Documentation
What every Arcade Creator console message means and how to fix it: the interior not loading, missing database tables, ace permissions, machines that will not place, plushie items and garage keys.
Almost every problem announces itself by name. The arcade writes what it detected, what it refused and why, to the server console on start and to the F8 console as you play. Before anything else, read both from the top.
Turning on Config.Debug in config/config.lua adds a lot more detail and unlocks /qsarcade. Turn it back off afterwards — it is noisy on a live server.
The console says:
the arcade interior is not loaded. Start arcade_interior.Arcade Creator is two resources. arcade_interior loads the game's own arcade interior and must be started, before qs-arcades, in server.cfg. It ships in the same download.
The database was never imported. Run sql/database.sql against your database and restart. The same message appears for a missing column on qs_arcade_points — the resource tries to add it itself first, and only complains if the database user has no permission to alter tables.
Check that the user in your connection string can CREATE and ALTER, not just read and write rows.
QSA.Machines module is not loaded. Run "refresh" then "restart qs-arcades".The server is running a half-updated copy: some files are new and some are the old ones still cached. Type refresh in the server console, then restart qs-arcades. If it survives that, the folder was replaced while the server was running — stop the server, replace it, start again.
Detection only sees resources that are already started. Your framework is listed after qs-arcades in server.cfg, so it was invisible at that moment. Move it above.
If you renamed your framework resource, add your own name to the table in config/config.lua and keep the bridge name on the right:
local frameworks = {
['es_extended'] = 'esx',
['qb-core'] = 'qb',
['qbx_core'] = 'qb',
['my-core'] = 'qb', -- your renamed resource
}The server console names the player and prints the exact line you need:
Quasar (12) tried to open the creator without ace "command.arcadecreator".
Grant it with: add_ace <group> command.arcadecreator allowAdd it to server.cfg and restart. Two things catch people out: the ace follows the command name, so renaming the command in Settings → Commands means renaming the ace too; and the player has to actually be in the group you granted it to.
Staff rights are per arcade, not per server. Open the business panel at that venue, find them under Staff, and check the switch for what they are trying to do. A manager at one arcade has no rights at another.
The rights a new hire starts with are set in Settings → Employees, and most of them ship off on purpose.
Working as intended. Not every cabinet fits every slot: the wide ones — the light gun, the three racers and CamHedz — need a pair of slots, the street cabinets only go in the quad bays, and the prize machines have their own spots.
If a machine fits nowhere at all, no preview is drawn and the slot counter shows the raw total instead of the fitting ones. That usually means every slot it could use is already taken.
qs-clawmachine is not started, so "claw_01" will not appear in arcade native_paleto.
Add it to your server.cfg.The resource that owns the machine is not running. If it is running and you still see this, it answered too late or with an old version:
qs-clawmachine did not answer. Restart it: it needs the version that
knows about arcade machines.Update that resource and restart it. A machine sitting slightly wrong is nudged into place with /arcadetune, which prints the offset to paste back into shared/external.lua.
Another resource is activating the same interior entity sets. Two scripts fighting over the arcade's walls, lights and furniture produce exactly this, and no setting fixes it — one of them has to go.
Type /arcadesets inside the venue to see which entity sets are active right now, and compare that with what the decor is supposed to be.
The branding — the picture on the laptop and the playlist on the big screen — belongs to the six real arcade locations. A venue built somewhere new has none of its own, so it uses the default.
Build it on the spot of a vanilla arcade and it picks that one up automatically. To pin a venue elsewhere to a particular look, copy its id from the creator panel into Config.ArcadeBrandPinned in shared/interior.lua.
Messages like Axe of Fury cannot find the cabinet or cabinet 1: ... does not contain the gun clips mean the game's own arcade assets did not stream in.
Almost always one of three things: a stale or incomplete game cache on that client, a mod replacing the Casino Heist DLC props, or the player's game being older than the DLC. The script falls back to a generic animation rather than breaking, so the game stays playable.
If the resource fell back to standalone, nothing is charged at all — fix the load order first. If a framework was detected, which account each payment touches is set in Settings → Money, per kind of payment: buying an arcade, buying a machine, paying per play and emptying the safe can each use a different one.
Three things have to line up: an inventory has to be detected, the switch for that plushie has to be on in Settings → Plushies, and the item has to exist in your inventory's own item list. The nine names are cat_purple, cat_green, cat_blue, cat_brown, cat_yellow, cat_red, princess_robo, shiny_wasabi and master_plush.
The plushie still counts towards the trophies and still appears on the office desk either way. /clawwin forces a win so you can test this without feeding the machine.
No key system was detected, or two are running and the arcade picked the other one. Never run two at once. If yours is renamed, add its resource name to the key table in config/config.lua.
The Garage upgrade has to be bought from the office laptop first. After that, check Settings → Garage: the master switch, how close you must stand to store or take out a vehicle, and whether the venue's front door accepts cars at all. A venue with no separate garage entrance placed in the creator needs that last switch on.
Photos need screenshot-basic running and a hosting token set in server/webhook.lua. Without either, the step is skipped and the venue simply sells with no pictures — its name, district and price are still shown.
Name the arcade before pressing Take photo; the button refuses while the name is empty.
Only happens to the six that ship with the resource. sql/database.sql seeds them with INSERT IGNORE, so re-importing the file puts back any of them you deleted. Import it once, at install, and never again.
Check the blip switch in the creator form — a venue can be placed deliberately without one. Then run arcadepoints in the server console: if the venue is listed there, the server has it and the problem is the blip; if it is not, the save never completed.
Collect these before opening a ticket, and most problems are answered in the first reply:
The server console from the moment qs-arcades starts, not just the red lines.
The F8 console from the client where it goes wrong.
The output of /arcadeinfo inside the venue.
Your framework, inventory and key system, and where each sits in server.cfg relative to the arcade.
Whether it also happens with every other resource stopped.