Choosing texture resolutions for FiveM weapons
Memory per texture = width × height × bytes per pixel, plus one third for mipmaps. BC1/DXT1 uses 0.5 bytes per pixel, BC3/BC5/BC7 use 1. A 2048² BC7 texture with mips is about 5.3 MiB; a 4096² BC7 is about 21.3 MiB — over FiveM’s 16 MiB oversized-asset warning on its own. Use 2048 for the main diffuse of hero weapons, 1024 for most weapons and secondary maps, and 512 or less for small parts.
A 4K texture looks great in a close-up screenshot and terrible in a firefight when fifty players carry different weapons and textures stream in late. Weapons are small on screen most of the time, so resolution is a budget decision — and the numbers are easy to work out.
#The memory table
| Size | BC1 / DXT1 | BC7 / BC3 / BC5 | Uncompressed A8R8G8B8 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 512 × 512 | 0.17 MiB | 0.33 MiB | 1.33 MiB |
| 1024 × 1024 | 0.67 MiB | 1.33 MiB | 5.33 MiB |
| 2048 × 2048 | 2.67 MiB | 5.33 MiB | 21.3 MiB |
| 4096 × 4096 | 10.7 MiB | 21.3 MiB | 85.3 MiB |
Including a full mipmap chain (+⅓). Calculated, not estimated.
FiveM warns about assets using more than 16 MiB of physical memory and warns more strongly above 48 MiB. A weapon with a 4K BC7 diffuse, 4K normal and 4K specular map is around 64 MiB — for one gun. See texture formats for which format to pick.
#Recommended sizes
| Texture | Hero / showcase weapon | Standard weapon | Attachments & small parts |
|---|---|---|---|
| Diffuse | 2048 | 1024–2048 | 512–1024 |
| Normal | 1024–2048 | 1024 | 512 |
| Specular | 1024 | 512–1024 | 256–512 |
A weapon fills a small part of the screen except when aiming in first person. 1024 textures on a well-unwrapped model look sharp in almost every situation; 2048 is worth it for weapons players show off.
#Power-of-two and aspect ratio
- Use power-of-two sides (256, 512, 1024, 2048). Block compression and mipmaps rely on it.
- Non-square is fine (2048 × 1024) if the UV layout suits it.
- Upscaling a 1K texture to 4K adds memory, not detail.
#Think in packs, not single guns
Players stream the weapons around them. Twenty add-on weapons at 20 MiB each is 400 MiB of texture memory competing with cars, clothing and maps. Budgets for whole packs are covered in weapon pack performance; skins made with our studio export at sensible sizes by default — see making a weapon skin.
Questions
What texture size should FiveM weapons use?
How much memory does a 4K texture use?
Why does my weapon trigger the oversized asset warning?
Do textures need to be power of two?
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