Native Function Lookup¶

Natives are built-in functions provided by the GTA5/RDR3 game engine and the CFX platform. They expose game functionality like entity management, player data, vehicle spawning, UI rendering, and more.

Reference¶

GTA5 (FiveM) natives: https://docs.fivem.net/natives/
RDR3 (RedM) natives: https://rdr3natives.com/
CFX natives (shared platform functions): included in both native references above

Calling conventions¶

Natives use the same function names across all three runtimes, but the syntax differs:

Lua¶

local coords = GetEntityCoords(playerPed)
local vehicle = CreateVehicle(modelHash, x, y, z, heading, true, true)

JavaScript¶

const coords = GetEntityCoords(playerPed, false);
const vehicle = CreateVehicle(modelHash, x, y, z, heading, true, true);

C¶

Vector3 coords = API.GetEntityCoords(playerPed, false);
int vehicle = API.CreateVehicle((uint)modelHash, x, y, z, heading, true, true);

In C#, all natives are called through the API class from CitizenFX.Core.

Client vs server vs shared¶

Client-only natives: rendering, input, camera, HUD, most entity manipulation
Server-only natives: player management, server info, ACE permissions
Shared natives: some entity getters, math, hash functions

Calling a server native on the client (or vice versa) will error silently or crash. Always check the native reference for which side it runs on.

Commonly used natives¶

Player and ped¶

Native	Side	Description
`PlayerPedId()`	client	Get the local player's ped entity
`GetPlayerPed(serverId)`	server	Get a player's ped by server ID
`GetEntityCoords(entity)`	shared	Get position as vector3
`GetPlayerName(playerId)`	shared	Get player name
`GetPlayerIdentifiers(playerId)`	server	Get all identifiers (license, steam, discord, etc.)

Vehicles¶

Native	Side	Description
`CreateVehicle(hash, x, y, z, heading, isNetwork, netMissionEntity)`	client	Spawn a vehicle
`SetEntityHeading(entity, heading)`	shared	Set entity rotation
`DeleteEntity(entity)`	shared	Delete an entity
`GetVehiclePedIsIn(ped, lastVehicle)`	client	Get the vehicle a ped is in

Commands and events¶

Native	Side	Description
`RegisterCommand(name, handler, restricted)`	shared	Register a chat command
`TriggerServerEvent(name, ...)`	client	Send event to server
`TriggerClientEvent(name, target, ...)`	server	Send event to a client
`TriggerEvent(name, ...)`	shared	Trigger a local event

Utility¶

Native	Side	Description
`GetHashKey(string)`	shared	Hash a string at runtime
`Wait(ms)`	shared	Yield the current thread
`GetGameTimer()`	shared	Milliseconds since game start
`GetResourceState(name)`	shared	Check if a resource is started

Hash optimization¶

In Lua, use backtick syntax for compile-time hashing of string literals:

-- Good: compile-time hash (faster)
local hash = `adder`

-- Bad: runtime hash (slower)
local hash = GetHashKey('adder')

Backtick hashing only works with literal strings, not variables. For dynamic strings, GetHashKey() is still required.

Tips¶

Always check the return type; some natives return vectors, others return individual x/y/z values
Many natives that accept a "player" parameter expect different IDs on client (local index) vs server (server ID / source)
Use the MCP lookup_native tool to search by name or keyword if you are unsure which native to use
Deprecated natives still work but may be removed; prefer the replacement listed in the docs