Utilities

Utilities are the small, sharp tools that sit around your server's core rather than replacing part of it — HUDs, crosshairs, notification systems, keybind helpers, quality-of-life fixes, and the odd standalone gadget.

Almost everyone, which is the trouble with them. A utility is usually the first paid script a new server buys, because it is cheap, it is visible, and it does not demand that you restructure anything. That also makes this the category where impulse purchases pile up: five overlapping HUDs, three notification systems, and a handful of scripts nobody remembers enabling, all of them running every frame.

Overlap first. Most utilities draw something on screen or hook a key, and a good number of them will collide with what your framework already provides — QBCore and ESX both ship a HUD, an inventory, and a notification system, and bolting a second one on top usually means disabling the first properly rather than letting the two argue. Then check the dependency list: a small script that pulls in ox_lib or a target system is not small once you count what it drags behind it. Finally look at whether the config is exposed or escrowed, because a utility you cannot reconfigure is a utility you will end up replacing.

Utilities are the easiest category in which to overspend and the easiest in which to measure whether you should have. Install it, run resmon, and watch its cost while the server is busy. A script that draws a UI every frame is doing work whether or not anyone is looking at it, and a handful of those together will cost you more than the one big gameplay system you were worried about.