Coming from FiveM

Welcome, FiveM developer! If you've been building servers, scripts, or full RP frameworks on FiveM, you'll feel right at home on HELIX. This guide walks you through every major difference so you can hit the ground running.

Why Switch?

	FiveM	HELIX
Engine	Modified RAGE (GTA V)	Unreal Engine 5
Graphics	Limited to GTA V visuals	Nanite, Lumen, full UE5 pipeline
Map Creation	YMAP / CodeWalker	HELIX Studio (full UE5 editor)
Scripting	Lua, C#, JavaScript	Lua (UnLua), Blueprint, JavaScript
Monetization	Tebex / custom	Built-in LIX economy
Hosting	txAdmin / self-host	Instant Hosting (one-click) or self-host
Anti-cheat	Third-party / custom	Built-in server-authoritative

HELIX gives you a purpose-built multiplayer sandbox on a modern engine without the legal gray areas of modding a commercial game.

Resources vs Packages

In FiveM, your code lives in resources with a fxmanifest.lua at the root. In HELIX, the equivalent is a package defined by a package.json file.

FiveM	HELIX
fxmanifest.lua	package.json
server.cfg	Config.json
resources/ folder	packages/ folder
ensure my-resource	Packages auto-load or toggle in Config

Here's what a typical package.json looks like compared to fxmanifest.lua:

Blueprint

// Blueprint packages are configured through HELIX Studio.
// No manifest file needed -- add your package via
// Content Browser > New Package and configure dependencies
// in the editor.

Lua

-- FiveM fxmanifest.lua (old way)
fx_version 'cerulean'
game 'gta5'
client_scripts { 'client.lua' }
server_scripts { 'server.lua' }

-- HELIX package.json (new way)
-- {
--   "name": "my-package",
--   "type": "script",
--   "version": "1.0.0",
--   "client_scripts": ["client.lua"],
--   "server_scripts": ["server.lua"]
-- }

JavaScript

// HELIX package.json
// {
//   "name": "my-package",
//   "type": "script",
//   "version": "1.0.0",
//   "client_scripts": ["client.js"],
//   "server_scripts": ["server.js"]
// }

API Comparison Table

This is the big one. Here's how common FiveM natives map to HELIX APIs:

FiveM Native / Function	HELIX Equivalent	Notes
PlayerPedID()	Client.GetLocalPlayer():GetControlledCharacter()	Returns the local character pawn
SetEntityCoords(ped, x, y, z)	ped:SetLocation(Vector(x, y, z))	Uses Vector() instead of vector3()
TaskPlayAnim(ped, dict, name, ...)	ped:PlayAnimation(path)	No anim dict loading needed
FreezeEntityPosition(ped, true)	ped:SetInputEnabled(false)	Disables player input
DeleteEntity(entity)	actor:Destroy()	Works on any Actor
DropPlayer(src, reason)	player:Kick(reason)	Server-side only
SetNuiFocus(true, true)	Input.SetInputEnabled(false)	Toggles game input for UI
SendNUIMessage(data)	WebUI:CallFunction(name, args)	Direct function calls
SetTimeout(ms, cb)	Timer.SetTimeout(cb, ms)	Note: callback is the first argument
vector3(x, y, z)	Vector(x, y, z)	HELIX uses Vector globally

Networking: Events

FiveM uses TriggerServerEvent / TriggerClientEvent with string-based event names. HELIX Lua uses the same global function names with a similar pattern. HELIX JavaScript uses an endpoint/call model instead:

Blueprint

// Use the "Call Remote Event" and "Subscribe to Remote Event" nodes
// in Blueprint to send and receive events between client and server.

Lua

-- FiveM (client -> server)
TriggerServerEvent('myEvent', data)

-- HELIX (client -> server) -- same function name!
TriggerServerEvent('myEvent', data)

-- FiveM (server -> client)
TriggerClientEvent('myEvent', source, data)

-- HELIX (server -> client) -- controller instead of source
TriggerClientEvent(controller, 'myEvent', data)

-- FiveM (subscribe on server)
RegisterNetEvent('myEvent', function(data) end)

-- HELIX (subscribe on server) -- controller passed as first arg
RegisterServerEvent('myEvent', function(controller, data) end)

-- HELIX (subscribe on client)
RegisterClientEvent('myEvent', function(data) end)

-- HELIX (broadcast to all clients from server)
BroadcastEvent('myEvent', data)

JavaScript

// HELIX JS uses an endpoint/call model instead of events

// Server: register an endpoint
Helix.server(async () => {
    Helix.endpoint('myModule:getData', async (helixId) => {
        const data = await loadData(helixId);
        return data;
    });
});

// Client: call the endpoint
const id = Helix.Player.helixId();
const result = await Helix.call('myModule:getData', id.toString());

One key difference: HELIX events are server-authoritative by default. The server validates everything, which means way less anti-cheat headache for you.

NUI vs WebUI

FiveM's NUI system lets you load HTML/CSS/JS interfaces in-game. HELIX has WebUI, which does the same thing but with a dedicated event system instead of message passing.

FiveM NUI	HELIX WebUI
SendNUIMessage({ type: 'show' })	WebUI:CallFunction('show', data)
RegisterNUICallback('action', cb)	WebUI:Subscribe('action', cb)
SetNuiFocus(true, true)	Input.SetInputEnabled(false)
Load via ui_page 'index.html' in manifest	Load via WebUI('id', 'path/to/index.html', zOrder)

No more fiddling with SetNuiFocus cursor states -- Input.SetInputEnabled and Input.SetMouseEnabled handle input toggling cleanly.

Server Setup

FiveM	HELIX
Download artifacts + cfx-server-data	Download HELIX Server or use Instant Hosting
Configure server.cfg	Configure Config.json
Manage with txAdmin	Built-in web dashboard or CLI
Port forward 30120	Port forward 7777 (default)
ensure resource-name	Packages load automatically from packages/

Instant Hosting is HELIX's one-click server deployment. No VPS setup, no txAdmin configuration -- pick your region, upload your packages, and you're live. You can always switch to self-hosting later.

Quick Start Checklist

1. Install HELIX from the official site and launch HELIX Studio
2. Create a new package -- this replaces your FiveM resource folder
3. Port your Lua scripts using the API comparison table above
4. Replace NUI with WebUI -- your HTML/CSS stays the same, update the JS bridge
5. Update your events -- HELIX Lua uses the same TriggerServerEvent/TriggerClientEvent names, but RegisterServerEvent/RegisterClientEvent instead of RegisterNetEvent
6. Test locally with the built-in local server
7. Deploy via Instant Hosting or your own server

tip

If you're running QBCore on FiveM, check out the QBCore on HELIX section -- it's been ported and ready to use.