# Keeping FiveM weapon models light

> Optimise FiveM weapon models: realistic triangle budgets for pistols and rifles, where polygons are wasted, baking into normal maps and draw-call counts.

Source: https://fam-tools.com/guides/fivem-weapon-polycount-optimization · FAM Tools · published 2026-09-11 · updated 2026-09-11 · about 9 min

**Short answer.** Aim for a high LOD in the low tens of thousands of triangles for a primary weapon, fewer for pistols and attachments, with medium and low LODs below that. Remove hidden internals, bake small bevels and screws into normal maps, merge materials to keep draw calls low (ideally one to three per weapon), and keep textures within budget. Measure before and after in Blender or CodeWalker.

## Key points

- Primary weapons: high LOD in the low tens of thousands of triangles.
- Pistols and attachments: less.
- Internals nobody sees are pure waste.
- Bake fine detail into the normal map.
- Fewer materials = fewer draw calls.

Weapons converted from other games or high-poly marketplaces can arrive with hundreds of thousands of triangles and a dozen materials. In a firefight with twenty players, that multiplies fast. Most of that geometry is invisible at game distances and can move into a normal map instead.

## Budgets that hold up

*Guidelines from common practice, not engine limits.*

| Item | High LOD (triangles) | Materials |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Pistol | ≈ 5,000–15,000 | 1–2 |
| SMG / rifle | ≈ 10,000–30,000 | 1–3 |
| Attachment (scope, suppressor) | ≈ 1,000–5,000 | 1 |
| _hi first-person model | Can be higher; only the holder sees it up close | 1–3 |

## Where polygons are wasted

- Internal parts — springs, firing pins, the inside of the barrel beyond a few centimetres.
- Round screws, rivets and text modelled in geometry instead of the normal map.
- Over-subdivided cylinders: 16–24 sides are plenty for a barrel.
- Duplicate or overlapping faces from conversions.
- Separate materials for parts that could share one texture sheet.

## Bake detail instead of modelling it

Keep the high-poly model for baking: project its detail onto the low-poly game model as a normal map. Knurling, engravings and bevels then cost texture memory instead of triangles. See [normal and specular maps](https://fam-tools.com/guides/fivem-normal-specular-maps).

## Measuring

Blender’s statistics overlay shows triangle counts per object; CodeWalker shows model details for `.ydr` files. Check the whole weapon plus its components, and remember LODs — see [weapon LOD models](https://fam-tools.com/guides/fivem-weapon-lod-models).

## Optimising purchased packs

If a pack is heavy, first cut texture sizes (the biggest win with no modelling), then drop unused variants, then look at geometry. Pack-level budgets are in [weapon pack performance](https://fam-tools.com/guides/fivem-weapon-pack-performance). Escrowed packs cannot be edited — ask the creator for optimised versions.

## Questions

### How many polygons should a FiveM weapon have?

Roughly 5,000–15,000 triangles for pistols and 10,000–30,000 for rifles on the high LOD, with lighter lower LODs.

### Do weapon models affect FPS?

Yes, in groups: many players with heavy weapons, many materials and no LODs add up.

### What is a draw call?

One batch of geometry sent to the GPU, roughly one per material per model. Fewer materials mean fewer draw calls.

### What should I optimise first?

Textures, then unused variants, then geometry.

## Related

- https://fam-tools.com/guides/fivem-weapon-lod-models
- https://fam-tools.com/guides/fivem-weapon-pack-performance
- https://fam-tools.com/guides/fivem-weapon-texture-resolution
- https://fam-tools.com/guides/blender-sollumz-weapon-export