[Bug] GTAV Enhanced: replace_level_meta crashes when images.meta is loaded from a resource

[uguranlar]

Summary

On FiveM for GTAV Enhanced, replace_level_meta crashes the client during loading when the stock images.meta XInclude is changed to a resources:/ path—even when that resource copy is byte-for-byte identical to the current Enhanced stock file.

Issue type

Client

Repro rate

Always

Server build version

Current Alchemist / GTAV Enhanced server build downloaded 2026-07-20 (exact numeric build unavailable while server is offline)

OS

Microsoft Windows 11 Pro 10.0.26200

CPU

AMD Ryzen 5 7500F 6-Core Processor

GPU

NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 Ti

RAM

32 GB

Storage type

SSD NVMe

Connection type

None

ISP and bandwidth

No response

DxDiag

No response

Network graph

No response

Platform

Windows

OS version / distribution

Microsoft Windows 11 Pro 10.0.26200

CPU

AMD Ryzen 5 7500F 6-Core Processor

RAM

32 GB

Using txAdmin?

Yes

Hosting provider

Self-hosted

Machine type

Dedicated

/perf endpoint output

No response

DDoS protection

No response

ulimit -n value (Linux only)

No response

Docker Compose file (Docker only)

No response

Steps to Reproduce

1. Extract the current GTAV Enhanced files from update/update.rpf:
   • common/data/levels/gta5/gta5.meta
   • common/data/levels/gta5/images.meta
2. Put both files in a resource.
3. Use this manifest:

fx_version 'cerulean'
game 'gta5'

files {
'gta5.meta',
'images.meta'
}

replace_level_meta 'gta5'

4. In gta5.meta, change only:

<xi:include href="commoncrc:/data/levels/gta5/images.meta" xpointer="xpointer(/dataFiles)"/>

to:

<xi:include href="resources:/enhanced_level_meta_repro/images.meta" xpointer="xpointer(/dataFiles)"/>

5. Ensure the resource and connect with the Enhanced client.

The copied images.meta is byte-for-byte identical to the current stock Enhanced file and still contains all 865 entries. No RPF is removed in this minimal reproduction.

Expected Behavior

The Enhanced client should load the resource-backed images.meta exactly like the byte-identical commoncrc stock file, or reject the override with a clear error. It should not crash.

Actual Behavior

The client crashes after the loading screen with EXCEPTION_ACCESS_VIOLATION.

All three controlled minidumps resolve to:

• Module: GTA5_Enhanced.exe
• Offset: +0xC6FACA
• Absolute exception address in the tested build: 0x7ff6e2c9faca

Switching only the include path back to commoncrc:/data/levels/gta5/images.meta lets the same client join successfully.

Evidence

Cfx report code for the byte-identical resource-backed images.meta test:
a8dc1599-fe89-461d-b884-bae19049b451

Cfx report code for the reduced inline image-list test:
15936fb9-b00c-4ae7-8fa7-5b9ed23877d5

Three controlled local minidumps reproduce the same EXCEPTION_ACCESS_VIOLATION at GTA5_Enhanced.exe+0xC6FACA. Full dumps can be provided privately/on request.

Additional Context

Control matrix:

• Exact current Enhanced gta5.meta with the stock commoncrc images.meta include: works.
• Same gta5.meta with only the include changed to a resource-backed byte-identical stock images.meta (all 865 entries): deterministic crash.
• Stock images include removed; 204 required non-city entries inlined while 661 _citye, _cityw and _hills entries are omitted: same crash and same offset.
• disabled=true duplicates after stock loading: no crash, but already loaded base RPFs remain mounted.
• filesToInvalidate from a normal server resource: no effect because the custom change set is not part of the active setup2 group.

This blocks the legacy total-conversion workflow used to remove the Los Santos base map. The fallback—streaming thousands of empty YMAP/YBN/YTD replacements plus RemoveIpl—has much higher download, indexing, loading and runtime overhead.

File hashes from the controlled test:

• Primary Enhanced gta5.meta: SHA-256 50A3AD1A20F00FE706EC2AB3E7DBD9A698987EF5BFCCD230AF0D5522C8B18822
• Stock Enhanced images.meta: SHA-256 54FA82EBB7B3B5F4288CEC695C4B263A1CF29B727CD758278B5F30BF2E15E11D
• Enhanced game cache: gamecache_gen9/1158_13
• GTA5_Enhanced.exe module timestamp: 0x6a4f97f6
• OneSync: on

[seifhassine]

I am experiencing the same issue.

[uguranlar]

Did you came up with a solution ?. I think only way to remove default map is to override all files which is not optimal way to do.

[seifhassine]

Did you came up with a solution ?. I think only way to remove default map is to override all files which is not optimal way to do.

No, all we can do is wait

[seifhassine]

Looks like this issue got buried so I'm bumping it. Any feedback from the devs is appreciated of course!

[uguranlar]

They broke legacy version as well. Mounting wasnt working but in process it was removing existing images meta. So it was working for me. I hope they fix this so i can continue on my project

[Gogsi]

A fix for this bug has been implemented and is available in Hotfix 5. Please try again and let us know if the issue persists. Thanks for your help!

[uguranlar]

Thanks!