Impound Heist Troubleshooting & FAQ
Console warnings
A few seconds after boot the heist checks its own setup and prints anything that would otherwise fail silently in front of a player. Every line starts with [vs-impound-heist].
| Console line | Meaning | Fix |
|---|---|---|
vs-impoundjob is not started, so there are no yards to rob. | The Impound Job is not running. The heist stays dormant and the fixer says there is no work. | Start vs-impoundjob directly before vs-impound-heist. |
vs-impoundjob is running but did not answer GetLots(). | The Impound Job started but failed to hand over its yards. | Check the Impound Job's own console output for a boot error. |
No impound lots exist yet. | No yard has been built. | Build a lot in the Impound Job Creator (/impoundcreator). |
No yard is robbable yet. | Lots exist, but none is switched on, has a gate picked, and has a free parking bay. | See What a yard needs to be robbable. |
WARNING: no supported framework core was found, so a crew cannot be paid. | None of es_extended, qbx_core or qb-core is running. | Start your framework core. |
Framework resolved late | Your core started after the heist; it was picked up. | Informational. Move the core above the heist in server.cfg. |
The heist wants an item called "..." and your inventory does not have one. | An item in Config.Items is not registered in ox_inventory. | Add it: see Items. |
Config.Locale is "..." but no locales/....lua was loaded. | The language file is missing or not refreshed. | Check the file exists, then refresh and restart vs-impound-heist. |
oxmysql is not available / reputation table could not be created | The database is down or refused the table. | Fix the database connection. The heist runs meanwhile, with everyone as a Stranger. |
Config.Prices names "...", which is not a category | A typo in Config.Prices. That price is ignored. | Use one of the eleven category names. |
Config.Vehicles puts ... in "...", which is not a category. | A typo in a car's category. | Use one of the eleven category names. |
the saved heist setup could not be read; using config.lua. | The setup saved in the Creator is unreadable. | Re-save it in the Creator's HEIST panel. |
Common issues
| Symptom | Likely cause | Fix |
|---|---|---|
| Fixer: "Nothing worth taking right now." | No yard qualifies: switched off, no gate picked, no free bay, or every yard is cooling down. | Open the Creator's HEIST panel, Yard tab: each lot lists what keeps it out under "The fixer will not name this yard". Cooldowns clear on restart. |
| Fixer: "Too quiet out there..." | Minimum police is on and not met. | Lower Config.MinPolice.required, check the job names, or turn it off. |
| Fixer: "No buyer on the books." | The car list is empty. | Add cars in Config.Vehicles or the Rewards tab. |
| Fixer: "Something is already running." | One contract runs per server. | Wait, or clear a stuck one with /impheistreset. |
| Fixer: "Give me a minute." | The yard list has not arrived from the Impound Job yet. | Wait a few seconds after a restart; if it persists, see the GetLots() warning above. |
| The fixer is not there | He is switched off or unplaced, or Config.Fixer = false. | Place him and turn on "Handing out work" in the Contract tab. A ped model that will not load falls back to a_m_m_business_01. |
| Nobody sells a signal box | The supplier was never placed (Config.Shop.coords ships empty). | Place him in the Supplier tab. He only appears for a crew in preparation. |
| No cars appear in the yard | No crew member is within 250 m yet, an anti-cheat blocks client-created networked vehicles, or a car model is invalid. | Drive to the yard. Allow script-created entities (sv_entityLockdown must not be strict). Check the model names in the car list. |
| Only the mark in the yard, or fewer decoys than set | The yard has few free bays, or the car list is short. Decoys are always different models from the mark. | Lay more bays, add more models, or raise Config.Yard.decoys. |
| Microcamera: "Nothing to photograph right now." | It only works during preparation, before the mark is photographed. | Expected after the photograph, or outside a contract. |
| Microcamera: "Too far away." / "Nothing in frame." | Over 45 m, or no car in the centre frame with a clear line of sight. | Get closer, use the zoom, keep walls out of the way. |
| Using an item does nothing | The item is missing its client.export, or the folder was renamed. | Fix the ox_inventory definition; keep the folder named vs-impound-heist. |
| Signal box: "There is nothing to open with this." | The job is not live yet. | Report back to the fixer and wait for his green light first. |
| Signal box: "You are too far from the yard's gates." | Over 25 m from every gate of the yard. | Get closer to any gate. |
| The tuner never opens | vs-minigames is missing or out of date. | Update vs-minigames so StartFrequencyTuner is present. |
| Gates still solid after the lock | The gate was placed before the Creator picked props, so the heist cannot find its model. | Re-pick the yard gate in the Impound Job Creator. Gates are released as the crew comes within 80 m of each. |
| Safe rows on the board, but no note anywhere | An NPC Staffed lot with a safe, no post-its, and no boss terminal to fall back on. | Place at least one post-it on the Yard tab, or choose "No safe in this job". |
| The safe opens but the door does not move | The safe is a bare point, not a picked prop. | Re-pick the safe prop in the Creator. |
| Buyer: "Not here." | You are not inside the drop-off circle. | Walk up to him. |
| Buyer: "Bring the car to me." | The car is more than a few metres from you. | Park it right in front of him. |
| Buyer: "That car has not even been started." | The car was never hot-wired. | Finish "Start the engine". |
| Buyer floating or in the ground | Placeholder or badly captured drop-off coordinates. | Re-place him in the Drop-offs tab, standing where you want his feet. |
| Delivered, paid nothing | No framework core detected. | See the framework warning above. |
| Standing never goes up | Database unavailable, reputation disabled, or you are looking at a crewmate's tier. | Check the console. Tier perks follow the player who took the job. |
| Edits to config.lua do nothing | The Creator's saved setup overrides those fields. | Change them in the Creator, or press Reset to config.lua. |
| Police never alerted | Wrong job names, the alert disabled, or the chosen trigger never happened. | Match Config.PoliceAlert.jobs to your framework's job names exactly. |
/impheistreset does nothing in game | The player is not allowed the group.admin ACE. | See Admin Commands. The console always works. |
FAQ
Does it need the Impound Job?
Yes. The yards, their gates, bays and safes, and the Creator the heist is set up from all come from the Impound Job (vs-impoundjob).
Does it need the Los Santos Impound map? No. Any yard built in the Impound Job works. The Los Santos Impound MLO adds a safe door that swings open. See Compatibility.
Does a robbery steal a real impounded car? No. The target and the decoys are spawned for the contract in the yard's empty bays, and removed when it ends. Nothing in the Impound Job's database is read or changed.
Does it work with qb-target or qb-inventory? No. ox_target and ox_inventory are required.
How many players does it need?
One to four by default. Everyone within 12 m of whoever takes the contract is swept in, up to Config.Crew.max. Higher standing allows up to two more.
Can two crews run it at once? No. One contract runs on the server at a time.
Does a failed heist cost anything? No. A lapsed or failed contract pays nothing and costs nothing, and standing is never lost.
Can I set it up without editing files?
Mostly, yes. Positions, cars, prices, clocks, police rules and each yard's safe and post-its are all in the Creator's HEIST panel. The language, items, reputation ladder, blips and camera stay in config/config.lua.
Is the config escrow-locked?
No. config/config.lua and locales/*.lua are left open via escrow_ignore. Do not edit any other file.
Can it share reputation with the Laundromat Heist? Yes. Set the same clan id in both. See Payouts & Reputation.
How to report a bug
Open a ticket on Discord with:
- Your framework and the versions of the heist, the Impound Job,
vs-minigamesandvs-npc-dialogue. - Your
config/config.lua(or the sections you changed), and whether you have saved anything in the Creator's HEIST panel. - The F8 client console and server console output around the problem. Set
Config.Debug = trueto include the heist's internal trace. - Exact steps to reproduce, and which yard it happened at.