The Complete GTA 5 & FiveM Developer Guide Carvariations.Meta

Full carvariations.meta reference for FiveM: the 6-slot color index matrix, GTA 5 vehicle color IDs, livery arrays, and fixes for wrong spawn colors.

carvariations.meta: Complete Color ID Mapping & Vehicle Setup Guide

It is six numbers per color block. Add a seventh or drop one and the whole array shifts: the wheel color lands on the interior, the interior lands on the dashboard, and the car spawns looking nothing like it did in the preview. This is the full reference: the 6-slot color index matrix, the GTA 5 color IDs worth knowing by heart, how livery arrays gate spawn combinations, and how carvariations.meta binds to vehicles.meta and carcols.meta.

1. The Role of carvariations.meta in Vehicle Spawning

In Grand Theft Auto V (RAGE) and FiveM, carvariations.meta dictates the exact visual state of a vehicle when it is spawned into the server. While vehicles.meta establishes core archetype flags and carcols.meta catalogs mod parts and emergency lighting, carvariations.meta binds these elements together and applies initial cosmetic variations such as paint schemes, livery availability, default extras, and siren linkages.

2. Anatomy of the 6-Slot Color Index Matrix (<indices>)

Inside every <colors> item block, vehicle paint is assigned via the <indices content="char_array"> node. This node requires a strict sequential array of exactly six numeric color IDs:

<Item> <indices content="char_array"> 134  0  0  156  156  0  </indices> <liveries> <Item value="true"/> <Item value="false"/> </liveries> </Item> Array Index Color Channel Target Mesh & Visual Application Slot 0 (Line 1) Primary Paint Main body shell, hood, roof panels, and primary aerodynamic components. Slot 1 (Line 2) Secondary Paint Side mirror caps, secondary roof pillars, stripes, and accent trim. Slot 2 (Line 3) Pearlescent Layer Reflective specular clear-coat highlight reflected over the primary base coat. Slot 3 (Line 4) Wheel / Rim Paint Finish applied to stock wheel meshes and aftermarket rims. Slot 4 (Line 5) Interior Trim Color Leather seat inserts, door card fabrics, and cabin stitching. Slot 5 (Line 6) Dashboard & Dial Color Gauge cluster surround, ambient dashboard trim, and center console accents.

3. RAGE Vehicle Color ID Reference Palette

Grand Theft Auto V uses indexed color values ranging from 0 to 159 across different material finishes (Classic, Metallic, Matte, Metals, Pearls). You can retrieve the complete interactive index table and visual swatch palette directly from the RAGE MP Vehicle Colors Wiki Documentation.

Categorized High-Frequency Color IDs:

Finish Category Color ID Color Name Typical Usage Blacks & Monochromes 0 Metallic Black Standard deep gloss black 1 Metallic Graphite Black Subtle charcoal reflection 12 Matte Black Non-reflective flat black stealth finish 147 MODSHOP BLACK1 (Carbon) Carbon-fiber companion shading Whites & Silvers 111 Metallic Pure White High-clarity clean white 131 Matte White / Ice White Chalk/powder white without clear-coat 112 Metallic Frost White Slight blue-shift clear coat Reds & Warm Accents 27 Metallic Red Standard automotive red 28 Metallic Torino Red Deep saturated track red 38 Metallic Orange High-visibility performance amber/orange Blues & Cool Accents 64 Metallic Blue Classic primary blue 70 Metallic Ultra Blue Bright, vibrant electric blue 73 Metallic Racing Blue Darker track blue Metals & Specialized 156 Metallic Alloy / Polished Metal Default wheel and silver alloy rim finish 158 Pure Gold VIP / Luxury highlight finish

4. Multi-Livery Arrays and Variant Combinations (<liveries>)

The <liveries> block controls which embedded .ytd texture liveries are eligible to spawn with each color combination:

Multiple Color Sets: You can add dozens of <Item> blocks under <colors> to create diverse civilian spawns, each with tailored paint, trim, and livery permissions.
All-False Array: If every livery item is set to value="false", the car always spawns with its clean baseline factory paint.

5. Cross-Metadata Architecture Matrix

To prevent server initialization errors and ensure that mod parts and lights work seamlessly, cross-reference all metadata definitions:

carvariations.meta Tag Linked File Linked XML Node Technical Function <modelName> vehicles.meta <modelName> Binds variation data to the vehicle spawn code. <kits><Item> carcols.meta <kitName> Connects the ModKit parts catalog to the vehicle. <sirenSettings value="..."/> carcols.meta <id value="..."/> (<sirens>) Assigns Non-ELS lightbar sequencers and flash patterns. <lightSettings value="..."/> carcols.meta <id value="..."/> (<lights>) Assigns headlight color, projection cone, and bulb intensity.

6. FiveM Resource Setup (fxmanifest.lua)

Mount your carvariations.meta along with all other vehicle metadata files inside your resource manifest:

fx_version 'cerulean' game 'gta5' files { 'carcols.meta', 'carvariations.meta', 'handling.meta', 'vehicles.meta' } data_file 'CARCOLS_FILE' 'carcols.meta' data_file 'VEHICLE_VARIATION_FILE' 'carvariations.meta' data_file 'HANDLING_FILE' 'handling.meta' data_file 'VEHICLE_METADATA_FILE' 'vehicles.meta'

7. Troubleshooting Common Configuration Issues

Array Shift Error (Mismatched Indices): If your vehicle spawns with the wrong interior or wheel colors, verify that exactly six numeric lines exist inside <indices>. Adding or omitting a line breaks the sequence.
Modifications Missing from Shops: Confirm that the string declared in <kits><Item> is spelled identically to <kitName> inside carcols.meta.
Crash on Vehicle Spawn: If the <modelName> does not exist inside vehicles.meta or the streaming folder, spawning the vehicle causes an instant client/server crash.

SUPPORT & COMMUNITY CONTACT

Find more custom FiveM cars, peds, clothing packs, and maps at TTModz.

Add taxis and medical response with the FiveM city fleet pack, or browse all lore-friendly FiveM cars.

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