How to install a RedM script, and the five things that go wrong

Installing a RedM script is the same six steps every time. Most problems come from skipping one, usually the start order. This is the checklist we send people in Discord.

1. Download it

Bought scripts live in your Tebex account: open the store you bought from, sign in with the Cfx.re account you used at checkout, and download from your purchases. Free scripts from this store are delivered the same way at no charge; Poggy Storage and Admin Blips are also on GitHub.

Unzip it. The folder inside is the resource. Its name matters: the script expects to be started under that exact name, and other scripts that depend on it look for that name too. Do not rename it.

2. Put it in resources

Move the folder into your server's resources directory, or a subfolder of it in square brackets such as [poggy]. Bracketed folders are just organisation; the server scans inside them.

3. Run the SQL, if there is one

If the folder contains a .sql file, run it against your server's database once with HeidiSQL, phpMyAdmin or the MySQL client. Some scripts create their tables on first start instead and say so in their description; Poggy Markets and the Auction House do. Either way it happens once.

4. Add it to server.cfg, in the right order

Add ensure resource_name to server.cfg. Order matters, because a script can only talk to what is already running:

1. oxmysql
2. Your framework: vorp_core and vorp_inventory, rsg-core and rsg-inventory, or qbr-core and qbr-inventory
3. Poggy Core (Free), before every Poggy script: it detects the framework and every Poggy script depends on it
4. Other shared libraries the script lists, such as Poggy Skillcheck (Free)
5. The script itself

Every product page here lists what a script requires. If it names a resource you do not have, install that first. Poggy scripts do not need vorp_menu or vorp_inputs; poggy_core draws menus and text boxes itself.

5. Open the config

Almost every script has a config.lua. Read it before the first start; it is where job names, locations, prices and commands live, and job names in particular must match yours exactly. On our scripts the config is never escrowed, so you can always change it.

6. Start the server and read the console

Restart, then watch the console for the script's own startup lines. Ours print one boot line each saying whether poggy_core is ready and which framework it detected (VORP Core, RSG Core or QBCore RedM), plus anything in the config your server does not have. A silent start is not a good sign; a red error is at least a clue.

The escrow licence check

Paid RedM scripts are usually protected by Cfx escrow. The server can only load the protected files if its licence key belongs to the same Cfx.re account that bought the script. If you see an escrow error at start, the fix is not in the script: either the server key is registered to a different account from the one you used at Tebex, or the purchase has not appeared on your Keymaster yet. Check portal.cfx.re under the account you bought with.

The five errors behind most support tickets

"Couldn't find resource"

The folder name does not match the ensure line, or the folder is nested one level too deep after unzipping. Open the folder and check fxmanifest.lua is directly inside it.

"attempt to index a nil value" on start

The script started before its framework or a dependency. Move its ensure line below them.

Nothing happens in game, no error

Usually a job name or location in config.lua that does not exist on your server. Check the console for a warning at start; ours name the missing thing.

Database errors

oxmysql is not running, its connection string is wrong, or the SQL from step 3 was never run.

Escrow or licence error

Account mismatch between your Cfx.re server key and the account that bought the script. See the section above.

Back up first

Take a database backup before running any SQL or updating a script that touches your tables. If you do not have that automated, Server Controller (from $2.99/mo) does it on a schedule with one-click restore, and it has a free tier.

Still stuck? Support for everything in this store is in the Poggy Discord. Bring the console output; it is almost always enough.