How to make custom clothing for FiveM
Make custom clothing for FiveM and GTA: the old way with Blender, CodeWalker, Photoshop and grzyClothTool, and the new way, painting in 3D.
8 min read
Updated
ClothingTo make custom clothing for FiveM you have to get a GTA V garment out of the game, paint a new texture for it, and build an addon pack your server can stream. There are two ways to do it. The old way chains four apps and a lot of file conversions. The new way happens in one place, in 3D. This guide shows both, so you can see what you are skipping.
Two ways to make custom clothing for FiveM
There are two ways to make custom clothing for FiveM. The old way chains CodeWalker, Blender, Photoshop and grzyClothTool, with a lot of file conversions. The new way happens in one place, in 3D, in Alive Studio, which paints the game's own garments and builds the addon pack for you.
The old way: Blender, CodeWalker, Photoshop and grzyClothTool
The old way to make FiveM clothing chains four tools: CodeWalker exports the model and textures, Blender with Sollumz shows the UV layout, Photoshop paints the texture, and grzyClothTool builds the addon pack. This is the pipeline most FiveM clothing creators have used.
| Tool | What it is for |
|---|---|
| CodeWalker (opens in a new tab) | Open the game's archives, export models and textures, import them back |
| Blender with Sollumz (opens in a new tab) | Open and edit the model, and see the UV layout |
| Photoshop (opens in a new tab) | Paint the texture (it usually needs a plugin to read DDS files) |
| grzyClothTool (opens in a new tab) | Build the addon pack from the model and texture |
The first three steps follow part 2 of the FiveM docs beginner series (opens in a new tab), where the screenshots come from.
Open CodeWalker (opens in a new tab). In its settings, pick the last DLC Level and tick Enable DLCs, so the clothing of every update is there.
Select the garment and copy its object name. Find it in RPF Explorer, in the archive of its pack, export the model as XML and save its textures.
jbib_000_u.ydd -> jbib_000_u.ydd.xml # model, for Blenderjbib_diff_000_a_uni.ytd -> jbib_diff_000_a_uni.dds # textureIn Blender (opens in a new tab) press N and open the Sollumz Tools tab, then click Import CodeWalker XML with the default settings. If textures are missing, use Find Missing Textures in the V menu and point it at the folder you saved them in. Export the UV layout as an image to know where each piece sits.
Photoshop doesn't read the game's format, and it usually needs a plugin even for DDS. You convert the texture there and later back. Models can also take a trip through another interchange format on the way, like OBJ, FBX or 3ds, if your tools prefer one.
.dds -> .png / .psd # open it in Photoshop...paint....png -> .dds # save it again, with the right compression.dds -> .ytd # rebuild the game's texture filePut the UV layout on its own layer and paint on the flat sheet. You can't see the garment while you do: you paint shapes and guess where they will land on a sleeve or a collar. The next section is about how much this hurts.
Save the PNG, convert it to DDS with the compression the game wants, and rebuild the texture file. If you changed the mesh, export the CodeWalker XML from Sollumz and drag it into the 3dmods archive in CodeWalker's RPF Explorer.
Use grzyClothTool (opens in a new tab), a free tool for creating and managing GTA 5 addon clothing packs, with a 3D previewer built on CodeWalker. Or do it by hand: name the files the way the game expects and write the .meta and .ymt files yourself, as in How to add custom clothing to your FiveM server.
Only now can you see your work on the garment. If anything is off, you go around the whole loop again.
paint in Photoshop -> export PNG -> convert to DDS -> rebuild the YTD -> build the addon -> ensure mypack -> restart the server -> join and look at it in game -> it looks wrong: back to the topAll steps done.
The pain of painting FiveM clothing in Photoshop
Painting FiveM clothing in Photoshop hurts because you paint a flat sheet and can't check the result in 3D until the pack is on a server. Every check is a full round trip of exporting, converting, building and restarting. These are the things that hurt:
The sheet is cut into scattered pieces, some turned or mirrored, so nothing looks like a jacket.
Photoshop shows the flat sheet only. You can't see how a line wraps over a sleeve, or where a seam lands, until it's in the game.
Export, convert, rebuild, build the addon, restart the server, join. Then you spot a mistake and go around again.
One patch of the sheet can be used by two parts, like both sleeves, so you change more than you meant to.
Converting between PNG, DDS and the game's format can shift colors or transparency, and you only notice in game.
A logo has to be cut into pieces and placed across the scattered islands by hand, and lined up again in your head.
Files go back and forth between tools, and each one has its own version, plugin or setting that can break the chain.
See your paint on the jacket, as you paint it
No exports and no restarts. Click a sleeve, fill it, and it changes on the 3D model right away.
Pants
Miscellaneous
Shoes
Pendants
Vests
Pants
Miscellaneous
Shoes
Pendants
Vests
Pants
Miscellaneous
Shoes
Pendants
Left Bracelets
Tops
Bags
Right Bracelets
Glasses
Left Bracelets
Tops
Bags
Right Bracelets
Glasses
Left Bracelets
Tops
Bags
Right BraceletsThe new way: make custom clothing for FiveM with Alive Games
The new way is Alive Studio: you pick a GTA V garment, paint it in 3D with the flat sheet beside it, and download an addon pack that the export builds for you. There are no file conversions, and you see every stroke on the model as you paint. See also the FiveM clothing creator.
Choose any GTA V item from the catalogue: tops, pants, shoes, vests and more, from every pack.
Paint on the model and watch the sheet and the garment change together. Click a part to select its whole island, place decals like stickers, and work in layers. You can also import a texture you painted elsewhere.
Press Create FiveM Addon. Alive builds the pack for you with grzyClothTool and adds preview thumbnails.
Press Download FiveM Addon, unzip it into your server's resources and add its line to server.cfg.
## server.cfgensure mypack # the pack you downloaded from AliveAll steps done.
Texture sizes and server limits for FiveM clothing
Making clothing is half the job. Every player on your server downloads it and keeps it in memory, and the game has hard caps on how much clothing it can hold. Get the sizes wrong and other players hitch, crash or see items missing, not only you.
| For | Size | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Most clothing | 1024 | The default. 512 is fine for simple pieces. |
| Large garments with visible detail | 2048 | Only when players see the detail up close. |
| Small accessories | 512 | Glasses, bracelets and the like rarely need more. |
| Anything | Not 4096 | Never ship it for clothing: it costs a lot of memory on every player's PC. |
Keep every side a power of two. Other sizes can bleed, warp or change after export. Compress with DXT1 or DXT5, never uncompressed. This is what one texture costs in memory, with its mipmaps:
| Size | DXT1 | DXT5 |
|---|---|---|
| 1024 × 1024 | about 0.7 MiB | about 1.3 MiB |
| 2048 × 2048 | about 2.7 MiB | about 5.3 MiB |
| 4096 × 4096 | about 10.7 MiB | about 21.3 MiB |
| Limit | Number | When you hit it |
|---|---|---|
| Items per body part, per gender | 127 on older builds, 255 on newer FiveM builds | Past it, items can fail to sync to other players. Packs are split at 128 to stay safe. |
| Colors per item | 26 (a to z) | More than 26 texture variations is an error. |
| Metadata slots (YMT) per gender | About 3 to 4 free on recent builds | Each addon pack uses one per gender. Past the limit: crashes and missing clothing for players. |
| Shop entries, shared by all clothing | 65,520, with about 29,000 left on recent builds | One per item and per color. Past it, clothing can fail to load. |
| Streamed assets, shared by all resources | 65,535 | Every .ydd and .ytd counts. Splitting a pack into more resources doesn't add room. |
| One asset's memory | 16 MiB, and warnings climb above 32, 48 and 64 | Big textures strain weak PCs first, and can crash them while joining or opening the clothing menu. |
The metadata slots are the tightest one, and they shrink with every game update. These are the free slots per gender, measured by the community on each build:
- b2944about 12
- b3095about 10
- b3258about 8
- b3407about 6
- b3570about 5
- b3717about 4
- b3889about 3
Everyone downloads your files
Streamed files go to each player when they join, and are cached after. A bigger pack means a longer first join for every player.
Memory is spent on their PC
Textures live in the player's graphics memory. Oversized or uncompressed ones hit weak PCs first, with hitching or a crash when they join or open the clothing menu.
Going over a cap breaks it for everyone
Past the metadata or asset limits, clothing goes missing or players crash, not only you. The resource named in the crash is often not the one that's broken.
New packs reach players later
Starting a clothing resource on a running server may not show for connected players until they reconnect.
What to remember
Tick each one when it clicks.
0 of 6 got it
The old way vs the new way
Compared with the old way, Alive Studio needs only a browser instead of four apps, shows the result live in 3D, skips every file conversion and builds the addon pack in one click. The old way still lets you model brand new shapes in Blender, which the Studio does not.
| The old way | Alive Studio | |
|---|---|---|
| Tools you need | CodeWalker, Blender with Sollumz, Photoshop and a DDS plugin, grzyClothTool | A browser |
| Seeing the result | In game, after a full rebuild | Live in 3D while you paint |
| File conversions | Model and textures, both ways | None |
| Stickers | Cut and placed across islands by hand | Pick a decal and place it |
| Painting one part | Guess its island from the flat sheet | Click the part and its island is selected |
| Building the addon | grzyClothTool, or files, names and metadata by hand | One click: Create FiveM Addon |
| New 3D shapes | Yes, you model them in Blender | No, it paints the game's own garments |
| Cost | Photoshop is paid software | Free to browse and paint, export needs a paid plan |
Questions about making custom clothing for FiveM
These answers cover how many clothing items your server can have, whether you can still use Photoshop, whether you need grzyClothTool, what the 128-item limit is, whether packs work on QBCore, Qbox and ESX, and whether you can make a new garment shape.
Make your first FiveM clothing pack
Thousands of GTA V items to start from. Paint one in 3D and download an addon pack for your server.
Tops
Glasses
Pants
Pendants
Miscellaneous
Tops
Glasses
Pants
Pendants
Miscellaneous
Tops
Glasses
Pants
Pendants
Bags
Right Bracelets
Left Bracelets
Shoes
Vests
BagsRight Bracelets
Left Bracelets
Shoes
Vests
Bags
Right Bracelets
Left Bracelets
ShoesMore guides
- Start here
How to Create FiveM Clothing with Alive Studio
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- Reference
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What a pack is in FiveM, why it matters for custom clothing, and every GTA V clothing DLC pack with the update that added it and its release date.
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What is a UV map? UV maps and island selection explained
Why the paint lives on a flat sheet, why that sheet looks like a messy puzzle, and how island selection saves you.
- Stickers
What is a decal? How stickers work on 3D clothing
How a sticker on the outfit gets cut into puzzle pieces on the sheet, and why you never have to do it yourself.