> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.elementlabs.net/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Welcome

> How Element Labs products install on a FiveM server, and where to find what you need.

Element Labs products are FiveM resources you add to your server. This documentation takes you from
the download to a working product, and back out again when something goes wrong.

> **[Install a product](https://docs.elementlabs.net/get-started/install.md)**
>
> From the Cfx.re portal to a product running on your server, in four steps.

> **[Before you buy](https://docs.elementlabs.net/get-started/before-you-buy.md)**
>
> What your server needs, and the questions asked most before a purchase.

> **[Something is wrong](https://docs.elementlabs.net/troubleshooting/index.md)**
>
> Start from what you see and reach the page that fixes it.

> **[Get help](https://docs.elementlabs.net/troubleshooting/get-help.md)**
>
> Where to ask, and what to send so the first reply can answer it.

## How an installation fits together

Every server that runs Element Labs products has two kinds of resource:

| Resource | What it is | How many |
| - | - | - |
| `element_sdk` | A free resource every product needs. It reads your configuration and language files, checks versions and connects products to the framework, inventory and other resources you already run. On its own it adds nothing to your server. | One, shared by every product. |
| The product | The resource you bought, for example `element_3d_pausemenu`. | One per product. |

Because the shared behaviour lives in `element_sdk`, every product is configured the same way, prints
the same kind of console messages and works with the same third-party resources. Learn it once and
it applies to the next product too.

## What is inside a product

The download opens on `INSTALL.md`, the installation for that exact release, beside the folders that
go on your server:

```text theme={null}
INSTALL.md          read it first; it does not go on the server
element_3d_pausemenu/
  fxmanifest.lua
  configs/          your settings, one file per area
  locales/          the text players see, one file per language
  install/          the integration installers, when the product has them
  integrations/     only when the product needs to run inside your other resources
  ui/               the interface, when the product has one
element_3d_pausemenu_assets/
  fxmanifest.lua
  stream/           the files the game streams: models, textures, menus
```

A product that adds files to the game ships them in a second folder, named after it with `_assets` on
the end. It runs no script and starts before the product, so restarting the product leaves those
files loaded. Both folders go under `resources`, for example in `resources/[element]/`.

| Part | Yours to edit |
| - | - |
| `configs/` | Yes. See [How configuration works](https://docs.elementlabs.net/configure/files.md). |
| `locales/` | Yes. See [Languages](https://docs.elementlabs.net/configure/languages.md). |
| `INSTALL.md` | No. Read it: it is the installation for that exact release. |
| `fxmanifest.lua` | Only to add a language. Everything else in it is set by the release. |
| Everything else | No. These files are protected and replaced by every update. |

An update replaces the whole folder, and the `_assets` folder with it, including your edits in
`configs/` and `locales/`.
[Update a product](https://docs.elementlabs.net/get-started/update.md) is the procedure that keeps them.

## Where everything is

* **The tabs at the top** hold one tab per product: its installation, what players see, its
  settings, its exports and events for your own scripts, and its own troubleshooting.
* **This tab** holds everything that works the same for every product: installing and updating,
  configuration files, languages, server settings, supported resources and console messages.

A product page never repeats what is explained here. When a product page links to this tab, the
answer is the same for every product.


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