Custom FiveM particle effects (PTFX) from any effect

GTA V plays particle effects (PTFX) from particle dictionaries, .ypt files, and FiveM loads custom ones from a resource's stream folder. The usual way to get custom PTFX is to edit the game's own effects: new colours, timing, or a texture saved under the old texture's name. The FiveM export makes a new dictionary from your effect's own frames instead, so the game shows the frames you made in the studio. Pick one of the 1200+ free effects or make your own in the studio.

What the export makes

• pfx_nitro_boost/stream/pfx_nitro_boost.ypt: the particle dictionary GTA V loads, with two effects, pfx_nitro_boost (loops until stopped) and pfx_nitro_boost_once (plays one cycle), and all 36 frames in one texture (DXT5, or uncompressed for pixel art).
• pfx_nitro_boost/fxmanifest.lua and pfx_nitro_boost/client.lua: the resource, with a test command named after it (/pfx_nitro_boost) and exports for your scripts.
• README.txt: the steps below and the exact settings the export wrote.
• Or, with Package set to .ypt file, just the .ypt, for the stream folder of a resource you already have.

How it plays in GTA V

GTA V reads a flipbook texture's frame grid from the texture's name, from its own list of built-in names. The export puts all 36 frames in one texture under a built-in name whose grid is 6 x 6, inside your own dictionary, so the game's own effects are not touched. One camera-facing sprite plays the frames in order at the effect's own speed. Smoke and fire blend each frame into the next; fast hard-edged effects such as glass, sparks and arcs show each frame as drawn, which keeps their edges sharp. The sprite is lit by the scene, so it holds up in daylight, and glowing effects keep some of their own light at night.

Export it

1. Open the effect in the studio and press Export.
2. Under Export for, choose FiveM and turn on GTA file (.ypt). The preview shows the frames the export will write.
3. Set Size, the effect's widest side in metres (2 m to start; a ped is about 1.8 m tall), and Origin: Centre plays it centred on the coordinate, Ground stands it on the floor. The other settings pick sensible values from the effect.
4. Press Export. You get <effect>-fivem.zip with the resource folder inside, or the .ypt alone with Package set to .ypt file.

Install it and test it

1. Copy the pfx_nitro_boost folder from the zip into your server's resources folder and add ensure pfx_nitro_boost to server.cfg. FiveM sends the .ypt in its stream folder to every player.
2. Join the server and type /pfx_nitro_boost in chat: the loop starts at your position, and the same command again stops it. The command is the resource's name, so effects you run side by side each have their own.
3. /pfx_nitro_boost once plays one cycle, /pfx_nitro_boost net plays it for every player nearby, and a number after it sets the scale, as in /pfx_nitro_boost once 2.

The .ypt is made for the GTA V that FiveM runs. GTA V Enhanced uses a newer file version and is not supported yet.

Play it from your scripts

Request the asset, wait for it to load, and call UseParticleFxAsset before every Start call: it names the dictionary the next call reads. Use the loop effect with StartParticleFxLoopedAtCoord and stop it with StopParticleFxLooped; use the _once effect with StartParticleFxNonLoopedAtCoord, or StartNetworkedParticleFxNonLoopedAtCoord so other players see it too.

local asset = "pfx_nitro_boost"

RequestNamedPtfxAsset(asset)
while not HasNamedPtfxAssetLoaded(asset) do
  Wait(0)
end

local coords = GetEntityCoords(PlayerPedId())

-- One cycle (the _once effect). UseParticleFxAsset goes before every Start call.
UseParticleFxAsset(asset)
StartParticleFxNonLoopedAtCoord("pfx_nitro_boost_once", coords.x, coords.y, coords.z, 0.0, 0.0, 0.0, 1.0, false, false, false)

-- The loop, until you stop it.
UseParticleFxAsset(asset)
local handle = StartParticleFxLoopedAtCoord("pfx_nitro_boost", coords.x, coords.y, coords.z, 0.0, 0.0, 0.0, 1.0, false, false, false, false)
Wait(5000)
StopParticleFxLooped(handle, false)

The exported client.lua does the loading for you and exports playOnce, startLoop and stopLoop, so other resources can play the effect in one line.

-- From any client script on the server:
exports.pfx_nitro_boost:playOnce(vector3(x, y, z), 1.0)

local handle = exports.pfx_nitro_boost:startLoop(vector3(x, y, z), 1.5)
exports.pfx_nitro_boost:stopLoop(handle)

Settings

Limits

• 36 frames per cycle. A long loop gets fewer frames per second: under about 20 a second, keep Frame blending on Smooth so it does not step. Cycles of 1 to 1.5 s look best.
• Texture memory. One texture per effect: about 4 MB at 2048 px and 16 MB at 4096 px in DXT5. Every player downloads the resource once.
• It is a recording. The frames do not react to wind or collisions, and a camera-facing sprite looks flat from straight above.
• Legacy GTA V. The .ypt is for the game FiveM runs; GTA V Enhanced is not supported yet.

How we check the export: the .ypt writer lays out and writes files the way CodeWalker does, and our tests rebuild a working .ypt made with another tool byte for byte and read each exported .ypt back. The one-texture design was tested in GTA V on a FiveM server, by day and at night. If an effect does not show or looks wrong, tell us on Discord and we will fix the export.

Effects that work well in FiveM

More by type, with sizes and settings for each: fire and smoke, explosions, vehicle effects and electric effects, all on the FiveM effects page.

Nitro BoostTyre Drift SmokeExhaust BackfireFuel Drum BlastTransformer BlowoutRising Smoke PlumeCozy CampfireLoot Beams

A free account gets 3 exports a day, and the ready .ypt counts as one, alone or in a resource with fxmanifest.lua and a test command. The frames as one 6 x 6 or 7 x 7 sheet PNG are free the same way. Any plan, from $7.99 a month, has no daily limit, for a whole server's set of effects at once.

Grand Theft Auto and GTA V are trademarks of Take-Two Interactive Software. FiveM is a Cfx.re project. ParticleFX Studio is not affiliated with either.