FiveM VS Code setup: Lua language server, natives, no false warnings

You open a perfectly fine script in VS Code and it looks like this:

Undefined global `PlayerPedId`.

Every native, exports, ESX and QBCore gets a yellow underline, and real mistakes drown in the noise. This guide sets up VS Code so it understands FiveM Lua, and only warns you about things that are actually wrong.

#Install a Lua language server

In the Extensions panel, install a Lua language server extension. The widely used one is the "Lua" extension by sumneko, which is built on Lua Language Server (LuaLS). It gives you completion, go to definition, rename and diagnostics.

Open your resources folder as the workspace (not a single file), so the server can see every script and the settings you are about to add.

#Add FiveM natives definitions

Plain LuaLS has no idea what GetEntityCoords takes. The community maintains typings for FiveM / CfxLua: a set of annotation files that describe the natives, the Cfx.re globals and the extra Lua syntax FiveM allows. Search the Extensions panel for "CfxLua" or "FiveM natives", or look for a "FiveM" addon in the LuaLS addon manager, and pick the one that is actively maintained.

With them installed you get signatures when you type:

local ped = PlayerPedId()
local coords = GetEntityCoords(ped)

Hover over a native and the parameters and return types show up. Most typings also include exports, lib annotations if you add the ox_lib definitions, and the cache table.

Tip: Extension names and settings change over time. If a setting below does not exist in your version, check the extension's own README, which is always more current than a tutorial.

#Workspace settings

Create .vscode/settings.json at the root of your resources folder. This keeps the settings with the project, so everyone who opens it gets the same behaviour:

{
  "Lua.runtime.version": "Lua 5.4",
  "Lua.runtime.nonstandardSymbol": [
    "/**/", "`", "+=", "-=", "*=", "/=", "<<=", ">>=", "&=", "|=", "^="
  ],
  "Lua.diagnostics.globals": [
    "ESX", "QBCore", "Config", "Locales", "PlayerData",
    "lib", "cache", "exports"
  ],
  "Lua.workspace.checkThirdParty": false,
  "Lua.workspace.ignoreDir": [".vscode", "node_modules", "dist"]
}

What each part does:

• Lua.runtime.version matches lua54 'yes' in your fxmanifest.lua.
• nonstandardSymbol tells the parser that FiveM's compound assignment (x += 1) and backtick hashes are valid. Without it, perfectly good code is flagged as a syntax error.
• Lua.diagnostics.globals lists names the script defines somewhere the server cannot trace. Add your own: ESX, QBCore, a Config table from config.lua. If a typings extension already declares lib and exports, you can drop them from the list.

Only add real globals. If you silence everything, you lose the warning that catches a misspelled variable, which is one of the best things the editor does for you.

#Fix the warnings that are real

Some warnings are the editor doing its job:

local players = ESX.GetPlayers()
for i = 1, #player do   -- 'player' is not defined: should be 'players'
end

Turn Lua.diagnostics.globals into a short, deliberate list and every remaining Undefined global is a typo or a missing local. That is also the quickest way to find accidental globals, which the resmon guide lists as a performance and bug source.

For one-off cases, an inline comment is better than a global setting:

---@diagnostic disable-next-line: undefined-global
local x = SomeOtherResourceGlobal

#Annotate your own code

LuaLS reads ---@ comments. A few lines make your own functions self-documenting and give callers autocomplete:

---@param plate string
---@param coords vector3
---@return boolean
local function isPlateNear(plate, coords)
    -- ...
end

If you build a library other scripts call through exports, putting these annotations on the exported functions pays off the most.

#Format on save

Install StyLua (the extension for the StyLua formatter) or use the language server's own formatter. For StyLua, add a stylua.toml next to your resources:

column_width = 120
indent_type = "Spaces"
indent_width = 4
quote_style = "AutoPreferSingle"

Then in the VS Code settings:

{
  "[lua]": {
    "editor.defaultFormatter": "JohnnyMorganz.stylua",
    "editor.formatOnSave": true
  }
}

Check the formatter's ID in the Extensions panel if it does not trigger. StyLua may not like FiveM-only syntax such as backtick hashes, so run it on a copy first if your scripts use them heavily.

#Search the natives

The editor tells you the signature; the official natives reference tells you what the native really does, with notes from other developers. The natives pages are at docs.fivem.net/natives, and the search box finds a native by name or description. Two habits help:

• Search by what you want, not the exact name: "get closest vehicle", "ped bone".
• Read the Cfx.re native first, then the GTA V reference text, since some natives behave differently on the FiveM build.

For client/server details, see client and server events and Wait and threads.

#Checklist