Real-brand cars on FiveM: allowed or not?
Real-brand cars are not allowed on FiveM servers. In October 2023, after Rockstar Games bought Cfx.re, the FiveM team told server owners to fully remove real-world vehicles, and said that removing the logos is not enough. The safe choice is lore-friendly vehicles: original designs, or designs in the style of GTA V's own fictional brands.
What did Cfx.re say?
In its October 2023 Community Pulse, the Cfx.re team wrote: "You must fully remove all real-world vehicles from your server," and "We cannot allow custom assets or mods that infringe third-party intellectual property (IP)." The rule comes from the Creator Platform License Agreement (PLA) that every server accepts. Read the current version at fivem.net/terms. It changes over time, and this page is not legal advice.
What does lore-friendly mean?
Lore-friendly means the vehicle could exist in GTA V's world: an original design, or one that fits the game's fictional brands like Pegassi, Grotti or Declasse. Taking a real car and swapping its badge does not make it lore-friendly. The body shape, grille, lights and name of a real model are part of the brand's design too.
How to check a car before buying
- Does it have a real brand logo, badge or model name anywhere, including the textures and the interior?
- Is the body clearly a copy of a real model with the badges removed?
- Was it ripped from another game? Cfx.re also called out models taken from other titles.
- Does the seller state that the model is original or lore-friendly?
More checks for a purchase are in what to check before buying FiveM vehicles.
What can happen to a server with real-brand cars?
The license lets Cfx.re act against servers that break it, and brand owners can file claims of their own. What enforcement looks like in a given case is up to them, so we can't tell you what will happen to a specific server. Running original or lore-friendly vehicles avoids the question entirely.
Nilo3D vehicles
Every Nilo3D vehicle, hoverboard and pet is an original design with no real brand. See the vehicles and hoverboards.
Frequently asked questions
- Are real cars banned on FiveM?
- Yes. Since October 2023 Cfx.re has told servers to fully remove real-world vehicles, citing the platform license and third-party IP.
- Is removing the logos enough?
- No. Cfx.re said that debadging a real-world car does not make it compliant, because the design itself belongs to the brand.
- What is a lore-friendly car in FiveM?
- An original vehicle that fits GTA V's fictional world and brands, without copying a real model.
Sources
- FiveM: Creator Platform License Agreement
- IGN: FiveM warns users against real-world car imports (Oct 2023)
Products from this guide
All guides
- How to install a FiveM resource from Cfx.re Escrow (Granted Assets)
- How to add a custom vehicle to an ESX, QBCore or QBox server
- What are LODs in FiveM vehicles?
- How to add an add-on vehicle to a FiveM server
- vehicles.meta explained, field by field
- handling.meta explained: fields, units and flags
- carvariations.meta and carcols.meta explained
- vehiclelayouts.meta explained: seats, entry points and animations
- fxmanifest data_file reference for vehicles
- Vehicle model files (yft, _hi.yft, ytd) and the oversized asset warning
- FiveM add-on vehicle troubleshooting: causes and fixes
- How to fix "You lack the required entitlement" on a FiveM server
- How to convert a single-player GTA 5 car mod to a FiveM add-on
- How a FiveM hoverboard works without a script
- How to make a FiveM vehicle in Blender with Sollumz 2.9
- How to optimise a FiveM vehicle: polygons, LODs and texture budget
- How to set up vehicle collision in Sollumz
- Buying FiveM vehicles: what to check before you pay
- FiveM car packs vs single vehicles
- CodeWalker vs Sollumz: which tool for FiveM vehicles?