# Players are stuck on the loading screen

> The screen shows but never goes away, or players hang at a percentage. This is usually the shutdown directive or a script error — not the design itself.

Source: https://fam-tools.com/guides/stuck-on-loading-screen · FAM Tools · published 2026-10-25 · updated 2026-10-25 · about 8 min

**Short answer.** If the loading screen never disappears, loadscreen_manual_shutdown is set but nothing ever calls the shutdown. Either remove that directive so FiveM closes the screen automatically, or make sure the resource that was meant to close it is actually running.

The screen shows but never goes away, or players hang at a percentage. This is usually the shutdown directive or a script error — not the design itself.

## Check loadscreen_manual_shutdown

With manual shutdown enabled, FiveM waits for an explicit shutdown call instead of closing the screen when the session is ready. If nothing calls it, players sit on the screen forever. Remove the directive unless you specifically need manual control.

```lua
-- fxmanifest.lua
loadscreen 'https://fam-tools.com/s/your-slug'
loadscreen_manual_shutdown 'yes'  -- remove this line if players get stuck
```

## Separate “stuck on the screen” from “stuck joining”

If the progress bar reaches the end and the screen stays, it is the loading screen. If players hang partway with the console still streaming, the server is still loading resources and the screen is only what they happen to be looking at — look at your resource load times instead.

## Look for client-side script errors

Press F8 on the client while stuck. A red error from a resource that runs during connect can stall the join sequence. Fix that resource — the loading screen is a symptom, not the cause.

## Rule out a heavy background

A very large video background or a slow external URL can make the screen appear frozen on lower-end machines. Try a plain colour or gradient background temporarily; if the problem disappears, compress the video or switch to a hosted YouTube background.

## Questions

### The loading bar finishes but nothing happens — what now?

That points squarely at loadscreen_manual_shutdown with no shutdown call. Remove the directive and restart.

### Is a big video background making people stuck?

It can make joining feel much slower on weak hardware. Keep videos under roughly 10 MB, or use a YouTube background which streams instead of downloading in one go.