FiveM graphics settings for PvP, one by one

Short answer

In PvP you want two things: the game running stable in gunfights and a clean image. To get there, the usual move is to turn off what blurs the picture (motion blur and depth of field), lower what costs the most and adds the least (grass, shadows, MSAA, reflections) and keep your screen’s native resolution.

There’s no perfect setup for everyone. What works for you depends on your PC and the server. That’s why we explain what each setting does and what you lose by lowering it, so you can decide for yourself.

The PvP setup at a glance

Names can change a little depending on your game language.

Before you start

• Write down your current settings. Take a photo with your phone or a screenshot of each settings screen. That way you can go back if something doesn’t feel right.
• Turn on the FPS counter. Without measuring, you won’t know if a change helps. It’s all in how to show FPS in FiveM.
• Which FiveM. This guide was made with FiveM Legacy. The settings are GTA V’s own, so you’ll find them in the game’s pause menu. On FiveM Enhanced, which is still in early access, the menu may be different.
• Names can change a little depending on the language your game is in. If it isn’t in English, go by the order of the menu.

Step by step

1. Join a server and wait for everything to load.
2. Open the pause menu (Esc) and go to Settings > Graphics.
3. Change just one setting, leave the menu and measure in your usual spot.
4. Repeat with the next one. When you’re done, check Advanced Graphics too.

The settings, one by one

Resolution and frame scaling

• What to do: keep your monitor’s native resolution. In Advanced Graphics, leave Frame Scaling Mode off.
• What you gain and lose: lowering the resolution takes a lot of load off the graphics card, but the image gets blurry and it’s harder to make out a player at a distance. In PvP it’s the last thing you should lower.

Vertical sync (V-Sync)

• What to do: for PvP, most people turn it off.
• What you gain and lose: with V-Sync on, the image doesn’t “tear” when you move fast, but your mouse can feel a little slower to respond. If you turn it off and the tearing bothers you, turn it back on.

Motion blur and depth of field

• What to do: turn both off.
• What you gain and lose: motion blur smears the image when you turn the camera, right when you’re looking for someone. Depth of field blurs whatever is far away. Without them, everything looks sharper and you lose nothing that matters for gameplay.

Grass quality

• What to do: lower it.
• What you gain and lose: it’s usually one of the heaviest settings in GTA V, especially outside the city. Lowering it gives your PC less to draw. You lose some atmosphere, but you won’t miss it in a gunfight.

Shadows and soft shadows

• What to do: shadow quality at a middle setting and soft shadows on their lightest option.
• What you gain and lose: shadows ask quite a lot of the graphics card. If you drop them all the way, the world looks flatter and it’s harder to judge distances. A middle setting is usually the best balance.

Reflections, reflection MSAA and water quality

• What to do: reflections and water on Normal, and reflection MSAA off.
• What you gain and lose: reflections show up in puddles, windows and cars, but they add very little for gameplay.

MSAA and FXAA (anti-aliasing)

• What to do: MSAA off or as low as possible. FXAA is up to you.
• What you gain and lose: MSAA makes edges really clean, but it’s one of the things that loads the graphics card the most. FXAA is much lighter, but it softens the whole image and some players find it a bit blurry. Try it with and without FXAA and keep whatever looks better to you.

Texture quality

• What to do: it depends on your graphics card’s memory. If you have plenty, leave it on high. If you notice textures loading slowly or stutters when you reach new areas, lower it one notch.
• What you gain and lose: textures mostly use memory. On servers with lots of custom cars and clothing, that memory fills up sooner than in regular GTA V.

Particles and post FX

• What to do: post FX on Normal or High. Particles at a middle setting.
• What you gain and lose: particles are smoke, explosions and sparks, and they pile up in gunfights with lots of people. If you use a FiveM BloodFX or tracers, check after lowering them that they still look the way you want.

Distance scaling and population density

• What to do: distance scaling at a middle setting. Population density and variety, low.
• What you gain and lose: distance scaling decides how much detail gets drawn far away; if you lower it a lot, the background pops in later. As for population, some servers control it themselves, so you might not notice any change.

Anisotropic filtering, ambient occlusion and tessellation

• What to do: anisotropic filtering high, ambient occlusion low or off, and tessellation off.
• What you gain and lose: anisotropic filtering usually costs little and keeps the ground sharp at a distance. Ambient occlusion and tessellation add detail you’ll barely notice in PvP.

Advanced Graphics

If your PC is struggling, leave Long Shadows, High Resolution Shadows and Extended Distance Scaling turned off. They’re usually among the options that ask the most and show the least in a gunfight.

Two FiveM commands that help

Besides the menu, the FiveM console (F8) has two commands listed in the FiveM documentation:

• str_maxVehicleTextureRes: sets the maximum quality of car textures. The default is 1024. If you enter a lower value, for example str_maxVehicleTextureRes 512, you free up memory in exchange for less detailed cars. It can come in handy on servers with lots of added cars.
• game_setDefaultEntityCapLimitToLow true: according to the FiveM documentation, it can help on modest PCs. If you don’t notice anything, set it back to false.

If something goes wrong

• I lowered everything and my FPS is still low. The bottleneck might not be your graphics card. Use cl_drawperf to see whether the GPU is maxed out, and resmon to see if a server script is using a lot. We explain it in how to show FPS and in optimize FiveM.
• I get stutters even though my FPS is high. Stutters usually come from heavy server resources, memory or cache. Optimize FiveM covers what to do in each case.
• My settings don’t save. Leave the menu using the option to apply or confirm the changes. If they still get lost, ask us in the Discord.
• The image looks weird after changing everything. Go back to your old settings using the photos you took and change one thing at a time.

Quick questions

What about the citizen? Doesn’t it change the graphics too?

Yes. A citizen changes the sky, colors, clouds, water and time of day, and some versions are lighter on your PC. It’s a separate thing from these settings, and it depends on the server allowing mods. Check out FiveM citizen, install it with how to install a citizen, and if it doesn’t show up, look into pure mode.

Is lowering settings cheating?

No. They’re the game’s own options and every player picks their own. What we don’t do or recommend is using programs that give you an advantage.

Can I get help tuning it for my PC?

Yes. Join the Discord, tell us what PC you have and which server you play on, and we’ll give you a hand. Our Windows optimizer is also free there.

More in Optimize · All guides