FiveM File Size: How Big It Is, Why It Grows and How to Reduce It

The Short Answer

How big is FiveM? FiveM is not a full game. It is a client that runs on top of an installed copy of GTA V. As of 10 October 2026, Cfx.re's system requirements list storage as "105GB + ~4GB" minimum and "105GB + 8GB" recommended, with the note "105GB for the original game + additional FiveM cache." The game is the large part; FiveM's own share is the cache.

Why is my FiveM folder so big? Because of the servers you have joined. Each server's files are downloaded to your PC and kept in a cache folder so they are not downloaded again next time.

How do I reduce it? As a player, close FiveM and delete the server cache folder (steps below). The servers you play on will download their files again the next time you join.

Run a server? What your players download is decided by your resources, and that is the part you control. Go to the server-owner steps.

How Big Is FiveM?

Three things take up space, and only one of them is FiveM itself:

• GTA V. FiveM needs the game installed and up to date. Cfx.re's install instructions say "Make sure you have installed and updated GTAV", and a Cfx.re support article states "FiveM requires Grand Theft Auto V to be downloaded fully to run". The 105 GB in the requirements table is the game.
• The FiveM client. By default it installs to %localappdata%\FiveM, or into the folder you ran FiveM.exe from if that folder was empty (same install page). The requirements table gives no separate figure for the client, only the cache allowance.
• The cache. The "~4GB" and "8GB" in the table. This is the part that changes from player to player, because it depends on which servers you join.

Why Your FiveM Folder Keeps Growing

A FiveM server runs on resources, which Cfx.re's documentation describes as collections of "client scripts, server scripts, and streaming assets" (introduction to resources). Streaming assets are the custom cars, maps and clothing. When you join, the client downloads the files it does not have yet and stores them in a cache; the client source code checks each cached file against the hash the server reports and downloads it again only when it is missing or different.

So the size of your FiveM folder follows the servers you have played on: a heavily modded server adds more than a lightly modded one, and files from servers you no longer visit stay on disk until you delete them.

The cache is inside FiveM's application data folder. In a default install that is %localappdata%\FiveM\FiveM.app, and the server cache is the data\server-cache folder inside it. The paths come from the client source: the launcher creates data/server-cache/, and the project's build notes give %LocalAppData%\FiveM\FiveM.app\data as the data folder of an installed client.

How to Clear the FiveM Cache

1. Close FiveM completely.
2. Press Win+R, type %localappdata%\FiveM\FiveM.app\data and press Enter. If you installed FiveM into a folder of your own, open FiveM.app\data inside that folder instead.
3. Delete the server-cache folder, and server-cache-priv if it is there.
4. Start FiveM and join your server. It downloads that server's files again, so the first join takes longer than usual.

Deleting cached server files does not remove FiveM or GTA V. Cfx.re's own client troubleshooting page goes further for one error and tells players to "delete the entire application data folder and run FiveM again", so the client is built to recreate what is missing. Leave the other folders in data alone unless you are following a Cfx.re instruction: they hold more than server downloads.

Clearing the cache frees space once. If you keep playing on the same heavily modded server, the same files come back, because the server decides what is downloaded. The rest of this guide is for the people who run those servers.

Why Server File Size Matters

A player who joins for the first time has none of your server's streamed files cached and has to download them, so their total size decides how long that takes. The largest part is usually oversized texture files.

Many vehicle and map mods ship with 4096x4096 textures made for single-player screenshots. A 4096 px texture holds 16 times the data of a 1024 px one, and FiveM's own client setting str_maxVehicleTextureRes limits vehicle textures to 1024 px by default (FiveM console commands), so much of that data is downloaded and never shown. (How vehicle streaming works explains why that matters to every player who joins.)

Where the File Size Comes From

Here's what takes up space in a typical FiveM server:

• .ytd files (textures) — Usually the largest share, and the easiest to reduce. This is the first target.
• .yft files (3D models) — Vehicle and prop geometry. Harder to optimize without losing quality.
• .ymap/.ytyp files — Map data. Usually small unless you have custom MLOs.
• Scripts and configs — Negligible size compared to streaming assets.

Step 1: Audit Your Current Size

Before optimizing, figure out what's taking up space. Check your resources folder:

1. Sort folders by size to find the biggest offenders
2. Look inside the stream/ folders — that's where .ytd and .yft files live
3. Note the resources with the largest .ytd files

Size on disk is the right measure for download time. It is not what FiveM's console warning measures: that one is about memory, and a small file can still trigger it. For a single resource, the Resource Inspector reports the memory each streamed asset needs and flags those above FiveM's 16 MiB oversized-asset warning, which is covered in the "16 MB limit" explained.

Step 2: Optimize Textures with Glory Optimizer

The textures are the first thing to shrink, because they are usually the largest files and lowering their resolution needs no modelling work. For one or two files you do not need to install anything: the in-browser Texture Optimizer does a lossless mip-drop without uploading the file (tutorial).

For a whole server, Glory Optimizer is a desktop tool built for batch work:

1. Select your textures folder — point it at your server's resources directory or individual mod folders
2. Set the Optimize Size — the default is 1024 px; only textures larger than the size you pick are downsized
3. Click Optimize — the tool processes all .ytd files in the folder
4. Check the results — see before/after file sizes and how much space you saved

How much you save depends on how many textures are above the target. The arithmetic is fixed: halving a texture's width and height leaves a quarter of its data, so a 4096 px texture brought down to 1024 px keeps one sixteenth.

Which resolution and format suits which surface is covered in GTA V .ytd texture optimization explained.

Step 3: Remove Unused Resources

Over time, servers accumulate resources that nobody uses:

• Old vehicle mods that were replaced
• Test resources that were never removed
• Duplicate mods (same vehicle from different authors)
• Disabled resources still sitting in the folder

Go through your resources folder and delete anything that isn't in your server.cfg.

Merging the cars you keep into packs removes duplicate shared textures as well: see creating a car pack by hand, and FiveM server resource limits for how many resources is too many.

Step 4: Replace Oversized Mods

Some mods are far larger than others of the same kind, often because every texture ships at 4096 px. If you find mods like this:

• Look for an alternative version on gta5-mods.com with a smaller file size
• Convert the replacement using GTA5 Mods Convertor
• Test to make sure it looks acceptable

Step 5: Work Out the Download Time

Add up the size of your stream/ folders and work out the download: size in megabytes times 8, divided by the player's line speed in Mbit/s, gives the seconds that download takes at best. The Server Spec Calculator does that sum for you and also checks your largest asset against FiveM's warning levels.

What Changes After This

• A smaller download for first-time players, because there is less streamed data to fetch
• Less upload traffic from your server host
• Fewer oversized-asset warnings in the server console, since the same textures are what trigger them
• Less texture memory in use on players' PCs; if textures still vanish in busy areas, the cause is the total texture budget: see fixing server-wide texture loss

Common Questions

How big is FiveM?

As of 10 October 2026, Cfx.re's system requirements list storage as "105GB + ~4GB" minimum and "105GB + 8GB" recommended: 105 GB for GTA V itself plus the FiveM cache. FiveM does not replace the game, it runs on top of it.

Why is my FiveM cache so large?

The cache holds what FiveM downloads from the servers you join. Servers with many custom vehicles, maps and clothing packs stream more files, so they add more to it than a lightly modded server.

Where is the FiveM cache folder?

In a default install, %localappdata%\FiveM\FiveM.app\data\server-cache. If you installed FiveM into your own folder, look for FiveM.app\data\server-cache there. How to clear it is above.

Is it safe to delete the FiveM cache?

Deleting the server cache removes downloaded server files, not FiveM or GTA V, and the client downloads them again when you next join. Cfx.re's own troubleshooting page tells players to delete the whole application data folder for one error. Close FiveM first.

Can I reduce the FiveM download size as a player?

Only by clearing the cache or playing on servers with fewer custom assets. What is downloaded when you join is set by the server's resources, so a lasting reduction has to come from the server owner.

Is file size the same as the "16 MB limit"?

No. FiveM has no file-size limit of 16 MB. Its server prints a warning when a streamed asset needs more than 16 MiB of memory once loaded, a figure read from the file's header. Streamed files are compressed, so a file of a few megabytes can be far above it. The "16 MB limit" explained covers that warning.

Do custom cars make the server need more RAM?

Not in the way the file sizes suggest. Streamed models and textures are downloaded by each player and loaded into that player's game. On the server they cost disk space and upload traffic.

Which tool reduces .ytd file size?

For one or a few files, the in-browser YTD Texture Optimizer: one file at 1024 px is free, and Unlimited adds the other sizes and a rebuilt zip of the whole resource. For a whole server folder, the desktop Glory Optimizer. The steps for the browser tool are in how to reduce .ytd file size.

Tools Mentioned

• Glory Optimizer — Texture optimization tool ($10 one-time)
• GTA5 Mods Convertor — Convert GTA5 mods to FiveM format (3 free, then $15 unlimited)
• Both available in the Complete Bundle for $20 (save $5); the $39 Server Pack adds two team seats (pricing)
• Texture Optimizer and Resource Inspector — in-browser tools. Free: one .ytd at 1024 px, and the Inspector's score with its first 3 findings. The $15 Unlimited plan adds every size, whole-resource zips and the full report
• More in best tools for FiveM server owners