How to Install ELS Police Cars on FiveM (2026 Guide)

What is ELS?

ELS (Emergency Lighting System) is a script that allows for realistic police lighting patterns.

The Problem: Default GTA V networking doesn't sync these complex light patterns between players.

To use ELS cars on FiveM, you need:

1. The Vehicle Model (converted to a resource).
2. The ELS Configuration File (.xml).
3. A FiveM-compatible ELS Script installed on your server.

Step 1: Convert the Vehicle

First, you need the car itself.

1. Find an ELS car on GTA5-Mods.com (emergency vehicle conversions has ideas).
2. Use GTA5 Mods Convertor to convert it (how conversion works).
3. Extract the downloaded zip into your resources folder and add the ensure line (installation guide).

Step 2: Install the ELS Script

You need a script to handle the lights. The most popular is simply called "ELS-FiveM".

1. Download a reliable ELS script for FiveM (check GitHub or FiveM Forums).
2. Install it in your resources folder (usually [scripts]/els).
3. Add ensure els to your server.cfg.

Step 3: Install the VCF (.xml)

When you downloaded the original mod from GTA5-Mods.com, it included a .xml file (e.g., police.xml). This is the VCF (Vehicle Configuration File); the wiki explains what a VCF contains.

1. Go to your ELS script's VCF folder, for example resources/els/vcf/. The exact location depends on the script.
2. Drag the .xml file into this folder.
3. CRITICAL: The name of the XML file MUST match the spawn name of your vehicle.If the car spawns as police_mustang, the file must be police_mustang.xml. The resource folder name does not matter.
4. In ELS-FiveM, add the file name (with .xml) to the vcf_files list in vcf.lua in the resource root, which you create by copying the default file that ships with the resource. Other ELS scripts differ; check their README.

Step 4: Verify

1. Restart server.
2. Spawn the car.
3. Press Q, E, or J (depending on your ELS keybinds) to test lights.

Troubleshooting

• Lights stuck on? You forgot the XML file, or named it wrong.
• Siren works but no lights? The vehicle model might not be ELS compatible.
• Glass doesn't break? A model issue with some older ELS mods; check the mod's comments for a fix.
• Car will not spawn at all? That is not an ELS problem. Check the resource with the Resource Inspector and see fixing 'Invalid Model'.

ELS or Non-ELS?

Not every police car needs ELS. Non-ELS vehicles use the game's own siren system, configured in carcols.meta, and their lights sync between players without any extra script. If a mod is offered in both versions, the non-ELS one is less to maintain. ELS gives you finer control over light patterns at the cost of one more resource to keep working.

Police vehicles that come from LSPDFR sites rather than gta5-mods.com take a different route to a resource: see how to convert LSPDFR police cars to FiveM, which covers both ELS and non-ELS downloads.

Building a Fleet

Once you have several units working, put them into a single police_pack resource so the whole fleet starts with one ensure line: how to create a FiveM car pack by hand.