GTA RP: How to play on GTA 5 roleplaying servers

GTA RP, which stands for "roleplay," is a popular way to play Grand Theft Auto Online that has been changed. GTA Online is often one of the most-watched channels on Twitch, and most of the best GTA streamers play RP. In February 2023, the biggest GTA RP mod, FiveM, said that it had 269,097 players at once, which was more than it had ever had before. That's almost twice as many people playing GTA 5 without any changes.

In GTA RP, players, and streamers make a character with a personality and a backstory. They then take jobs in the world of GTA 5, pretending to be everything from cab drivers to paramedics to fishermen to real estate agents. Yes, even police officers and criminals. As players interact with each other in the world, they create a shared story on servers that can hold anywhere from 32 to hundreds of players.

Joe Donnelly once tried to start a fight club on a GTA RP server, got a job as a mob tailor, and became a lawyer for a serial killer, if you want some fun examples (opens in new tab). He said that the best way to enjoy GTA 5 is to work a 9-to-5 job in GTA RP (opens in a new tab).

If you've seen GTA RP on Twitch or just heard about it and want to try it for yourself, here's how to get started.

What you need for GTA RP

• A copy of GTA 5
• A working mic (almost always, see below)
• A Discord account
• FiveM(opens in new tab), a GTA 5 mod

What is GTA RP?

Even though it takes place in the familiar world of GTA 5, playing on a GTA RP server is a completely different experience. You shouldn't shoot first and ask questions later in GTA RP. You won't usually be blowing up cars, killing police officers, or stealing jets. Don't think that you will kill other players often or that you will be killed often. If you break the law, you are more likely to be caught and taken to court than to get into a gunfight. If you are hurt, you may need to go to a hospital and see a doctor.

The goal of GTA 5 RP is to make the game feel more "real," almost like a simulation in some ways. You can get a job, rent an apartment, talk to other players, make friends, and try out your acting and improv skills. AI still controls NPCs on GTA RP servers, just like in GTA 5, and you're basically playing one of these citizens.

How to get into GTA RP

1. Own a copy of GTA 5. It sounds obvious, but before you can play GTA RP, the FiveM mod will need to validate your copy of GTA 5.

2. Make sure you have a working microphone. There are some exceptions, but nearly all GTA RP servers rely on voice chat. In some cases, you may even be kicked from an RP server if it doesn't detect that you have your voice settings on when you begin playing. There are a few text-based GTA servers, but in general, if you play GTA RP you should expect to do a lot of talking.

3. Have a Discord account. Most servers will require you to link your Discord account to play, and many use it for sharing server news and information, interviewing players, and communicating with each other outside of the game.

4. Download and install FiveM. It's the most popular mod for GTA RP and allows you to play multiplayer GTA 5 on custom dedicated servers. The mod won't actually alter your copy of GTA 5, so you'll still be able to play GTA Online unmodded without any issues.

5. Find a server. FiveM's server list will let you filter by language and show how many players are on each server, along with a description of what sort of roleplay that server has. Each server will have its own rules and requirements, and sometimes different types of roleplay scenarios. 

Many servers require you to complete an application process and even an interview before you can join. They'll also almost always have a Discord or a link to documentation so you can find the rules for applying and playing on a server. Further down this page, we've listed some other popular GTA RP servers.

6. Learn the rules. Remember you're not joining a server to play GTA Online: This is a roleplay experience and there are typically lots of different rules for each server. For an example of some pretty common server rules, have a look at TwitchRP's list of GTA RP rules.

7. Create a character for yourself: not just their looks and clothing but their personality, backstory, and goals. What sort of job do you want? What sort of person is your character? Remember that while you're playing you should always remain in character: no asking other players how the controls work (that would be immersion-breaking) or passing along information you've learned outside of the game (such as the plans for a bank heist you saw on someone else's stream).

You'll want to find a job, which can vary between all sorts of occupations. Cab or Uber driver, bartender, delivery driver, EMT, and yes, there are criminal jobs like drug dealers or bank robbers, and gangs you may be able to join as well. Most servers also have the police force, and they tend to take their roleplaying very seriously, often interviewing prospects in character and performing in-game training.

Popular GTA RP servers

NoPixel is probably the most well-known because of famous streamers like Lirik and Summit, but it's also one of the hardest to join because there aren't many applications and you have to wait a long time.
Eclipse RP is a 200-player server that has a bigger shared world than NoPixel's 32-player servers, but not as many features. There may be a long wait to get on a "whitelist."
GTA World is one of the few text-based RP servers, so it's a good choice for people who don't want to use a microphone.
Mafia City is a good place for people who are new to RP to try it out. It uses the Rage mod instead of FiveM, and there are no NPCs controlled by AI in the world.
New Day RP is a role-playing server that takes itself pretty seriously. There are even political events, like elections for governor, on the server, which has just been updated with new features.

There's no "best" GTA RP server

There is no one GTA RP server that everyone loves or that is the "right" one that everyone should play on. It really depends on what you want from roleplaying and how seriously you want to take it. Depending on what you're looking for, some server rules may seem too strict, while others may not be enforced strongly enough.

The servers listed above are a good place to start, but the best way to find out if a server is right for you is to connect with its community and spend time watching players from those servers on Twitch to make sure it fits your style of roleplaying.