Section 2: Voice Chat Activation

2.1 Setting Up Your Voice Chat

(Keywords: Voice, Chat, Mic, Microphone, Talk, Speak)

There are times in which you won’t need to do this, but especially as a new FiveM user or if you have just installed FiveM (or re-installed it), you may realize that pressing N (or your alternate push to talk keybind) with your mic unmuted doesn’t result in the other people nearby hearing you. We use proximity voice chat, so we recommend having a 2nd user nearby in the GTA5 world to ensure you haven’t missed any steps. You can always join support and ask a staff member to volunteer.

When it comes to activating your mic, the process is quite simple: You simply need to know how to do it in the pause menu like GTA Online. This guide isn’t going to leave you hanging, so here are the steps in case you are still unsure of what to do: Press your pause button, navigate to Settings, go down to Voice Chat. Enable Voice chat if all options below it are grayed out. Further steps will be listed in the next section.

If you have previously configured your output device and it is working properly, but your microphone isn’t, skip to Section 2.3

2.2 Setting Up Output Audio Devices

(Keywords: Help, Menu, Commands, FAQ, Changes, Keybinds, Rules, About)

Now that voice chat is enabled, you will be able to set up your audio output device for voice chat. For the Output Device, scroll until you find the name of your device. Usually this is the make and model of your headphones, or if you are seeing something like “Realtek Audio Device” or anything with Realtek, unless you are using a device with S/PDIF (the optical, light-based sound transfer standard), you should not pick the Digital output if it’s a choice. The next few options under Output Device are completely based on preference, though it is recommended to turn your voice chat up and keep the volumes while talking very low to enhance the clarity of the nearby user (If you need help, stop and ask either a staff member or a developer to help you. If you do not have a mic, stop here, it won’t matter until you have one (and Creative Life RP prohibits RPing without a microphone).

2.3 Setting Up Input Audio Devices

(Keywords: Help, Menu, Commands, FAQ, Changes, Keybinds, Rules, About)

To start, this section may be useful in the event that the game stops recognizing your microphone as your active one, or if you are following the guide since the start of Section 2. Once you are in the following location: Pause Menu > Settings > Voice Chat, scroll down to Input Device. If it is grayed out, go to Section 2.1. Once you have highlighted the Input Device option, scroll until you find the name of your device. Usually this is the make and model of your headphones, dedicated microphone, or even your soundboard. 

For Blue Yeti users like the developer artistically writing this document, it may appear as “USB Advanced Audio Device”- this is a common problem from a few minutes of prior research on the issue. The Microphone itself may forget its name over time. The microphone will still work as long as the rest of the settings are properly adjusted, so simply ignore the generic name and carry on with doing quality RP. The same goes for anyone who does not see the correct name, but it is the correct setting.

Two of the most commonly forgotten settings to adjust after choosing your microphone/input device are the Volume slider and the Sensitivity slider. Please do not leave these as low as possible or as high as possible. Your microphone will either not work, or it will deafen people. The recommended balance is to put the Volume slider at 1/2 or 5/8, where you may need to fine tune this or adjust your Windows-version of this setting, and the sensitivity should be based on two factors: Whether you use Voice Activation or Push To Talk, and your background noise if you use Voice Activation. You WILL need to fine tune this, but for the average user, 5/8 to 7/8 should be the recommended positions. And remember: Ask for assistance if you are unsure of how you will sound. Developers and Staff are qualified to solve problems in-game, so do not hesitate to ask.

Note: Section 4 was typed from memory, so it will be updated later if something is missing. Thankfully, 99% of that is from a guide I wrote in 2020, and I still haven’t seen any issues with accuracy- it’s 2026 now!