Lua, C# or JavaScript: which language should you learn for FiveM?

Every FiveM developer asks this on day one, and the honest answer depends less on which language is “best” and more on what you want to build and whose code you want to read. FiveM runs three scripting runtimes side by side — Lua, C# (.NET) and JavaScript — and a single server can use all three at once. This guide compares them on the things that actually matter when you are starting out.

The manifest decides which runtime loads a file, by extension: .lua goes to Lua, .js to JavaScript and .net.dll to .NET. How the manifest works is covered in what a FiveM resource is.

Lua is small, fast to learn and fast at runtime, and FiveM’s version — CfxLua — adds things game scripting needs: vector types (vector3, vector4), compile-time hashes with backticks (`WEAPON_PISTOL`), and an efficient scheduler for threads and Wait. Since June 2025 every Lua script runs on Lua 5.4; the old lua54 'yes' manifest line still appears in many resources but is no longer needed.

• ESX, QBCore, Qbox and ox_core are Lua, as are ox_lib, ox_inventory, ox_target and nearly every job, shop and HUD you will download.
• Almost every tutorial, forum answer and snippet on the Cfx forum is Lua.
• No build step: edit, ensure the resource, test.

RegisterCommand('heal', function()
    local ped = PlayerPedId()
    SetEntityHealth(ped, GetEntityMaxHealth(ped))
    print('healed')
end, false)

If you have never programmed, start with Lua basics for FiveM and your first FiveM script.

The JavaScript runtime uses V8 on the client and Node.js on the server. On the server you get Node’s standard library and npm packages — handy for HTTP APIs, Discord bots inside the server process, or talking to external services. The manifest’s node_version directive selects the Node version: 16 is the default and 22 is available.

RegisterCommand('heal', () => {
  const ped = PlayerPedId();
  SetEntityHealth(ped, GetEntityMaxHealth(ped));
  console.log('healed');
}, false);

TypeScript works well for larger resources: you write TS, bundle it to one JS file, and reference that file in the manifest. See FiveM scripts in TypeScript. And every in-game interface — inventories, phones, HUDs — is HTML, CSS and JavaScript regardless of your game-logic language, so some JS is unavoidable for UI work.

C# resources are compiled .NET assemblies that reference the CitizenFX.Core.Client or CitizenFX.Core.Server NuGet packages. You get static typing, a real IDE with refactoring, and the .NET library ecosystem. The trade-offs: a compile step, a smaller pool of examples, and fewer people on your team who can read your code if everyone else writes Lua.

using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using CitizenFX.Core;
using static CitizenFX.Core.Native.API;

public class Heal : BaseScript
{
    public Heal()
    {
        RegisterCommand("heal", new Action<int, List<object>, string>((source, args, raw) =>
        {
            var ped = PlayerPedId();
            SetEntityHealth(ped, GetEntityMaxHealth(ped));
            Debug.WriteLine("healed");
        }), false);
    }
}

Setting up a C# project is covered in C# scripts for FiveM.

Resources in different languages cooperate through events and exports, which carry plain data (numbers, strings, tables/objects) across runtimes. A Lua framework can call a C# resource’s export, and a JS resource can listen to a Lua event. What you cannot do is share live objects or functions directly between runtimes.

See events and exports for how that works.