Does your FiveM server need a CDN?

A CDN for FiveM does one job. It takes resource downloads off your server and serves them from servers spread around the world. Players get your maps, cars and scripts from a location near them, and your own server only sends each file once.

Not every server needs that. Here is how to tell.

Signs that you need one

• Joins are slow or fail right after a restart, when everyone connects at once.
• Players on another continent take much longer to download than players near your server.
• Your host limits bandwidth or charges for traffic, and resource downloads are most of it. Our post on reducing bandwidth shows how quickly that adds up.
• You have a few GB of custom content and update it often.
• Players get stuck on the download screen. We cover the usual causes in a separate post.

When you can skip it

A small server with little custom content, players in one region and a host with a fast uplink and no traffic limit will see little difference. Most of its players already have the files cached on their PC, and the server can easily send the rest. A CDN also does not make the game itself run faster. It only affects downloads.

Your options

• Caching from your game server host. Some hosts include it with their VPS or dedicated servers. It is easy to switch on, but it only works while you stay with that host.
• Your own caching proxy. You can run nginx on a cheap VPS in front of your server. It costs only the VPS, but it sits in one location and you have to keep it running. Here is what that involves.
• A managed FiveM CDN such as FiveMCDN. You add two lines to your server.cfg, and it works with any host.

What to check before you pick one

• Reliability. FiveM does not fall back to your server when the download URL is down. Players simply cannot join. The CDN has to be at least as reliable as your server.
• Locations. A cache in one data center helps your server, but players far away still download from far away. A network with many locations helps them too.
• Who can download your files. With a shared adhesive_cdnKey, the files are the same for everyone. Check whether the CDN only serves them to players connected to your server, or to anyone who has the URL.
• Updates. The cache should pick up changed files on its own, without a version number to bump or a manual purge after every update.
• Pricing. Some services charge per GB, which gets expensive after a big update. Check what happens when you go over a limit.

How FiveMCDN does it

FiveMCDN runs on Cloudflare's network, so files are served from a location near each player. Changed files are picked up automatically, only players connected to your server can download, and there is no per-GB billing. The Free plan includes 10 GB of cache storage and 1 TB of bandwidth a month. Paid plans start at €7.50 a month. See pricing or the quickstart.