{"id":22073,"date":"2026-06-11T12:23:09","date_gmt":"2026-06-11T12:23:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/xgamingserver.com\/blog\/fivem-server-backup-guide\/"},"modified":"2026-06-11T12:23:09","modified_gmt":"2026-06-11T12:23:09","slug":"fivem-server-backup-guide","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/xgamingserver.com\/blog\/fivem-server-backup-guide\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Back Up Your FiveM Server (Files and Database)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Your FiveM server holds months of work \u2014 player characters, inventories, jobs, bans, staff permissions, and custom scripts. None of it is safe without a backup plan. A single bad resource update, a corrupted database migration, or a host incident can wipe everything. This guide covers every piece you need to protect: the MySQL\/MariaDB database, the server-data<\/code> folder, your resources, and the txAdmin profile \u2014 plus how to restore from each.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What You Actually Need to Back Up<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

A FiveM server stores its state in two completely different places. If you only back up one, you only half-survive a disaster.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Component<\/th>What lives there<\/th>Priority<\/th><\/tr><\/thead>
MySQL \/ MariaDB database<\/td>Player characters, inventories, jobs, economy, bans, whitelist<\/td>Critical<\/td><\/tr>
server-data\/resources\/<\/code><\/td>All frameworks, scripts, and custom resources<\/td>Critical<\/td><\/tr>
server-data\/server.cfg<\/code><\/td>Startup config, ensured resources, convars, license key<\/td>Critical<\/td><\/tr>
txAdmin txData\/<\/code> profile folder<\/td>txAdmin config, admin accounts, scheduled restarts, player database (if not using MySQL)<\/td>High<\/td><\/tr>
Purchased \/ compiled resources<\/td>Escrow-locked scripts that can’t be re-downloaded after a host change<\/td>High<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Folders you can safely skip: resources\/[cache]\/<\/code>, any node_modules\/<\/code> directory, .git\/<\/code> directories inside resources, and FXServer binaries (re-download from the artifacts page any time).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Step 1 \u2014 Back Up the Database with mysqldump<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Most roleplay frameworks (QBCore, ESX \/ es_extended, ox_core) store all live game state in MySQL or MariaDB. Your connection string in server.cfg<\/code> \u2014 the mysql_connection_string<\/code> convar used by oxmysql<\/a> \u2014 tells you the database name. It looks like this:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

set mysql_connection_string \"mysql:\/\/dbuser:dbpass@localhost:3306\/fivem?charset=utf8mb4\"<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\n
The database name is the segment after the last \/<\/code> and before ?<\/code> \u2014 in the example above, fivem<\/code>. Your server may use a different name (common alternatives include es_extended<\/code>, esxlegacy<\/code>, or whatever you chose at setup).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Run the dump on the same machine as your database. The recommended command uses --single-transaction<\/code> so InnoDB tables are captured in a consistent state without blocking player activity, and --lock-tables=false<\/code> to avoid pausing writes on mixed-engine setups:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
# Linux \u2014 replace values to match your setup\nmysqldump -u dbuser -p'dbpass' \\\n  --single-transaction \\\n  --quick \\\n  --lock-tables=false \\\n  --routines \\\n  --triggers \\\n  fivem | gzip > \/backups\/fivem_db_$(date +%Y-%m-%d_%H%M).sql.gz<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\n
On newer MariaDB installs the binary may be named mariadb-dump<\/code> instead of mysqldump<\/code> \u2014 both accept the same flags. On Windows, provide the full path to the executable (for example C:\\Program Files\\MariaDB\\bin\\mysqldump.exe<\/code>).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
To automate this on Linux, add a cron job:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
# crontab -e  \u2014 runs daily at 02:15 AM\n15 2 * * * mysqldump -u dbuser -p'dbpass' --single-transaction --quick --lock-tables=false fivem | gzip > \/backups\/fivem_db_$(date +\\%Y-\\%m-\\%d).sql.gz<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\n
Step 2 \u2014 Back Up the server-data Folder and Resources<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Your server-data<\/code> folder is the second critical half. It contains server.cfg<\/code> and the resources\/<\/code> directory with every fxmanifest.lua<\/code>-based resource your server loads via ensure<\/code> statements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A clean tar archive on Linux, excluding cache and generated files:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
tar -czf \/backups\/server-data_$(date +%Y-%m-%d_%H%M).tar.gz \\\n  --exclude='server-data\/resources\/[cache]' \\\n  --exclude='*\/node_modules' \\\n  --exclude='*\/.git' \\\n  \/home\/fxserver\/server-data<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\n
Adjust the source path to match where your server-data<\/code> directory actually lives. If your hosting panel (such as the XGamingServer FiveM panel<\/a>) exposes a file manager, you can also download the folder as a ZIP directly from the web interface \u2014 useful for a quick pre-update snapshot.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Step 3 \u2014 Back Up the txAdmin Profile (txData)<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
txAdmin stores its own state \u2014 admin accounts, scheduled restart rules, server profile config, and its self-contained player database (used if you are not<\/em> running MySQL) \u2014 in the txData<\/code> folder. Historically the txDataPath<\/code> convar controlled where this lives, but that convar is deprecated; current txAdmin builds use the TXHOST_DATA_PATH<\/code> environment variable instead. By default the folder sits alongside your FXServer artifacts directory.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For a manual backup from within txAdmin, navigate to Settings \u2192 Master Actions \u2192 Make Database Backup<\/strong>. This covers txAdmin’s own SQLite player DB. For a complete profile backup, archive the entire txData\/<\/code> directory alongside your server-data snapshot.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This is especially important before upgrading txAdmin or switching host providers, because admin accounts and scheduled-restart rules are stored here \u2014 not in server.cfg<\/code>. See our guide on setting up automatic FiveM restarts<\/a> for how those scheduled tasks are configured.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Step 4 \u2014 Restoring from a Backup<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
A backup you have never tested is an assumption, not a guarantee. Run a restore drill monthly, or before any major update. Here is the full restore sequence:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Restore the database<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
# Decompress first if gzipped\ngunzip fivem_db_2026-06-11.sql.gz\n\n# Restore into the database (must already exist)\nmysql -u dbuser -p'dbpass' fivem < fivem_db_2026-06-11.sql<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\n
If you are on a fresh server, create the database first: CREATE DATABASE fivem CHARACTER SET utf8mb4 COLLATE utf8mb4_unicode_ci;<\/code> \u2014 then run the import command above.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Restore server-data files<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
tar -xzf server-data_2026-06-11_0215.tar.gz -C \/home\/fxserver\/<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\n
Then restart FXServer. Verify that all expected resources load by checking the live console in txAdmin for any ensure<\/code> errors. For help tracking down resource loading problems, see our FiveM resource loading errors guide<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Backup Schedule Recommendations<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
How often you back up depends on how much data you can afford to lose:<\/p>\n\n\n\n