Cortex PolCam

A synchronised FLIR-style police helicopter camera system for FiveM

Target tracking, thermal and night vision, ground lock, spotlight control, hover and orbit assistance, points of interest, rappelling and multi-crew camera hand-off.

Download · Configuration · Exports

Overview

Cortex PolCam is a configurable airborne camera resource for FiveM law-enforcement and public-safety roleplay servers.

It provides a FLIR-inspired NUI, smooth zoom and camera motion, vehicle and pedestrian tracking, plate visibility logic, synchronised spotlights, points of interest, ground locking and shared camera state between helicopter crew members.

The system is framework-light. Core camera behaviour is implemented in Lua with a small HTML, CSS and JavaScript NUI.

Features

Camera system

Smooth camera rotation and zoom
Configurable field-of-view limits
Ground-position locking
Street and postal overlays
Heading, altitude, speed and range information
Per-model and per-livery agency labels
High-contrast interface themes
Optional pilot HUD
Configurable native audio feedback

Vision modes

Standard camera view
Night vision
Thermal imaging
Configurable default mode and feature availability

Target tracking

Lock vehicles and pedestrians
Distance-scaled target acquisition
Configurable vehicle and pedestrian ranges
Smooth camera following
Plate visibility angle checks
Occlusion detection
Grace period before dropping an obstructed target
Persistent target labels
Entity-pool fallback scanning

Spotlight

Camera-following searchlight
Network-synchronised direction and position
Configurable brightness, range, radius and colour
Adjustable update and smoothing intervals

Helicopter assistance

Hover assistance
Orbit assistance around a selected position or target
Damage checks before autopilot operation
Configurable orbit radius and correction behaviour
Natural sway and gust parameters

Multi-crew operation

Shared camera state between helicopter occupants
Camera hand-off between operators
Restoration of tracked targets after takeover
Restoration of ground lock and vision mode
Server-side active air-feed registry
Datalink access to tracked vehicles

Points of interest

Place temporary world markers from the camera
Synchronise markers with other players
Configure maximum active markers and expiry time
Remove nearby markers through a keybind

Rappelling

Rappel from configured helicopter seats
Enforce minimum and maximum altitude
Whitelist or blacklist specific helicopter models
Synchronise rappel state to nearby players

Dependencies

Resource	Required	Purpose
`es_lib`	Yes	Notifications, target-lock progress and debug tools
`es_hud`	No	Hides the player HUD and can force the aircraft HUD
`nearest-postal`	No	Supplies postal data for the camera overlay

es_lib must start before polcam.

Installation

Download the latest release or clone the repository.
Place the resource in the server's resources directory.
Ensure the folder is named polcam, unless all references are updated.
Install and configure es_lib.
Review config.lua.
Add the resources to server.cfg in dependency order.

ensure es_lib
ensure es_hud
ensure nearest-postal
ensure polcam

Only es_lib is required. Remove optional resources from the configuration when they are not installed.

Restart the server and test the camera in a configured helicopter model.

Default controls

Action	Default key
Toggle camera	`E`
Toggle camera UI	`H`
Toggle street overlay	`N`
Toggle hover assistance	`X`
Toggle orbit assistance	`O`
Toggle spotlight	`L`
Cycle spotlight colour	`K`
Cycle vision mode	`V`
Lock or unlock target	`SPACE`
Lock camera to ground	`T`
Place point of interest	`G`
Delete nearest marker	`DELETE`
Open debug tools	`F10`

All keybinds are configurable in config.lua.

Configuration

All settings are held in config.lua.

Core access

Config.AllowedHelicopters = {
    "polmav",
    "maverick"
}

Config.AllowedSeats = { -1, 0, 1, 2 }
Config.InstantLock = false

Camera

Config.Camera = {
    MinZoom = 1.0,
    MaxZoom = 30.0,
    DefaultZoom = 5.0,
    DefaultFOV = 50.0,
    MinFOV = 2.0,
    MaxFOV = 70.0,
    RotationSpeed = 3.0,
    RenderDistance = 1000.0
}

Tracking

Config.Tracking = {
    Enabled = true,
    LockDurationMs = 1200,
    TrackVehicles = true,
    TrackPeds = true,
    TrackingSpeed = 12.0,
    TargetingMaxDistanceVehicles = 1000.0,
    TargetingMaxDistancePeds = 1000.0,
    OcclusionEnabled = true,
    OcclusionGracePeriodMs = 3000
}

Vision

Config.Vision = {
    DefaultMode = "normal",
    NightVision = {
        Enabled = true,
        Intensity = 0.7
    },
    Thermal = {
        Enabled = true
    }
}

Spotlight

Config.Spotlight = {
    Enabled = true,
    SyncWithCamera = true,
    Brightness = 10.0,
    Range = 400.0,
    Radius = 10.0,
    Color = { 170, 185, 255 }
}

Points of interest

Config.POI = {
    Enabled = true,
    MaxPOIs = 10,
    ExpiryTime = 300,
    SyncToOthers = true
}

Rappelling

Config.Rappel = {
    Enabled = true,
    Keybind = "G",
    MinAltitude = 15,
    MaxAltitude = 150,
    AllowedSeats = { 1, 2 },
    SyncEnabled = true,
    AllowedHashes = {},
    DisableHashes = {}
}

Shared camera

Config.SharedCamera = {
    Enabled = true,
    SyncIntervalMs = 200,
    StateTimeoutMs = 300000,
    RestoreTrackedTarget = true,
    RestoreGroundLock = true,
    RestoreVisionMode = true
}

HUD integration

When es_hud is enabled, PolCam hides the normal player HUD while the camera is active:

exports.es_hud:hideHud('polcam')
exports.es_hud:showHud('polcam')

The pilot can optionally retain a forced aircraft HUD through:

exports.es_hud:setForceAircraftHud()

Example configuration:

Config.EsHud = {
    Enabled = true,
    AutoDetect = true,
    ShowAircraftHudForPilot = false,
    FallbackAircraftHud = false
}

Camera labels

Agency labels can be selected by vehicle model and livery index.

Config.CameraLabels = {
    Enabled = true,
    DefaultLabel = "LOS SANTOS POLICE DEPARTMENT",

    ModelLabels = {
        ["polmav"] = "LOS SANTOS POLICE DEPARTMENT",
        ["maverick"] = "SAN ANDREAS STATE POLICE"
    },

    LiveryLabels = {
        ["polmav"] = {
            [0] = "LSPD",
            [1] = "LSPD AIR-2",
            [2] = "VINEWOOD AIR UNIT"
        }
    }
}

Exports

Client exports

Export	Returns	Purpose
`IsPolCamActive()`	`boolean`	Whether the camera is active
`GetCurrentTarget()`	`entity, table`	Current target entity and metadata
`GetCameraHeading()`	`number`	Current camera heading
`IsRappelAvailable()`	`boolean`	Whether rappel conditions are satisfied
`IsRappeling()`	`boolean`	Whether the player is rappelling
`StartRappel()`	-	Starts a rappel
`ConvertSpeed(speed)`	`number`	Converts speed to configured units
`ConvertAltitude(altitude)`	`number`	Converts altitude to configured units
`ConvertDistance(distance)`	`number`	Converts distance to configured units
`OpenPolCamDebugMenu()`	-	Opens debug tools when enabled

Example:

local active = exports.polcam:IsPolCamActive()
local target, targetInfo = exports.polcam:GetCurrentTarget()

if active and target then
    print(("Tracking entity %s"):format(target))
end

Server exports

Export	Returns	Purpose
`GetActiveAirFeeds()`	`table`	Lists active airborne camera feeds
`GetAirFeedById(feedId)`	`table`	Returns one feed by identifier
`GetTrackedDatalinkTargets()`	`table`	Returns vehicles tracked by active feeds

Example:

local feeds = exports.polcam:GetActiveAirFeeds()

for _, feed in ipairs(feeds) do
    print(json.encode(feed))
end

Debugging

Debug tools are disabled by default.

Config.Debug = {
    Enabled = false,
    ToolsEnabled = false,
    ShowRaycast = true,
    ShowDetectionRadius = false,
    ShowHitPoint = false,
    ShowTargetBox = false,
    ShowDebugPanel = false,
    LogEvents = false,
    LogScans = false
}

When enabled, the resource can display raycasts, hit points, target bounds, detection radii and synchronisation state. The F10 debug menu requires es_lib.

Do not leave verbose debug logging enabled on a production server unless it is required for diagnosis.

Architecture

polcam/
├── client/
│   ├── camera.lua           # Camera lifecycle and movement
│   ├── vision.lua           # Night and thermal modes
│   ├── targeting.lua        # Entity acquisition and tracking
│   ├── spotlight.lua        # Searchlight control and sync
│   ├── helicontrol.lua      # Hover and orbit assistance
│   ├── poi.lua              # Shared world markers
│   ├── rappel.lua           # Rappel checks and execution
│   ├── streetoverlay.lua    # Location display
│   ├── sounds.lua           # Native audio cues
│   ├── debug.lua            # Diagnostic tools
│   └── main.lua             # Resource orchestration
├── server/
│   └── main.lua             # Air feeds, datalink and network state
├── html/
│   ├── index.html           # NUI structure
│   ├── style.css            # Camera interface
│   └── script.js            # NUI behaviour
├── config.lua
└── fxmanifest.lua

Performance considerations

The default configuration separates update work into fast, medium and slow intervals. Before lowering intervals:

Profile the resource with realistic player counts
Check spotlight and camera synchronisation traffic
Test several simultaneous air units
Confirm target scanning does not create avoidable entity-pool work
Keep debug rendering disabled in production

More frequent synchronisation is not automatically smoother if network latency or client frame time is already the limiting factor.

Compatibility

PolCam uses FiveM's Cerulean resource format and Lua 5.4.

The core resource is not tied directly to QBCore, Qbox or ESX. Server integrations can consume the provided client and server exports.

Project status

PolCam has been released publicly as a complete open-source resource. Maintenance and future feature development are best-effort rather than guaranteed.

Forks and pull requests are welcome, particularly where changes remain configurable and do not impose a specific server framework.

Contributing

When reporting an issue, include:

FiveM server artefact version
OneSync configuration
Helicopter model and seat
Relevant config.lua values
Whether es_lib, es_hud and nearest-postal are running
Client and server console output
Reproduction steps

Keep framework-specific behaviour behind configuration or an integration layer.

Licence

Cortex PolCam is released under the MIT Licence.

Credits

Designed and developed in collaboration with GSD Modifications.

Disclaimer

Cortex PolCam is an independent FiveM community resource. It is not affiliated with or endorsed by Rockstar Games, Take-Two Interactive or Cfx.re.

A capable air unit is useful. A configurable one is less troublesome.

Name		Name	Last commit message	Last commit date
Latest commit History 21 Commits
client		client
html		html
server		server
.gitattributes		.gitattributes
.gitignore		.gitignore
LICENSE		LICENSE
README.md		README.md
config.lua		config.lua
fxmanifest.lua		fxmanifest.lua

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Cortex PolCam

A synchronised FLIR-style police helicopter camera system for FiveM

Overview

Features

Camera system

Vision modes

Target tracking

Spotlight

Helicopter assistance

Multi-crew operation

Points of interest

Rappelling

Dependencies

Installation

Default controls

Configuration

Core access

Camera

Tracking

Vision

Spotlight

Points of interest

Rappelling

Shared camera

HUD integration

Camera labels

Exports

Client exports

Server exports

Debugging

Architecture

Performance considerations

Compatibility

Project status

Contributing

Licence

Credits

Disclaimer

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