How to Back Up Your FiveM Server (Before You Lose Everything)

Every experienced server owner has a horror story about lost data. A corrupted database, a botched update, a drive failure — and months of community progress is gone. Backups are boring right up until they save your entire server. Here's a routine that works.

What to back up

• Database — player data, characters, vehicles, money. The crown jewels.
• resources folder — your scripts, vehicles and configs.
• server.cfg — your entire setup; see server.cfg explained.

1. Automate database dumps

A manual backup you forget to take is no backup. Schedule regular automated database exports so you always have a recent snapshot without thinking about it.

2. Keep copies off the server

A backup sitting on the same machine dies with it. Store copies somewhere separate — a different host or cloud storage — so a hardware failure can't take both.

3. Always back up before changes

Before any artifact update, big script change or database migration, take a fresh backup. This single habit prevents most catastrophes.

4. Test your restores

A backup you've never restored is a guess. Periodically spin up a copy and confirm it actually works — discovering a corrupt backup during a crisis is the worst possible time.

Backups are part of running a serious server, right alongside DDoS protection and anti-cheat. Boring, until the day they save everything.