Introducing State Bags in FiveM Development

/ Main / By

When building dynamic FiveM servers, managing data efficiently across players, vehicles, and other entities is crucial. This is where state bags come in. State bags allow you to store and synchronize custom data for any entity in real-time, making them an essential tool for advanced FiveM development.

In this post, we’ll cover:

  • What state bags are in FiveM
  • How state bags work for entities
  • Practical examples and use cases
  • Best practices for using state bags

What Are State Bags?

In FiveM, a state bag is essentially a storage system for key-value pairs that are tied to a specific entity. This could be:

  • A player
  • A vehicle
  • A ped
  • Or even a custom object

State bags are automatically synchronized across the server and clients, so every player sees the same data without requiring manual updates.

How State Bags Work

State bags are tied to an entity and allow you to:

  1. Set custom data – Add new properties to players, vehicles, or peds.
  2. Get data – Retrieve stored values whenever you need them.
  3. Listen for changes – Trigger events when a value is updated.

State bags are ideal for data that needs to persist while an entity exists, like:

  • Vehicle modifications
  • Player job status
  • Health, hunger, or stamina systems
  • Custom flags or permissions

Using State Bags in Scripts

Setting a State Value

-- Set a custom state for a vehicle
local veh = GetVehiclePedIsIn(PlayerPedId(), false)
Entity(veh).state.customFuel = 100

Getting a State Value

-- Retrieve the fuel value
local fuel = Entity(veh).state.customFuel
print("Vehicle fuel: " .. fuel)

Listening for Changes

Entity(veh).state:on("customFuel", function(oldValue, newValue)
    print("Fuel changed from " .. oldValue .. " to " .. newValue)
end)

This ensures that changes to vehicle fuel, player health, or any other property are automatically propagated to all connected clients.

Practical Use Cases for State Bags

State bags are highly versatile and can be used for:

  1. Player Systems – Track hunger, thirst, money, or job roles.
  2. Vehicle Systems – Store modifications, fuel, engine health, or custom properties.
  3. Roleplay Mechanics – Sync gang territories, store mission progress, or track player-owned objects.
  4. Event Handling – Automatically trigger scripts when a value changes, such as alerting police when a player steals a vehicle.

By using state bags, you reduce the need for manual server-client synchronization, making scripts more efficient and easier to maintain.

Best Practices for State Bags

  1. Use meaningful keys – Descriptive key names like customFuel or jobStatus help keep your code organized.
  2. Limit unnecessary updates – Frequent changes can impact performance, especially on large servers.
  3. Clean up – Remove or reset state values when an entity is deleted to avoid memory leaks.
  4. Combine with events – Pair state bag updates with server events for advanced gameplay mechanics.

Final Thoughts

State bags are a core feature for advanced FiveM developers. They allow you to store, retrieve, and synchronize custom data for players, vehicles, and other entities in real-time, enabling complex systems like custom jobs, vehicle mechanics, and roleplay features.

In the Learn FiveM Development course, you’ll get hands-on experience with state bags, using them to create practical projects that make your server dynamic, immersive, and fully interactive.

Scroll to Top