runs with a set of companion resources: vehicle keys, player vehicles, medical, spawning, ID card, targeting. Nova replaces them with its own modules, but those modules answer under the original names. A script that calls QBox’s keys or targeting finds what it is looking for, with no changes needed.

• qbx_vehiclekeys: keys, who can unlock, start, lend or steal a vehicle.
• qbx_vehicles: each player’s vehicles, their ownership and condition, in the database.
• qbx_medical and qbx_ambulancejob: the medical engine and EMS.
• qbx_spawn and qbx_idcard: spawning into the city and ID papers.
• ox_target, as well as the older qtarget: targeting, through Nova’s targeting engine.
• ox_lib is the exception: ox_lib is provided by nova_lib, and no ox_lib folder exists on disk: in the fxmanifest of a script, the @ox_lib/init.lua line must be replaced with @nova_lib/shared/lib_init.lua, or the console shows "Failed to load script".

06Configured in game, not in Lua files

On a hand-built QBox server, creating a job means editing a file, then restarting. On Nova, jobs, grades, salaries, gangs, economy, items, properties and permissions are set from inside the game by typing /admin: an admin panel with 40 screens writes to the database, and most settings apply right away.

Your staff ranks come from your Discord roles: the server links to the Nova Discord bot, and removing a role on Discord removes the rank in game. Staff logs go to the channels you pick.

07Self-hosted QBox or hosted QBox: side by side

The first path gives you control over everything, including what breaks. The second removes the assembly and upkeep, with one rule in return: the framework and its modules stay managed by us. The full comparison, bare host against hosted server, is in FiveM RP hosting.

08Your QBCore and QBox scripts on hosted QBox

Your own resources go into the resources/[client] folder, from the Files screen of your account area, as files or as a .zip or .tar.gz archive. A new resource arrives switched off: you turn it on, then restart the server. The documentation walks through each step.

Scripts written for QBox find the core they expect, and most scripts written for QBCore run through the compatibility bridge, which is on by default. Almost all of them load ox_lib, so their manifest needs one edit. ox_lib is provided by nova_lib, and no ox_lib folder exists on disk: in the fxmanifest of a script, the @ox_lib/init.lua line must be replaced with @nova_lib/shared/lib_init.lua, or the console shows "Failed to load script". Your scripts’ data carries over too: their .sql file can be imported into an extra database from the Databases screen (NOVA+ includes one on top of the framework database, NOVA INFINITY two).

09What hosted, extended QBox costs

One subscription per server, with hosting, updates and support included and no setup fee: NOVA at €99 a month for 64 players, NOVA+ at €149 for 128 players, NOVA INFINITY at €229 for 256 players, which grows up to 1,024 players with extra slots. Yearly billing charges ten months for twelve.

Before the first stable version, only the plans that include beta channel access can be bought. The Cfx key stays in your name: you create it on the Cfx.re portal, and Nova does not sell it.

To see what each plan includes and what is open today, head to the pricing page: your QBox server is installed as soon as you subscribe.

Frequently asked questions