FiveM Artifacts: Which Build to Use (and When to Update)

Open the FiveM artifacts page and your eye lands on the top row. That row is the newest build, not the recommended one - the build Cfx.re recommends sits lower down, and its number is printed inside the LATEST RECOMMENDED button above the list. This is a standing design, not a glitch: on 2026-08-26 the recommended build (35245) sat behind the newest (35419), and an archived listing from 2024-09-15 shows the same gap (7290 against 9875). Grabbing the top row puts you on the Latest branch, supported for two weeks after the next release instead of six.

Downloads live on the channel listing for your OS: Windows artifacts and Linux artifacts. Everything below is how to read them, choose a build, update, roll back, and spot expiry.

What a FiveM artifact actually is

Cfx.re defines it in one sentence on the Server Download page: a server artifact is "a package that includes the files needed to run/update your RedM or FiveM server." It is a numbered build of FXServer - the server binary and its bundled runtime, txAdmin included. Your resources, server.cfg and database are not in it. The vanilla setup guide keeps binaries in one folder and server-data "outside of your server binaries folder", which is why replacing the binaries leaves your content alone.

How to read the FiveM artifacts page

Five channel directories sit under the artifacts root; owners need two, build_server_windows and build_proot_linux. Open the master folder for your platform.

• A button above the list, labelled LATEST RECOMMENDED with a build number in parentheses. That number is the build Cfx.re recommends today, and the button links straight to its download.
• The build rows, newest first, showing two fields only: the build number on the left, a YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM:SS timestamp on the right. No changelog, no file size, no support status.
• Two rows carry the highlight. On both pages as I fetched them, exactly two of several hundred rows were highlighted: the newest build and the recommended build. The highlight does not mean "use this" - it marks two different things.
• A parent-directory row, two dots with a branch icon. Navigation rather than a build, and every channel exposes only a master branch, so it goes nowhere.

Each link carries the build number plus a 40-character git commit hash - ./BUILD-HASH/server.7z on Windows, ./BUILD-HASH/fx.tar.xz on Linux - and that hash cannot be derived from the number, so you cannot type a URL for a build you have not read off the page. The same build number uses the same hash on both channels, so a Windows link converts to Linux by swapping folder and filename. The listing went back to a build dated January 2024 when this was written, which is what makes rollback possible - but it is pruned over time, so check how far back yours actually reaches.

Recommended or latest: which FiveM artifact should you run?

The download page presents Recommended and Latest tabs and no guidance on choosing. The support policy is the guidance: Recommended is supported for six weeks after the next release in line, Latest for two. That difference is the whole argument.

Read nothing into the width of that gap. In the 2024 snapshot above, the pointer trailed the newest build by thousands; on the day this was written, the two sat days apart. Promotion happens in irregular jumps, so gap width signals nothing about how stable either build is.

How long is a FiveM artifact supported?

The schedule is published on the end-of-support and end-of-life page: "Recommended artifacts are supported until six weeks after the next release in line. Latest artifacts will be supported until two weeks after the next release in line." The docs illustrate it with fictional builds: 5001 ships on January 1, 5002 ships on January 6, and support for 5001 ends 14 days later on January 20. Ageing shows in three stages.

• End-of-support (EOS) - a grey warning to owners and players. The server stays joinable and players need take no action.
• End-of-life (EOL) - a red warning and a failed connection. Only the owner can clear it.
• Delisting - "Unsupported server artifacts older than three months will not be joinable from the server browser." Note the scoping: unsupported artifacts, not every artifact over three months old.

Expiry does not stop your server: "outdated server artifacts will not stop functioning, however, we will not provide support for them". You lose support first and discoverability later.

One hard-dated exception applies to the current compatibility window. An announcement dated 20 August 2026 calls 15 October 2026 "the end of the compatibility window", stating "connections to older FXServer versions will no longer be possible" and that the current game update needs FXServer 35245 or higher (the build named in that announcement). That is a floor pinned to a date; the recommended pointer is a separate, moving target. That deadline belongs to one game update, so check the Cfx.re forum for a newer announcement before treating any build as the floor. Beyond announced deadlines there is no published cadence, so a seven-day update rule is folklore.

How to check which artifact your server is running

Type version in the server console: the output reads FXServer-master v1.0.0.BUILD platform. It is community-documented rather than official, absent from the server commands page, but it works; the console commands reference covers the rest. Write that number down before you touch anything, because you cannot roll back to a build you cannot name.

How to update FiveM artifacts without breaking your server

Cfx.re publishes an install procedure and no update procedure; the end-of-life page answers "how do I update?" by linking back to it. Below are those steps plus the conventions around them.

• Record your build with version, then stop the server.
• Rename the existing binaries folder rather than deleting it. That copy is your rollback, kept by community convention.
• Download your chosen build from the Server Download page or the artifacts listing: server.7z on Windows, fx.tar.xz on Linux.
• Extract into a clean binaries folder and do not carry the old citizen folder across - carrying it over is reported repeatedly on the forums as a cause of crashes after an update.
• On Linux, download and extract on the box with wget then tar xf. Uploading a locally extracted tree over SFTP strips execute bits, giving Permission denied on ld-musl-x86_64.so.1 when run.sh starts.
• Launch from server-data, calling the binary by path - FXServer.exe +exec server.cfg, or bash run.sh +exec server.cfg on Linux - then run version again.

Locate txData first. It is created next to your server files on first boot and holds admins, bans and your player database, so confirm where yours is before deleting anything - it can sit inside the directory you were about to wipe. The txAdmin setup guide covers the rest.

How to roll back to an older FiveM artifact

No rollback procedure is documented either. What is documented is that every build still listed stays online at a stable permalink in its own hash-named folder, so a rollback is the install step against an older row. The listing is pruned over time, though, so builds do eventually drop off it.

Speed comes from keeping each build in its own folder and changing which one you launch: a rename swap on Windows, a repointed symlink on Linux. It is not free, though: owners rolling back have reported needing to strip newer node_version declarations from fxmanifest.lua, because a Node version supported on the new build may not be on the old one.

The trap to know in advance is txAdmin's database. txAdmin ships inside the artifact, so rolling back the artifact rolls txAdmin back too, and an older txAdmin will refuse to open a players database written by a newer one. Your rollback window is bounded by your txData schema version.

FiveM artifacts FAQ

Does txAdmin update artifacts for you?

No. txAdmin ships inside FXServer as a bundled component, so updating txAdmin means updating your artifact. It surfaces an outdated-FXServer notice in the panel, but offers no in-panel download or install action.

Is the newest build risky to run?

Cfx.re never calls it unstable, beta or bleeding edge. The only documented difference from the recommended build is the support window: two weeks after the next release against six. That shorter tail is why Recommended belongs on a live server and Latest on a staging box.

Do I need different artifacts for GTA V Enhanced?

Yes. Enhanced is a separate stream that runtime.fivem.net does not carry, reached through the download page's Platform selector, where server.7z becomes cfx-server_win_x64 and the txAdmin setup guide notes FXServer.exe is named cfx-server.exe. On the day I checked it offered no Recommended and Latest split, and any update script hardcoding server.7z is Legacy-only. Enhanced vs Legacy covers the rest.

What to do next

Run version, note the number, then open the official artifacts listing for your platform and compare it against the number in the LATEST RECOMMENDED button. A match means nothing to do; a mismatch means scheduling the swap off-peak, old binaries renamed and standing by. Installing the client is a separate job, covered in how to install FiveM. The server setup and hardening checklist is the companion to this page, and measure the cost properly if the server feels different afterwards.

Everything on your server rides on that build choice, protection included: an anti-cheat is a resource like any other and runs on whichever FXServer binary you pinned. That is one reason FairShieldAC keeps a public dated changelog: pin or roll back a build, and you can line our releases up against yours. Our plans are listed on the homepage.