Every FiveM (and RedM) server is driven by a single file called server.cfg: it sets the server’s hostname, license key, Steam Web API key, max clients, RCON password, the gamename it serves, and, most importantly, the ensure lines that decide which resources actually load. On a FiveM server hosted with Loafhosts, the Config Editor opens that file straight from the panel so you do not have to open an SFTP client for a quick edit. It is a BETA feature: it currently gives you a raw, full-file text view rather than a grouped form, because server.cfg is a genuinely freeform file, comments, exec and ensure directives, resource loading, and arbitrary convars are all mixed together in whatever order your server has grown into. This guide explains what the FiveM Config Editor does, where it lives, what stays locked and why, how saving and validation work, and when a change actually takes effect.
What the FiveM Config Editor Does
The Config Editor opens server.cfg, the file FXServer reads on every boot, at the server’s root path, and presents it as an editable text view rather than a hand-edited file over SFTP. You see the same console-command syntax FiveM itself uses (sv_hostname "...", set sv_licenseKey ..., ensure <resource>, // and # comments), and your edits are written back through the panel rather than by connecting a separate file transfer client.
server.cfg is treated as a raw file on purpose. Unlike a structured settings file with a fixed key list, server.cfg mixes global convars, per-resource ensure/exec directives, and freeform comments in whatever layout your server has accumulated, so a rigid form would either hide lines the editor does not recognize or silently drop them on save. The raw view keeps the whole file intact: what you did not touch is preserved exactly as it was, including comments, blank lines, and formatting.
Note: The Config Editor edits server.cfg only, the main FXServer configuration file at the server root.
Note: This is a BETA feature; the current release is a raw text editor, not a grouped form.
Opening the Config Editor
The editor appears automatically on FiveM (and RedM) servers on the LoafPanel plugin registry. Open your server in the panel and look in the left sidebar under the Game section for Server Config. Click it to open the FiveM Config Editor. Like other config editors, it loads over your normal server view, so your sidebar and the live status header stay in place.
The item only shows up on a FiveM server; it understands server.cfg specifically and stays hidden on other game types. If server.cfg does not exist yet on disk, start the server once so FXServer’s installer can generate the default file, then reopen the editor.
Tip: The Server Config item lives in the Game section of the server sidebar, alongside Change Game.
Tip: If the editor cannot find server.cfg, start the server once to generate it, then come back.
Editing server.cfg
Because the editor is a raw view, you are working directly with the same lines FXServer reads: hostname, license key, Steam Web API key, max clients, RCON password, set gamename, and the ensure <resource> lines that turn resources on or off. This is also where you add a new resource once you have uploaded its folder into resources/: append an ensure <resource-name> line and save.
Tip: Use the raw view to add or remove
ensurelines when you install or retire a resource, rather than editing the file over SFTP.Warning: Resource load order matters. If a resource depends on another resource, make sure the dependency’s
ensureline comes first; check the resource’s fxmanifest.lua if it fails to start.
Locked Lines and Why They Are Read-Only
Five lines in server.cfg cannot be edited through the Config Editor, in raw view or otherwise: the port bindings (endpoint_add_tcp, endpoint_add_udp), the license key (sv_licenseKey), the Steam Web API key (steam_webApiKey), and the RCON password (rcon_password). The lock is enforced server-side on every save, including a raw full-file save, so it cannot be bypassed by editing around it in the text view.
These are locked because they are either tied to your server’s assigned network allocation or are secrets the panel manages from the Startup tab:
- endpoint_add_tcp / endpoint_add_udp are written from your server’s allocated port every time the server boots; editing them in the file would just be overwritten on the next start.
- sv_licenseKey is your Keymaster license key, set as the FIVEM_LICENSE Startup variable.
- steam_webApiKey comes from the STEAM_WEBAPIKEY Startup variable.
- rcon_password is a managed secret; FiveM’s RCON is legacy UDP RCON on the game port rather than the Source-engine TCP RCON protocol, and LoafPanel does not currently expose a dedicated RCON console for FiveM, so this stays locked at the file level.
Note: Locked lines are managed by your server’s Startup tab and network allocation, not edited in server.cfg.
Note: The lock is enforced on save, so it cannot be bypassed by editing a locked line in the raw text view.
Saving and Validation
Saving writes your edited server.cfg back to disk through the panel. Before the write happens, the editor checks the file against the locked-key list: if your edit touches a locked line, the save is rejected with an error naming the specific setting, and the on-disk file is left untouched. This is the same safeguard whether you changed one line or rewrote a large section of the file, so a locked line cannot be reintroduced by accident in a bigger edit.
Because the raw view keeps the rest of the file byte-for-byte as it was, comments, spacing, and any lines the editor does not recognize survive a save exactly as you left them, only the lines you actually changed are different.
Note: A save that touches a locked line is rejected outright and the file on disk is not modified.
When a Change Applies
server.cfg is only read by FXServer at boot, so an edit is not live the moment you save it. Restart the server to bring the change in. This covers everything editable here: hostname, max clients, resource ensure/exec lines, and any other convar in the file.
Note: Saving only changes the file; restart the server to load the new settings.
Tip: If you enable txAdmin (TXADMIN_ENABLE), its startup command skips exec’ing server.cfg directly and txAdmin becomes the primary way resources and config are managed; the Config Editor still reads and writes the underlying file, but txAdmin’s own UI is the one actually driving the server once it is on.
Putting It Together
The FiveM Config Editor gives you a way to open and edit server.cfg straight from the panel instead of reaching for SFTP every time you add a resource or tweak the hostname. It is currently a raw, whole-file view rather than a grouped form because server.cfg genuinely is a freeform, comment-heavy file, but the port, license key, Steam Web API key, and RCON password lines stay locked and enforced on every save no matter how you edit around them. Make your changes, save, restart, and the new server.cfg takes effect on the next boot. As a BETA feature, expect this editor to keep evolving; a grouped-form view for the common convars is a natural next step.