How to use Looped Particle FX in FiveM

Looped Particle Effects are effects that continuously work until stopped — suitable for car smoke, fire, sparks, steam or various aura effects.

Native Functions for Looped

-- play at coordinates — return handle
local handle = StartParticleFxLoopedAtCoord(
  effectName,
  x, y, z,
  rotX, rotY, rotZ,
  scale,
  xAxis, yAxis, zAxis,
  false -- unknown bool
)

-- Play on Entity
local handle = StartParticleFxLoopedOnEntityBone(
  effectName,
  entity,
  offsetX, offsetY, offsetZ,
  rotX, rotY, rotZ,
  boneIndex,
  scale,
  xAxis, yAxis, zAxis
)

-- Stop the effect with handle
StopParticleFxLooped(handle, false)

-- Remove effect immediately (does not fade out)
RemoveParticleFx(handle, false)

VERY IMPORTANT: KEEP THE HANDLE!

Looped effects must hold the handle to stop them:

-- ❌ Wrong — If you don't have a handle, you can't stop!
StartParticleFxLoopedAtCoord("scr_amb_electric_arc", ...)

-- ✅ Correct — keep the handle
local fxHandle = StartParticleFxLoopedAtCoord("scr_amb_electric_arc", ...)

Example: Smoke from a car

local smokeFx = nil

local function StartCarSmoke(vehicle)
  RequestNamedPtfxAsset("core")
  while not HasNamedPtfxAssetLoaded("core") do
    Citizen.Wait(0)
  end

  local boneIndex = GetEntityBoneIndexByName(vehicle, "exhaust")

  UseParticleFxAssetNextCall("core")
  smokeFx = StartParticleFxLoopedOnEntityBone(
    "ent_veh_engine_smoke",
    vehicle,
    0.0, 0.0, 0.0, -- offset
    0.0, 0.0, 0.0, -- rotation
    boneIndex,
    1.5, -- scale
    false, false, false
  )
end

local function StopCarSmoke()
  if smokeFx then
    StopParticleFxLooped(smokeFx, false)
    smokeFx = nil
  end
end

Example: Aura Effect on Player

local playerFx = nil

local function StartPlayerAura()
  RequestNamedPtfxAsset("scr_powerplay")
  while not HasNamedPtfxAssetLoaded("scr_powerplay") do
    Citizen.Wait(0)
  end

  local ped = PlayerPedId()
  local boneIndex = GetEntityBoneIndexByName(ped, "SKEL_ROOT")

  UseParticleFxAssetNextCall("scr_powerplay")
  playerFx = StartParticleFxLoopedOnEntityBone(
    "scr_powerplay_overlay_electricity_chars",
    ped,
    0.0, 0.0, 0.0,
    0.0, 0.0, 0.0,
    boneIndex,
    1.0,
    false, false, false
  )
end

AddEventHandler("onResourceStop", function(resourceName)
  if resourceName == GetCurrentResourceName() then
    if playerFx then
      StopParticleFxLooped(playerFx, false)
    end
  end
end)

Adjust Effect while working

-- Change scale while effect is running.
SetParticleFxLoopedScale(fxHandle, 2.0)

-- Change color (RGBA 0.0-1.0)
SetParticleFxLoopedColour(fxHandle, 1.0, 0.5, 0.0, false)

-- Change evolution parameters
SetParticleFxLoopedEvolution(fxHandle, "speed", 2.0, false)

Popular Effect for Looped

Summary

Looped Effects require careful lifecycle management — Turn on when needed, turn off when done, clean up in always onResourceStop