Changing weapon damage in FiveM

#The three levers

#SetWeaponDamageModifier

The modifier multiplies a weapon’s damage. It applies to damage dealt by the client that set it, so the usual approach is a small client script every player runs at spawn.

local DAMAGE = {
    [`WEAPON_PISTOL`]        = 0.6,
    [`WEAPON_COMBATPISTOL`]  = 0.6,
    [`WEAPON_SMG`]           = 0.5,
    [`WEAPON_CARBINERIFLE`]  = 0.55,
    [`WEAPON_PUMPSHOTGUN`]   = 0.45,
    [`WEAPON_UNARMED`]       = 0.3,  -- fists
    [`WEAPON_KNIFE`]         = 0.6,
}

CreateThread(function()
    for weapon, mult in pairs(DAMAGE) do
        SetWeaponDamageModifier(weapon, mult)
    end
end)

#Per-player damage modifiers

Player-level modifiers scale all damage a player deals or takes, independent of weapon. They are useful for temporary effects — an adrenaline item, a drunk debuff, a training mode.

local player = PlayerId()
SetPlayerWeaponDamageModifier(player, 0.8)   -- guns deal 80%
SetPlayerMeleeWeaponDamageModifier(player, 0.5) -- melee deals 50%

#Changing damage in weapons.meta

Every weapon has a <Damage> value in its CWeaponInfo. Changing it changes the weapon itself, for everyone, with no script running. This is the right method for an addon weapon you ship, and the clean method when a pack is overpowered.

<Item type="CWeaponInfo">
  <Name>WEAPON_MYPISTOL</Name>
  <Damage value="26.000000" />
  <HeadShotDamageModifierPlayer value="18.000000" />
  <!-- … -->
</Item>

The full structure of the file — damage, range, rate of fire and headshot fields — is in weapons.meta explained; headshots specifically in headshot damage settings.

#Balancing for your server type

Balance also depends on health, armour and recoil. Change one thing at a time and test with two players. Weapon balance for roleplay and redzone weapon setup go further. The stock figures every weapon starts from are listed in FAM Tools weapon stats, read from the game’s own weapons.meta rather than from a wiki.