How To Make Your FiveM Server Popular (Getting Players)

Get players. Keep players. Grow reliably.

This guide is part of our complete FiveM server management hub, covering everything from initial setup to scaling your community.

Below is the step‑by‑step, technical, no‑fluff playbook we use when we help servers go from empty to consistently populated. You’ll set up clean metadata (server list), remove performance bottlenecks, add retention loops, and build a marketing flywheel that compounds week over week. Copy‑paste configs are included.

Assumptions: You already have a working FiveM server (ESX/QBCore/QBOX/Standalone) and can edit server.cfg, open ports on your host/router, and manage resources under resources/.

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1) Most importantly: Stability, Performance, Uptime

Players only return if the city is smooth and predictable.

• Artifacts: Stay on a stable FXServer build; update on non‑peak hours.
• OneSync: Use OneSync, keep entity replication sane.
• Resource health: Identify heavy scripts with Resmon, fix or replace.
• Crash discipline: Staged restarts (rolling, with broadcast warnings). Backups automated.

Do it now – Resmon drill

1. Join your server, open F8 → resmon 1.
2. Watch ms for 5–10 minutes during action. Anything consistently > 0.20 ms deserves attention.
3. Disable one suspect resource at a time and re‑measure.

Need help reading the numbers? See our guide: How To Use Resmon In FiveM (To Optimize Resources) and the broader hub FiveM Server Performance & Optimization.

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2) Make the First 10 Minutes Unmistakably Good

Most drop‑offs happen before a player finishes their first session. Fix the onboarding:

• Spawn & orientation: Deliver players near activity (Legion, City Hall) with cl