Arma 3 Alive Dedicated Server

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  • ALiVE Data works on both Windows and Linux servers. There are optional pbo's included for server admins to autostart data in all missions, even if the data module is not placed. Mission Persistence requires the ALiVE Data module to be placed and can store persistence data either locally or in the cloud.
  • Arma 3 mod variants We have integrated a custom mod installation utility into our control panel which gives our clients the ability to install workshop mods onto their server in just a few clicks. Mods such as Exile, Epoch, and Altis Life are fully integrated into our control panel as automated installations.
  1. Arma 3 Alive Tutorial
  2. Arma 3 Alive Dedicated Server 1

ArmA 3,which was developed by the Czech development studio Bohemia Interactive, is a mix of tactical-shooter and military simulation sandbox. The game was released on September 12, 2013 as a successor of ArmA 2. All of our ArmA 3 server are run on high spec enterprise servers, making our ArmA 3 servers the best in the world.


Headless Client Overview

  • Headless Client is used to offload AI calculations from the server instance
  • Headless Client is integrated into game client and dedicated server executable (WIndows and Linux, use -client parameter)
  • The server doesn't allow arbitrary connections from headless clients if you do not define the headless clients IPs in the server.cfg, the below value defines accepted IP Addresses from Headless Clients.
Arma 3 alive dedicated server ip

Multiple Connections and Addresses are allowed in the case of more than one Headless Client

  • Additionally to define clients with unlimited bandwidth and nearly no latency you must include theirs IPs in the server.cfg too:
  • Missions need to be changed a little to support headless clients:
    • extract AI to separate AI script
    • edit init.sqf to execute an extracted AI on headless client
    • place headless client unit
  • in scripts the headless clients may be identified by its name, multiple headless clients are supported
  • next sections will show you how to use Headless Client


Prerequisites

  • read these tutorials (at least the first one):


Spawning the AI

  1. Add a Headless Client entity to the mission:
    1. Add a player unit
    2. Then you can insert a Headless Client unit: SIDE: Game Logic, CLASS: Virtual Entities, UNIT: Headless Client, CONTROL: Playable, NAME: somename
    3. Don't forget to set NAME property as the name can be used to identify Headless Clients in scripts (by checking it against player)
    4. Each Headless Client unit will add one Headless Client slot - missions may contain multiple Headless Client units
  2. Create a script that will spawn AI (in the examples below we will use 'init_HC.sqf'). To execute it on the Headless Client you have the two following options.
    Execute the script at mission start
    • This method will make your mission spawn the AI only if a Headless Client is present. However it is the most simple to set up.
    1. Add the following to the beginning of init.sqf:
      if (!hasInterface && !isServer) then
      {
      execVM 'init_HC.sqf';
      };
    Execute the script via a mission parameter
    • If you intend to share your mission this method is more desirable as it means players do not need a Headless Client to play it.
    1. First define a function to be used to run the headless client script file. Here's what it should look like in description.ext: The reason we want to define a function is because it can be used within the mission parameter framework to execute the AI spawning script as soon as possible while still allowing the mission to reliably work with or without a headless client.
    2. Add the following code to your function: if ((_thisselect 0) 1) then
      { // Run on the HC only
      if !(isServerorhasInterface) then
      {
      execVM 'init_HC.sqf';
      };
      } else {
      // Run on the server only
      if (isServer) then
      {
      execVM 'init_HC.sqf';
      };
      };
      This code will be passed the value of the mission parameter defined in the next step, which is where the magic variable _this comes from. It executes the AI spawning script based on the value of the parameter and whether the local machine is the server or a headless client.
    3. Finally define a mission parameter that players can use to enable/disable use of the headless client. Here's what it should look like in description.ext:

The two important values here are 'function' and 'isGlobal'. The function value must correspond to the name of the function defined in step 1. The isGlobal value must be set to 1 so that the function is ran by all machines. This means that the function is executed on any headless clients as well as the server so that it can decide where it is suitable to execute the AI spawning script (based on the value of the parameter).

  1. Repeat step 1 for the amount of Headless Clients your mission is designed to use. For multiple you must use the NAME property from step 1 to identify them individually within init_HC.sqf


Server

  1. add headless client IP address into server.cfg (you can use more than one address):
  2. to run Arma3 Dedicated Server use one of these commands:Windows: arma3server.exe -config=server.cfg
    Windows: arma3.exe -server -config=server.cfg
    Linux: arma3server -config=server.cfg


Headless Client

  1. to run Arma3 Headless Client use one of these commands:Windows: arma3server.exe -client -connect=xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx -password=yourpass
    Windows: arma3.exe -client -connect=xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx -password=yourpass
    Linux: arma3server -client -connect=xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx -password=yourpass
  2. your client will be automatically connected to a free headless client slot
  3. you can run arbitrary number of headless clients on the same machine


Overview of running options

  • Main game executable (windows only)arma3.exe
    arma3.exe -server
    arma3.exe -client
  • Windows server executablearma3server.exe
    arma3server.exe -client
  • Linux server executablearma3server
    arma3server -client


Mods

Headless clients are excluded from signature verification, therefore any mod can be used with the '-mod=' option.

'-serverMod=' does not work when used alongside '-client'.


GUI

  • Headless clients can be seen in the Role assignment display when creating a MP game
    • If you are admin (host)
      • You will see HCs listed in the Players list on the right
      • You will see a category called Virtual (it can contain both Zeus and HCs) on the left
      • Note: HCs are automatically assigned to their slots
    • If you are normal player
      • You won't see any HCs anywhere
      • You won't see any Virtual category (if the mission contains Zeus then there will be Zeus category)
  • In-game UI
    • HCs are listed with other players only if you are admin (map, tasks, kill statistics, ...)


Known issues

  • what needs to be somewhat tested/determined/improved/changed is disconnect & reconnect of HC and all related to that


Feedback


See Also

Retrieved from 'https://community.bistudio.com/wiki?title=Arma_3_Headless_Client&oldid=124568'
So I am currently trying to figure out how to do the War Room setup, this way I can have persistent saving of stats as well as positions of objects/players/etc. Currently our server does not save/display stats on War Room or anything.
I am currently at the part that states:
Server Name
- This should be entered as it appears in your server.cfg file, i.e. what the Arma 3 MP server name is listed as.
Hostname
- This should be the actual machine name of your server, i.e. run hostname from the command prompt
IP Address

Arma 3 Alive Tutorial


- The external IP address of your Arma 3 dedicated server. We only support dedicated servers for War Room.

Arma 3 Alive Dedicated Server 1


Notes
Add any additional information here like Teamspeak IP:port, times its available, public game times, etc.
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I put the exact server name, with inf38th.game.nfoservers.com being the host and then the actual number IP for the address. But it does not work. I have a feeling it has to do something with the hostname. Any ideas?