Colored Headlights - Custom Vehicle Lighting System for FiveM

Transform vehicle customization on your FiveM server with this colored headlight system that lets players personalize their rides beyond standard body modifications. This simple but effective script adds colored headlight options to your vehicle customization flow, creating unique visual identity for player cars and opening new roleplay opportunities. Whether you're running a street racing server where crews use signature colors, a car meet community where visual customization matters, or you just want to give players more ways to make their vehicles stand out, colored headlights add that extra layer of personalization that keeps car enthusiasts engaged. With video demonstration showing the system in action, you can see exactly how it looks before deployment.

What's Included

You're getting a vehicle lighting modification system that integrates with your existing vehicle customization workflow. The script provides a color selection interface where players can choose custom headlight colors from a palette or RGB spectrum, applies the color changes to vehicle headlight entities in real-time, and saves the customization to the vehicle's persistent data so colors remain after server restarts or garage storage. The system includes all necessary client and server-side code, configuration options for allowed colors or RGB freedom, and integration hooks for popular garage and vehicle modification scripts.

Key Features

• Custom Color Selection - Players choose from preset colors or use RGB sliders for unlimited customization options
• Real-Time Preview - See headlight color changes immediately as you adjust settings before committing to purchase
• Persistent Customization - Headlight colors save to vehicle data and persist through server restarts and garage storage
• Garage Integration - Works with popular vehicle customization systems like esx_vehicleshop, qb-customs, and standalone garages
• Independent Headlight Control - Option to color left and right headlights differently for asymmetric styling
• Brightness Adjustment - Configure headlight intensity alongside color for full lighting customization
• Framework Agnostic - Works with ESX, QBCore, or standalone setups with minimal configuration
• Performance Optimized - Lighting changes use native GTA functions without custom rendering overhead
• Configurable Pricing - Set costs for headlight color changes or make it free for premium members
• Reset Option - Players can revert to stock headlights at any time

Perfect For

• Car meet and tuner servers where visual customization depth matters to the community
• Street racing servers wanting crew identification through signature vehicle colors
• Roleplay servers where emergency vehicles need colored lights for department identification
• VIP systems offering exclusive customization options like unique headlight colors
• Servers emphasizing vehicle personalization and player expression through car culture
• Communities running custom car shows or competitions judged on aesthetic modifications

How It Works

Players access the headlight customization through your vehicle modification menu (typically at mechanic shops, customs garages, or through interaction menus). The interface presents color options either as preset choices (red, blue, green, purple, etc.) or an RGB picker for unlimited combinations. As players adjust colors, the headlight appearance updates in real-time so they can see exactly how it looks on their specific vehicle model. Once satisfied, they purchase the modification (if pricing is enabled) and the system saves the color data to the vehicle's properties table in your database. When the vehicle spawns from a garage or after server restart, the script reads the saved color data and reapplies it automatically.

Integration Methods

The script provides multiple integration options depending on your existing setup. For servers using popular customs scripts (qb-customs, esx_customs, etc.), it includes ready-made integration files that add headlight color options to existing menus. For custom garage systems, it exposes client and server events you can call from your existing code to trigger the color selection UI. The system works with both owned vehicle databases (where color data saves per vehicle ID) and temporary spawns (where colors persist for the session but reset on despawn). Configuration determines whether headlight colors transfer when vehicles are sold or reset to default for new owners.

Technical Details

• Framework: Framework agnostic - includes examples for ESX, QBCore, and standalone implementations
• Performance: Uses native GTA headlight functions, no custom rendering required - minimal resource usage
• Database: Adds headlight color column to vehicle properties or uses JSON fields in existing vehicle tables
• Dependencies: No specific dependencies beyond your vehicle ownership system
• Customization: Config controls color presets, RGB freedom, pricing, reset options, and menu integration
• Color Data Format: Stores RGB values or preset IDs depending on configuration choice
• Client-Server: Color selection happens client-side with server validation before saving to database

Installation

1. Extract the resource to your server's resources directory
2. Run the provided SQL file to add headlight color fields to your vehicle database table
3. Configure allowed colors, pricing, and menu integration in config.lua
4. Choose integration method: use included hooks for popular garage scripts or add custom event calls
5. Add the resource to server.cfg and restart the server
6. Test color selection at a vehicle customization location and verify persistence after garage storage
7. Adjust color presets or enable RGB mode based on server preference

Framework Compatibility

• ✅ ESX - Includes integration examples for esx_vehicleshop and esx_customs
• ✅ QBCore - Compatible with qb-customs and qb-vehicleshop with included adapters
• ✅ Standalone - Can work independently with any vehicle system using provided event structure
• ⚙️ Custom Garages - Integration guides for popular custom garage scripts included in documentation

What Makes It Stand Out

Most servers stop vehicle customization at paint jobs, wheels, and performance mods. Headlight colors are that extra detail that separates basic customization from true car culture depth. For tuner communities, this is essential - crews running matching headlight colors, racers using specific colors as calling cards, show cars with color-coordinated lighting themes. The real-time preview is crucial because headlight colors look different on various vehicle models based on headlight shape and size. Being able to see exactly how that electric blue looks on your specific car before buying prevents buyer's remorse. The persistence system is robust - colors survive not just restarts but also vehicle ownership transfers (configurable), garage storage, and even mechanic impounds if your server uses those systems. The framework-agnostic design means you're not locked to specific garage scripts, and the event-based architecture lets you trigger headlight customization from anywhere (admin commands for events, VIP rewards, tuner shop interactions).

Roleplay Applications

Emergency Services: Configure police vehicles with blue/red headlights, EMS with amber, fire with red. Creates visual department identification even for unmarked vehicles. Admins can set job-restricted colors so civilians can't use emergency lighting.

Car Crews and Gangs: Street crews coordinate headlight colors as crew identification - Families use green, Ballas use purple, racing crews match their car themes. Creates visual territory and affiliation without requiring special vehicle models.

VIP Perks: Offer exotic colors (pink, gold, RGB color-shifting) as VIP-only customization. Creates visible status symbols and incentivizes membership without being pay-to-win since it's purely cosmetic.

Configuration Options

The config file controls whether you use preset colors (faster selection, easier balance) or full RGB (unlimited options, more complexity). You can set per-color pricing - make red cheap, exotic colors expensive. Enable or disable asymmetric headlights (different color per side). Configure whether colors transfer on vehicle sale or reset to default. Set distance limits for color visibility (too bright from far away can impact performance). Define job restrictions for certain colors (emergency services only for blue/red). All settings are hot-reloadable in most implementations.

Performance Considerations

Colored headlights use GTA V's native vehicle light modification functions, so they're as optimized as the base game's headlight system. The script doesn't create custom light entities or render additional effects - it modifies the existing headlight properties. This means performance impact is essentially zero beyond the initial color application when a vehicle spawns. The real-time preview during color selection does trigger rapid color updates, but this only affects the player customizing their vehicle and stops once they exit the menu.

Visual Impact

Headlight colors are most visible at night (obviously) but also create noticeable effects during dawn/dusk and in shadowed areas like tunnels or parking structures. The intensity settings let you balance visibility versus blinding - too bright and headlights wash out colors, too dim and they're barely visible. The sweet spot is typically 75-85% intensity with saturated colors. Different vehicle models have different headlight housing which affects color spread - sports cars with narrow headlights create focused beams, trucks with large housings create broad color wash.

Event and Competition Use

Car shows can judge on lighting as part of overall aesthetic. Racing events might require specific colors for lap leaders or position indicators. Drift competitions could award colored headlights as prizes. The system supports temporary color application for events that revert after, or permanent awards that become badges of achievement. Admin commands (if configured) allow event organizers to force specific colors for special occasions.

Related ESX Scripts

• izzy Loading Screen v7
• Carlock V2
• Job Creator (UniJob)
• GPS System (Emergency GPS)