QBCore Framework: What It Is and How It Compares to ESX
QBCore is the other major FiveM RP framework. Here is what the official QBCore docs say it is and what qb-core does at the foundation.
QBCore is one of the two most widely used roleplay frameworks on FiveM, alongside ESX. This post covers what QBCore is per its own official documentation, where it lives, and what its core resource (qb-core) is responsible for.
What QBCore is
From the official QBCore documentation: "QBCore is a Lua framework for FiveM. More specifically, QBCore is an ever-expanding framework for Grand Theft Auto V utilizing the FiveM platform that offers extensive customization, ease of use, ongoing maintenance and active support."
The official site is qbcore.net and the GitHub organization is github.com/qbcore-framework. The main repository is qbcore-framework/qb-core.
What qb-core does
Per the QBCore docs, the core resource is the foundation of every QBCore-based server: "QB-Core is the foundational framework that powers the entire QBCore ecosystem and provides essential functions, events, and systems that all other resources depend on."
The documented responsibilities of qb-core include:
- Player management
- Server functions
- Client functions
- Event system
- Database operations
- Shared configuration
- Command system
Adoption claim
The QBCore official site states that QBCore is "the most popular and feature-rich FiveM framework used by 5,000+ servers worldwide to create immersive gaming experiences." This number is self-reported by the QBCore project.
How QBCore differs from ESX in practice
From a vehicle creator's perspective, QBCore and ESX both work with the same framework-agnostic vehicle pack format (YFT/YTD/meta files). The differences show up in:
- Tuning shop and garage scripts. QBCore-targeted resources like
qb-customs,qb-garages,qb-vehicleshopuse QBCore's event system. ESX equivalents use the ESX event system. The underlying YFT does not change. - Job/inventory APIs. If your vehicle resource needs to integrate with player money or inventory (e.g. a custom vehicle dealership), the API calls differ between QBCore and ESX.
- Code patterns. QBCore's API is generally newer and uses a more modular structure than ESX Legacy.
Where to read further
The official documentation at qbcore.net/docs is comprehensive and includes installation, API reference, tutorials, and resource documentation. The Getting Started guide on the same domain walks through a fresh server setup.
Sources
Browse the lot
Drag, drop, drive. Lore-friendly originals and curated real-vehicle conversions for FiveM.