ALiVE.OS · ALiVE 3 Development
Player FOBs
Players deploy their own forward operating bases, build them up from supply, and have to hold them: enemy commanders hunt them and can take them.
New in ALiVE 3
ALiVE 3 is in active development. This briefing describes work in progress, and the behaviour it covers is subject to change as testing continues. Check the changelog at the foot of the page for what has moved recently.
On this page
Overview
What Player FOBs does
Player FOBs lets players set up their own forward bases. A player standing by a FOB kit deploys a FOB: a headquarters building goes up, the side's AI Commanders take it on as an objective and send men to hold it, and the side's players see it on the map. Inside its build range the FOB's supply pays for fortifications, supply points, static weapons, cars and trucks, and with a Build List Preset that allows them, armour, boats, helicopters and planes, all priced from the game's own config so mod content is included.
A FOB has to be kept. Enemy commanders, insurgents included, go after one once their men find it; enemy soldiers left unopposed inside its capture radius take it over, supply and all. A destroyed headquarters must be repaired in time or the FOB is lost. Supply comes from crates, from Military Logistics trucks when it runs low, or from the force pool, and everything is saved with the mission.
Player FOBs
A FOB's life, from kit to dismantle
A FOB starts as a kit, grows with the supply you bring it, and has to be held: enemy commanders hunt it once their men find it. Packed up, it gives its kit back.
- KitsA Field HQ (any object synced to Player FOBs) hands out kits and supply crates, the Player Combat Logistics tablet orders them, or a mission maker places them in Eden. Deploying uses the kit up: it becomes the headquarters.
- DeployingA copy of the headquarters follows you, green where it can go and red where it can't, and the hint says why: too far from the kit, in water, too steep, too near another FOB, or your side already has as many as it may. With a FOB Deploy Time set, you kneel while a bar counts down; by default walking away stops it.
- SupplyEverything built, every upgrade and the garrison are paid from the FOB's supply. Crates are unloaded into it; Military Logistics sends a truck when it falls below the Resupply Threshold. In force pool mode it spends your faction's pool instead.
- TiersEach tier holds more supply and unlocks more to build. Tier 2 brings a garrison that holds the FOB; tier 3 is a place Military Logistics supplies from, and by default a respawn point (Respawn Point moves that, and a FOB type can set its own tier and supply).
- Held, or takenEnemy commanders get the FOB as an objective once their men find it (Enemy Targeting). Enemy soldiers alone inside its capture radius take it after the Capture Time, supply and all.
- Packing upDismantle FOB packs it up and gives the kit back, with what was left of its supply in a crate, so a FOB can be moved instead of lost. A FOB Dismantle Time works the same way as the deploy one.
- Changing typeWhen the mission has FOB types, Manage FOB can switch an active FOB to another type you may deploy, paying that type's cost from its supply. What it has built stays; its build menu, marker, respawn point and supply follow the new type.
Aircraft
Building helicopters and planes at a FOB
A tier 3 FOB can build aircraft. A helicopter goes on a helipad, a plane on an airfield's taxiway or parking area, and each one comes back on its own spot.
- Tier 3 firstAircraft sit in the build menu's Vehicles tab, but only a tier 3 FOB can build them. They come empty, for your side to crew. No drones. Like any FOB vehicle they need the Virtual AI System module in the mission, and your side is offered only the aircraft its own forces use.
- Helicopter: on a helipadThe preview snaps to the helipad nearest the spot in front of you, within 10 m. It can be the map's own pad or one built at the FOB, but not one another ALiVE module has claimed. It's refused if a vehicle or wreck stands within reach of the rotor, or a tree or building does.
- Plane: taxiway or parkingA plane goes on an airfield's taxiway or parking area, or on paved ground within 60 m of them that isn't a road. Never within its wings' reach of a runway, and not where something's parked. A map with no airfield builds no planes, and just after a start the airfield map may not have reached you yet: the hint says so, try again in a moment.
- Inside the build rangeThe pad or taxiway spot has to be within Build Range (m) of the FOB's headquarters, and so do you. When it can't go, the preview turns red and a hint says why.
- Paying for itHelicopters cost 300 to 800 and planes 350 to 1000, by their weapons, armour and seats, times the Cost Multiplier. A transport helicopter is the cheapest; an armed jet costs the most.
- Back on its own spotThe Virtual AI System looks after it like any FOB vehicle. When it turns real again it stands exactly where it was left, facing the same way. If a vehicle or wreck is there now, it finds a clear spot nearby instead, up to 200 m away.
- After a restartAn aircraft that has to be made afresh goes back to the spot it was built on. If something stands there, it waits for the next start rather than appearing inside it.
- RecycleOn foot inside the FOB's build range, you can recycle it from anywhere alongside it, not just its middle, for half its price back.
Arsenal
The FOB Arsenal: take what you need, the FOB pays
A FOB can build an Arsenal that offers the infantry gear of every loaded mod. Nothing is paid on the way in: when you close it, whatever you took is charged to the FOB's supply.
- Turn it onSet FOB Arsenal to Yes. Once the mission starts, the server works out the gear list and its prices from the loaded mods. With a large mod set that takes a little while, and an Arsenal opened sooner asks you to try again in a moment.
- Build itThe Arsenal is in the build menu from tier 2, for 60 supply times the Cost Multiplier. It's an empty box: nothing can be stored in it.
- Open itWalk up on foot, within 8 m, and use Open Arsenal (the ACE interaction menu has it too). Or use FOB Arsenal at the headquarters, on foot within 25 m: once the FOB has reached the crate's tier it opens the same Arsenal without the crate being built. The FOB has to be your side's, and neither damaged nor in the middle of being captured. You get the game's arsenal, or ACE's when ACE is loaded, stocked with the gear list plus everything you're already carrying.
- Magazines topped upThe game's own arsenal fills your part-used magazines as it opens, and that's charged with the rest. If the FOB can't afford the top-up, the Arsenal won't open. ACE's arsenal doesn't top up.
- Close it and payYour kit is compared with what you had when you opened it, and you pay for what you have more of. Magazines are charged by the rounds taken, so filling one costs only what went in. Gear handed back earns nothing. In force pool mode (Supply Source) the bill comes from your side's force pool instead.
- When the FOB is shortIf the bill is more than the FOB has, it pays what it has and is left empty. You keep the gear.
- Settled for youMoving more than 5 m, getting in a vehicle, dying, leaving the game or 30 minutes inside settles the bill there and then and shuts the Arsenal. So does the FOB being dismantled, lost or taken while you're in it: you pay before its supply goes.
What's on offer. Every gun and launcher (each once, in its plain version) with the magazines it takes, plus attachments, uniforms, vests, headgear, night vision, binoculars, designators, medical kit, tools, radios, facewear and backpacks that carry gear (not prefilled ones, and not a static weapon's or drone's bag). ACE and KAT medical items are in it when those mods are loaded. Grenades, mines and charges are only offered with Arsenal Grenades and Explosives set to Yes.
Prices. Before the Cost Multiplier: pistol 5 to 12, rifle 15 to 40, machine gun 40 to 70, sniper rifle 60 to 90, grenade launcher 35, shotgun 20, AT launcher 60 to 125, AA launcher 90 to 125. A full magazine is 1 to 3, a rocket, grenade or charge 5 to 25. Vests and headgear are 3 to 25 by their armour, backpacks 2 to 20 by what they hold, night vision 25, thermal night vision 60. For guns, launchers and magazines, the harder the round hits, the higher the price within its range.
Your lists decide it. The same lists that set the build menu set the Arsenal's gear: Never Build takes an item out, Also Build adds one the Arsenal left out, and Build Only These naming any gear means the Arsenal offers that gear, each gun with its magazines, plus any gear in Also Build. Never Build beats both. A price set as Class=N in Build Only These, or as a cost in CfgALiVEFOBBuildables, is used as it is, without the Cost Multiplier. Gear in a list never shows up in the build menu, so gear ticked on the Build List page goes to the Arsenal.
Worth knowing. If you come away with something this Arsenal doesn't offer, your kit is put back to how it was when you opened it.
Permissions
Who can act on a FOB, a hub or a rally point
Player FOBs, Logistics hubs and Rally Points decide who may take things down, collect or rename with the same five rows. Tick any mix: a player that any ticked row lets in can act. Admins always can.
- The rowsAnyone on the side lets every player of the site's side in. Group leaders means leading a group with at least one other player in it. Who put it down is the player who deployed the FOB, the player who made the hub as a Zeus, or the leader of the squad that put the rally point down; a hub synced in Eden has nobody, so for it this row means group leaders. Access item carriers are carrying one of Player Combat Logistics' access items or an ALiVE tablet; standing at a command post doesn't count. Names on the list takes player IDs, unit classes or slot variable names, separated by commas.
- FOBWho Can Dismantle covers taking the FOB down, recycling what was built there and renaming it.
- HubWho Can Collect decides who collects requisitions there, and Who Can Dismantle who takes it down and renames it. Both start on Anyone on the side.
- Rally pointWho can manage decides who renames or picks up a squad's rally point, standing within 5 m of it. A rally point synced to the module can be renamed but never picked up, and one kept to a squad stays out of reach of anyone outside it, admins apart.
- Changing it in gameAn admin can change the FOB and hub rows in the Permissions window: the Permissions button in the FOB window or FOB Permissions in the ALiVE admin menu, and Permissions in Manage Hub. A change covers every FOB, or every hub of that module, and is kept over a restart (FOBs with Persistent on; hubs with ALiVE Data or with Player FOBs on Persistent) until an admin presses Use module settings. Rally points are set in Eden only.
Worth knowing. Names of FOBs, hubs and rally points are tidied the same way: up to 32 characters, without &, <, > or control characters, and a hub's name also loses quotes and apostrophes. An enemy taking a hub down is a separate setting, Enemy Can Dismantle.
Capabilities
What it handles
A FOB from a kit
Deploy FOB, within 8 m of a FOB kit for your side, shows the headquarters as a green or red preview you can place anywhere within 40 m of the kit. Turn it with Rotate, and with several Headquarters Buildings ticked, swap the building with Next Headquarters. Then choose Deploy FOB Here. It's refused in water, on ground steeper than about 15 degrees, too near another FOB, or when your side already has as many FOBs as it may: a fixed number, or one that grows with the objectives your side holds.
One window to run a FOB
Within 25 m of your side's FOB, Manage FOB opens a window like the Build Menu, showing the FOB's state, tier and supply live. Buttons: Rename (up to 32 characters; & < > and control characters are dropped; the map marker, rally point and respawn point follow), Build Menu, Upgrade (shows the next tier's price), Repair and Dismantle (press twice within 10 seconds; with a FOB Dismantle Time set, a bar then runs and the FOB stays up until it's full). With FOB types in the mission, Change Type turns the FOB into another type without taking it down, for the new type's cost. Rename and Dismantle are greyed out with a tooltip for players the Who Can Dismantle setting excludes.
Deploying, dismantling and building can take time
With FOB Deploy Time (s) or FOB Dismantle Time (s) above 0, or a buildTime on an item in CfgALiVEFOBBuildables, the player kneels to work and a bar near the bottom of the screen counts down the seconds left, with or without ACE. Stop The Timer If decides whether moving, or moving and coming under fire, stops it. Esc, dying, being knocked down, and getting into or out of a vehicle always do; with Never the player is kept on the spot. Nothing is spent and nothing comes down until the bar is full. The server checks the request before the bar starts and again when it's full.
Choose who can dismantle a FOB
By default anyone on the side can dismantle a FOB, recycle at it or rename it. Who Can Dismantle narrows that to any mix of group leaders, the player who deployed it, players carrying an access item, and a list of player IDs, unit classes and slot variable names. Admins always can; with nothing ticked only admins can. A logged-in admin can change it in game, for every FOB at once, from the FOB window's Permissions button or FOB Permissions in the ALiVE admin menu. That window shows all five rows and the names list. With Persistent on the change is kept over a restart, until an admin presses Use module settings.
Build Menu, priced from config
Fortifications, supply points, static weapons and vehicles, cheapest first, with a search box and a preview that turns green where it can go. The tier drop-down opens on Available (what this FOB can build now); items above its tier are greyed. Examples: sandbag wall 7, small bunker 28, cargo post 75, HMG 69, Hunter 150 (a tank such as the Slammer, 600, needs Armoured Base or Everything). Recycle gives half back; a vehicle collected at a Logistics Hub gives 1 point back to the force pool instead, recycled within 100 m of your side's hub. The default list is Standard FOB: Infantry, so field works, supplies, static weapons up to tier 2, cars and trucks, troops and gear, with no armour, boats or aircraft. Build List Preset swaps it for Outpost, Fortified Base, Infantry, Mechanised, Armoured Base, Airfield, Logistics Hub or Everything; Outpost, Infantry, Mechanised and Airfield keep only field works 3 m high or lower. Firing range targets are never offered. A CfgALiVEFOBBuildables block can set an item's build time beside its price (class Land_HBarrier_5_F { cost = 12; buildTime = 45; };); the Build Menu shows it, and the price is paid when the bar is full. Troops come at once. Static weapons and vehicles need the Virtual AI System module.
Raise soldiers and groups
The Build Menu's Troops tab raises men for the FOB, paid from its supply: a single soldier from tier 1, a group from tier 2. Each man costs the Soldier Cost (50) times the Cost Multiplier, so a squad of 8 costs 400. In Force pool mode a soldier or a group costs 1 from its faction's pool. A Build List Preset of Outpost or Logistics Hub hides the default groups. Otherwise, by default, the tab offers the infantry groups of the factions your side's commanders field; single soldiers and other groups are added with Build Only These or Also Build. Raised troops hold the FOB like its garrison, are never sent elsewhere, and are lost with it when it's dismantled, salvaged or taken. Troops Per Tier caps them (8, 16 and 24 men by default) and the window shows how many the FOB holds. Group Manager won't take a raised soldier into a group. After a reload they go back on guard, and any that are gone are made again for free. Needs the Virtual AI System.
An Arsenal that charges for gear
With Arsenal on, a FOB from tier 2 can build an Arsenal (60 supply) from the Build Menu's supply items. Open Arsenal, within 8 m of it, or FOB Arsenal at the headquarters, shows the infantry gear of every loaded mod, ACE's arsenal when ACE is loaded. What you take out is paid for from the FOB's supply when you close it: a pistol costs 5 to 12, a rifle 15 to 40, an AT launcher 60 to 125, a vest or helmet by its armour, a magazine by its rounds. Gear handed back earns nothing. If the FOB can't pay it all, it pays what it has and you keep the gear.
Upgrade to tier 2 and 3
Each tier holds more supply and unlocks more to build: towers, machine guns and grenade launchers at tier 2, heavy weapons, vehicles and aircraft at tier 3, where the Build List Preset allows them (the default Standard FOB stops at tier 2 static weapons, cars and trucks). Tier 2 adds a garrison (needs the Virtual AI System), and a tier 2 or 3 FOB reports enemy groups it sees to its side's AI Commander. From the tier set in Respawn Point (default 3) it is a respawn point, and a garrisoned tier 3 FOB is a supply source for Military Logistics.
Crates, trucks or the force pool
In FOB supply mode each FOB has its own supply, topped up by crates from a Field HQ (any object synced to the module) and by Military Logistics trucks when it runs low. In force pool mode it spends the faction's pool instead.
Found, attacked, taken
Enemy commanders get a FOB as an objective once their men come within the Discovery Radius or shoot at its headquarters (or at once, or never). Enemy soldiers alone inside the capture radius take it after the Capture Time; any defender there stops the count. The radio warns its side.
Repair or lose it
A destroyed headquarters gives its side the Repair Time to repair it with Repair in the Manage FOB window, a quarter cheaper with an engineer present; otherwise the FOB and everything built there is lost. While it waits, the FOB shows on its side's map with the minutes left to repair it, or "repair under way" while an engineer is there.
Saved with the mission
FOBs, their supply, what's built, garrisons and timers are saved with ALiVE Data, or in the server's profile without it, and come back exactly where they stood.
FOB types
Sync a FOB Types module to Player FOBs and a kit can become a fire base, a patrol base or any type you set up. Each type has its own headquarters buildings, extras and removals on the build list, who may deploy it, a limit per side, a cost, a map marker and a name prefix (FB Alpha). Next FOB Type steps through them while placing. A type can also set its own respawn tier, starting supply and supply per minute; anything it leaves out, and the rest of supply, tiers and garrison, stays this module's settings.
Hub vehicles go back to the pool
A vehicle collected at a Logistics Hub can be recycled within 100 m of one of your side's hubs, once everyone is out, giving its point back to the force pool. Hub crates can be cleared but give nothing back.
Set up from Zeus
A Zeus can also deploy a FOB with no kit or cost, or take one down, with the Create FOB and Remove FOB modules; see Zeus Modules.
How to use it
Getting started
- Place the modulePlace one Player FOBs module anywhere. It serves every side that has players.
- Set up a Field HQSync an object, such as a crate or a flagpole at your base, to the module to make it a Field HQ, where players use Request FOB Kit and Request Supply Crate. With Player Combat Logistics and Military Logistics, players can also order an ALiVE FOB Kit and an ALiVE FOB Supply Crate from the tablet, under the ammo crates. You can place either in Eden too.
- Add the other modules for the full gameAdd AI Commanders for the sides, so FOBs are held and hunted, and Military Logistics for supply trucks and the force pool. Add ALiVE Data to save FOBs with the mission.
- Decide who can dismantle FOBsOn the module, under Who Can Dismantle, tick who may dismantle a FOB, recycle at it or rename it. To keep it to a clan list, tick Players on the list and put player IDs, unit classes and slot variable names in Allowed Players, for example
76561198000000000,B_officer_F,jtac. Players carrying an access item is a row too. Admins can always do it, and can change the setting in game with the Permissions button in the FOB window; with Persistent on, their change is kept over a restart until they press Use module settings. - Make deploying and dismantling take time (optional)Set FOB Deploy Time (s) and FOB Dismantle Time (s), from 0 to 600 seconds, and pick what stops them early with Stop The Timer If (The player moves by default). Both at 0 keep a FOB going up and coming down at once.
- Trim what can be built (optional)To start from a ready-made list, set Build List Preset first (each FOB type can have its own), then use Never Build and Also Build on top. A Build Only These list replaces the preset. Use the Open the build list button on the module (or the ALiVE menu at the top of Eden) to see every class name and price. Put what players may build in Build Only These, or ban a few with Never Build, and add extras with Also Build. Also Build adds to Build Only These too, and Never Build beats both. All three lists take soldier classes and group names too, such as BUS_InfSquad, which fill or trim the Build Menu's Troops tab.
- Add FOB types (optional)Place a FOB Types module and sync it to Player FOBs. Its button opens the FOB Types editor; fill in the types, copy the text and paste it into Types. Offer the Plain FOB decides whether the ordinary FOB stays in the choice.
- Deploy and manage a FOBUse Request FOB Kit at the Field HQ, carry the kit out, choose Deploy FOB by it, then place the green preview, change the building with Next Headquarters if you ticked several, and choose Deploy FOB Here. With a FOB Deploy Time set, stay put while the bar fills. Within 25 m, Manage FOB opens its window, where Change Type switches it to another FOB type (when the mission has types), and Dismantle (pressed twice, then the bar if a FOB Dismantle Time is set) returns the kit and leftover supply in a crate (none in Force pool mode); a damaged FOB must be repaired first. In build range use Build Menu, Unload Supplies and Recycle. With FOB Arsenal on, FOB Arsenal at the headquarters opens the Arsenal once the FOB reaches its tier.
Settings
Every setting, and what it does
One Player FOBs module serves every side. These settings decide how many FOBs a side may have, how supply works, what tiers cost, how the enemy finds and takes a FOB, and how often it's saved.
Presets that use this module: Forward bases: build and hold FOBs. Place one in the editor to see it set up.
Quick setups
FOBs that live on the force pool
- Supply Source: Force Pool
Building spends the faction's force pool, which Military Logistics keeps, so FOBs compete with the AI for the same resources.
A gentler game with no FOB hunting
- Enemy Targeting: Off
Enemy commanders never go after FOBs; only enemy soldiers that happen by can still take one.
A fixed number of FOBs
- FOB Limit: Fixed
- Fixed Limit: 2
Each side may have two FOBs whatever it holds.
No tanks at a FOB
- Never Build: B_MBT_01_cannon_F, O_MBT_02_cannon_F
Those two are never offered. For whole lists and your own prices, use the Build List page and paste the result into description.ext.
Only group leaders can dismantle FOBs
- Who Can Dismantle: Group leaders only (untick the others)
A player alone in a group can't dismantle, recycle at or rename a FOB; admins still can.
Let players choose their FOB's building
- Headquarters Buildings: tick two or more buildings for the side
When a player deploys a FOB, Next Headquarters cycles through the ticked buildings and the preview shows the one that will go up.
A fire base and a patrol base
- FOB Types module: synced to Player FOBs
- Types: made on the FOB Types editor page
A kit can become either; Next FOB Type steps between them while placing, and each has its own build list, limit and cost.
Pay for gear at the FOB
- FOB Arsenal: Yes
Once a FOB reaches tier 2 it can build an Arsenal, and every item a player takes from it comes out of that FOB's supply.
Light outposts with no armour
- Build List Preset: Outpost
Players build field works and supplies only: no troops, vehicles or heavy weapons. Also Build puts back anything you want on top.
Make deploying and dismantling take time
- FOB Deploy Time (s): 60
- FOB Dismantle Time (s): 30
The player kneels at work while a bar counts down. Walking off stops it, and nothing is spent or taken down until the bar is full.
General
8 settings
Writes what the FOBs are doing to the RPT log.
Where players find the FOB actions: the scroll wheel, the ACE interaction menu (a Player FOBs entry in the self menu; Recycle and the Field HQ requests on the objects), or both. Auto uses ACE when ACE is loaded and the scroll wheel when it isn't. A player's own Interaction menu choice in Addon Options (ALiVE, Game) overrides the module's.
How far from a FOB's headquarters players can build. Also the size of the objective the FOB becomes.
Choices: 0 to 600 seconds
How long it takes to put a FOB up after Deploy FOB Here, from 0 to 600 seconds. 0 puts it up at once. While it runs the player kneels to work and a bar shows the seconds left, with or without ACE. Stop The Timer If decides what stops it early, and Esc always does. Nothing is spent until the bar is full.
AffectsThe server checks the deploy before the bar starts, so a refusal comes at once, and again when it's full: it goes ahead only when the time has really passed and the player is still within 3 m of where he began.
Choices: 0 to 600 seconds
How long it takes to take a FOB down, from 0 to 600 seconds, after the second Dismantle press in the Manage FOB window. 0 takes it down at once. The player kneels and a bar shows the time left, as for the deploy time, and the FOB stays up until it's full.
Choices: Never, The player moves, The player moves or comes under fire
What stops a deploy or dismantle time before it's up. The player moves: stepping away from where he knelt. The player moves or comes under fire: that, or being hit, or enemy fire landing close. Never: the player is kept on the spot until it's done. Esc, dying, being knocked down, and getting into or out of a vehicle always stop it, and the player is told why. Has no effect while both times are 0.
A new FOB can't be deployed closer than this to another FOB, of any side.
The building each side's FOB starts with: lose it and the FOB is damaged until it's repaired. Side picks BLUFOR, OPFOR or Independent; Show lists military structures or every building. Tick several and players choose one with Next Headquarters when they deploy a FOB; a class typed below the list is added to the ticked ones.
Who can dismantle
2 settings
Choices: Anyone on the side, Group leaders, The player who deployed it, Players carrying an access item, Players on the list (tick any number)
Who on a FOB's side may dismantle it, recycle what was built there and rename it. Tick any mix; any one lets a player in: Anyone on the side (makes the others irrelevant); Group leaders (of a group with another player); The player who deployed it (by player ID, so it survives reconnects; older saves and captured FOBs let in group leaders instead); Players carrying an access item (carried: one of the items set on Player Combat Logistics, or an ALiVE tablet; standing at a command post doesn't count); Players on the list. Admins always can, so with nothing ticked only admins can. An admin's change in the Permissions window applies to every FOB and, with Persistent on, is kept over a restart until an admin presses Use module settings.
For Players on the list: player IDs (the 17-digit Steam ID), unit classes and slot variable names (the Variable Name given to a playable unit in Eden), separated by commas, for example 76561198000000000, B_officer_F, jtac. A unit class lets in every player in a slot of that class. A variable name lets in whoever takes that one slot.
How many FOBs
5 settings
Dynamic: each side starts with Starting FOBs and earns one more for every Objectives Per FOB it holds, up to Most FOBs. Fixed: each side can have Fixed Limit FOBs.
How many FOBs each side can have when FOB Limit is Fixed, from 1 to 12.
With a dynamic limit, how many FOBs a side can have before it holds any ground.
With a dynamic limit, a side earns one more FOB for each this many objectives it holds. FOBs themselves don't count.
With a dynamic limit, the most FOBs a side can ever have.
Supply
8 settings
What building and repairs are paid from. FOB supply: each FOB has its own supply count, topped up by Military Logistics. Force pool: the side's force pool, shared with the AI Commander and Recruitment. Supply crates: each FOB's count only rises when players unload supply crates at it.
What a FOB kit from a Field HQ costs the faction's force pool, in Force Pool mode only; free otherwise. Sync any object to the module to make it a Field HQ.
The supply a new FOB starts with (FOB supply and supply crates). A FOB type can set its own (FOB Types).
Supply each FOB gains every minute on its own, with FOB supply. 0 for none. A FOB type can set its own (FOB Types).
The most supply a FOB of this tier can hold.
The most supply a FOB of this tier can hold.
The most supply a FOB of this tier can hold.
In FOB Supply mode, a FOB below this share of its supply limit asks its side's Military Logistics for a supply truck, at most every 10 minutes. The truck brings a Supply Crate's worth. 0 turns it off. Needs a Military Logistics module for that side.
Kits and Crates
3 settings
Choices: class names
The object a FOB kit is, in place of the ALiVE kit box. One class name for every side, or per side as WEST=ClassA, EAST=ClassB, GUER=ClassC. Empty keeps the ALiVE kit, and a class the game doesn't have falls back to it with a line in the RPT.
AffectsThe kit left when a FOB is dismantled and the one a Field HQ hands out. Players can't build it from the Build List.
TryWEST=Land_PaperBox_closed_F for a plainer kit, or a WW2 crate for a 1944 mission.
Choices: class names
The object a FOB supply crate is, in place of the ALiVE crate. One class name for every side, or per side as WEST=ClassA, EAST=ClassB, GUER=ClassC. Empty keeps the ALiVE crate.
How much supply a crate from a Field HQ holds. In Force Pool mode the faction's pool pays this for the crate.
Tiers and Garrison
7 settings
Supply to upgrade a FOB to this tier. Tier 2 can hold more supply and builds towers, machine guns and grenade launchers; tier 3 holds the most, can be a respawn point and builds what the Build List Preset allows at that tier: mortars and AT and AA launchers with Fortified Base, Armoured Base or Everything, helicopters (on a helipad) and planes (at an airfield) with Airfield or Everything.
Supply to upgrade a FOB to this tier. Tier 2 can hold more supply and builds towers, machine guns and grenade launchers; tier 3 holds the most, can be a respawn point and builds what the Build List Preset allows at that tier: mortars and AT and AA launchers with Fortified Base, Armoured Base or Everything, helicopters (on a helipad) and planes (at an airfield) with Airfield or Everything.
A tier 2 or 3 FOB keeps a garrison of one infantry group of its faction, which holds the FOB and is never sent elsewhere. Each new garrison costs this much of the FOB's supply; when the last of it is killed, the next one is paid for again.
The infantry group that garrisons each side's FOB from tier 2. Side picks BLUFOR, OPFOR or Independent; Show lists that side's groups or every side's. The first row, a random group of the FOB's faction, is the default.
What one soldier raised from the Build Menu's Troops tab costs in FOB supply, before the Cost Multiplier. A group costs this for each of its men, so a squad of 8 costs 400 at the default. Build Only These can set a price with =, such as BUS_InfSquad=400. In Force pool mode a soldier or a group costs 1 from its faction's pool, as a Combat Logistics requisition does.
How many soldiers players can raise at a FOB from the Build Menu's Troops tab, for each tier: at 8, a tier 1 FOB holds 8, tier 2 holds 16 and tier 3 holds 24. Single soldiers can be raised from tier 1, groups from tier 2. Raised troops hold the FOB, never leave it, and are lost with it. 0 turns the Troops tab off.
Choices: Off, or from tier 1, 2 or 3
From which tier a FOB is a respawn point for its side, while its headquarters stands. Needs a respawn type in the mission that offers respawn positions. A FOB type can set its own tier (FOB Types).
AffectsA mission saved when this was Yes reads as tier 3.
Arsenal
2 settings
Lets players build an Arsenal at a FOB from tier 2, for 60 supply before the Cost Multiplier. It offers the infantry gear of every loaded mod, and what a player takes is charged to the FOB's supply when they close it; gear handed back earns nothing. Build Only These, Never Build and a CfgALiVEFOBBuildables block can limit the gear and set its prices, as they do for the Build Menu.
Adds grenades, mines and explosive charges to the FOB Arsenal. Left off, it offers none.
Attack and capture
7 settings
Whether enemy AI Commanders go after FOBs. Contact: once their men have found it (came within the Discovery Radius or shot at its headquarters). Immediate: from the moment it is deployed. Off: never. Insurgent commanders go after a FOB too; a strong garrison draws attacks rather than an assault.
With Contact targeting, enemy men inside this many metres of a FOB give it away to their side's commanders.
How close, in metres, the enemy has to come before the FOB's side hears on the radio that it's under threat.
Enemy soldiers inside this many metres, with none of the FOB's side, start taking the FOB. Enemy players alone don't take it.
Seconds the enemy has to hold the FOB, unopposed, before it becomes theirs. Any defender in the capture radius starts the count again.
Seconds a FOB with a destroyed headquarters has before it's lost for good, unless repaired. The count stops while an engineer of its side is within 25 m. While it runs, the FOB shows on its side's map with the minutes left.
Supply to repair a destroyed headquarters at tier 1; one and a half times at tier 2, twice at tier 3. A quarter off with an engineer present.
Saving
2 settings
Saves the FOBs, what's built at them and their supply with the mission, and puts them back when it's loaded. Needs an ALiVE Data module; without one they're kept in the server's profile instead. A dismantled FOB's kit and leftover supply crate are saved too. Clear Current Mission's Data and Wipe ALL ALiVE Data remove the saved FOBs. With it on, rally points squad leaders and Zeus put down, Logistics Hubs a Zeus made, and an admin's Who can manage change for rally points are kept over a restart too, even without ALiVE Data.
After a change, the FOBs are saved at most this often. An autosave or SERVER SAVE AND EXIT saves them straight away.
FOB Types module
3 settings
Nothing to fill in. Click it and the FOB Types editor opens in your browser, where you lay out each type and copy the finished text into Types, just below.
One type per line, key=value pairs separated by semicolons: id, name, prefix, marker, hubs, build (+class adds, -class removes), who (SIDE, LEADER, LIST), list, cost, cap, respawn (its respawn tier, 1 to 3, or 0 for none), supply (what a new one starts with), trickle (supply per minute), preset (its own Build List Preset, by name: FOB_STANDARD, ALL, OUTPOST, FORTIFIED, INFANTRY, LOGISTICS or any list in CfgALiVELists), catalogue (a named list from description.ext whose Only, Never and Also apply at this type) and role (not used yet). Respawn, supply, trickle and preset left out use the Player FOBs settings. An added class no FOB could build before is kept for the types that add it. The FOB Types editor writes it for you. A typo in who falls back to anyone on the side, and every problem is reported in the RPT.
Yes and a kit can still become the plain FOB, with the usual build list and no type limit, alongside the types. No and players must pick a type.
Recent work
What's changed lately
- Deploying and dismantling can take timeFOB Deploy Time (s) and FOB Dismantle Time (s) make the player kneel while a bar counts down, and Stop The Timer If decides whether moving or coming under fire stops it. Both are 0 by default, so FOBs go up and come down at once as before.
- An Arsenal at a FOBA new Arsenal setting lets players build an Arsenal at a tier 2 FOB and pay for their gear from its supply when they close it. Grenades, mines and charges have their own setting. The box is empty between visits, so its inventory can't be used to get round paying.
- One window to manage a FOBManage FOB (within 25 m of your side's FOB) replaces the separate Status, Upgrade, Repair and Dismantle actions. It shows state, tier and supply, and renames the FOB. The Build Menu gained a search box and a tier drop-down.
- Choose who can dismantleWho Can Dismantle lets the mission pick anyone, group leaders, the player who deployed the FOB, players carrying an access item, or a list of player IDs, unit classes and slot variable names. Admins always can, and can change it in game; with Persistent on, that change is kept over a restart.
- Pick the headquarters buildingHeadquarters Buildings takes several buildings per side, ticked in the editor. Players cycle through them with Next Headquarters when they deploy a FOB.
- Your own kit and crate objectsKit Object and Supply Crate Object swap the ALiVE kit box and supply crate for any object, one for every side or one per side.
- HQ tells you what is happening to supplyThe side hears when a FOB runs low, when a supply truck delivers (how much went in and what's in stock) and when a new garrison is paid for.
- Dismantled kits survive a restartA dismantled FOB's kit and its crate of leftover supply are saved with the FOBs and come back where they were. Clearing the mission's data removes saved FOBs too.
Status
Where it stands
Deploy, build, upgrade, recycle
A full build economy priced from config, with tiers, garrison and respawn.
Supply
Crates, Military Logistics trucks or the force pool.
Enemy targeting and capture
Found, attacked and taken by enemy commanders, insurgents included.
Saving
With ALiVE Data or the server profile.
Kits and crates from the tablet
An ALiVE FOB Kit and an ALiVE FOB Supply Crate on the Player Resupply tablet, delivered by Military Logistics.
Your own build list
Build Only These, Never Build and Also Build on the module, or a CfgALiVEFOBBuildables block made on the Build List page.
One window for FOB management
Manage FOB shows state, tier and supply, and renames, upgrades, repairs and dismantles; the Build Menu has a tier filter.
Who can dismantle a FOB
A Who Can Dismantle setting with a player list, checked on the server, changeable in game by admins, and kept over a restart with Persistent on.
Pick the headquarters building
Several buildings per side can be ticked, and players choose one with Next Headquarters.
Your own kit and crate objects
Kit Object and Supply Crate Object, for every side or one per side.
FOB types
A FOB Types module: per-type headquarters, build list, who may deploy, limit, cost, marker and name.
FOB Arsenal
Gear from every loaded mod, charged to the FOB's supply per item when the arsenal closes.
Build List Presets and Change Type
Ready-made build lists for the module and each FOB type, and a FOB that changes type from Manage FOB.
Deploy and dismantle time
FOB Deploy Time (s), FOB Dismantle Time (s) and Stop The Timer If: the player kneels while a bar counts down.
Testing
How you can help
Sync a crate to the Player FOBs module, get a FOB kit from it with Request FOB Kit, carry it a few hundred metres out and choose Deploy FOB. Build a few items from the Build Menu and watch the supply drop; upgrade to tier 2 from Manage FOB and look for the garrison, then rename the FOB there and check the map marker and respawn list. Try the Build Menu's tier drop-down. Let enemy soldiers reach the FOB with nobody of yours there and watch the capture count on the radio. Set Debug to Yes to see what the module does in the RPT. Try Who Can Dismantle: tick only Group leaders, then check that a player alone in a group sees Rename and Dismantle greyed out and no Recycle, while the leader of a two-player group doesn't. As an admin, open Permissions in the FOB window and change it. Tick two headquarters buildings for your side and check Next Headquarters swaps the preview before you deploy. Dismantle a FOB, restart the mission and confirm the kit and crate come back. Press Check The Lists in Eden with a mistyped class in Never Build: it should name it in red. Destroy a FOB's headquarters and check your side's map shows it as down with the minutes left to repair, reading repair under way while an engineer stands at it.
Set FOB Deploy Time (s) to 6 and FOB Dismantle Time (s) to 5. Deploying should kneel you and show a bar; walk 5 m away and it should stop with "Stopped, because you moved." and nothing spent, and Esc should stop it too. Set Stop The Timer If to Never and you should be put back where you started. As an admin, change Who Can Dismantle in Permissions, restart the mission with Persistent on and check it's kept; Use module settings should put the module's own setting back.
Spotted a problem? Please report it on the ALiVE issue tracker on GitHub, with the map, rough location and what the units were doing so it can be reproduced.
Changelog
Updates to this page
- 2026-11-03A FOB whose headquarters is destroyed now shows on its side's map with the time left to repair it, such as "FOB Alpha: down, repair within 15 min", and "repair under way" while an engineer is at it. The notifications now read "FOB Alpha is down. Repair it within 15 min or it is lost." and "FOB Alpha is lost."; repairing, salvaging and capturing work as before.
- 2026-11-02A FOB deploy with a Deploy Time now finishes on a busy server; before, the bar could fill and start again forever, as the server timed it on its slower game clock.
- 2026-11-02On a slope, a wide defence built from a FOB sits on the ground under its whole length instead of tilting to the bit under its middle: on 13 degrees every corner is now within 0.13 m of the ground, where a 3 block H-barrier used to dig 0.39 m in.
- 2026-11-02In single player and for a hosting player, defences built from a FOB went in tipped and half buried; they now sit where the preview shows, and one aimed at another lands on top of it.
- 2026-11-02With Debug on, the build list written to the RPT for the website lists everything the game has, not only what was left after Never Build and the Build List Preset. A new ALiVE_FOB_CATALOG_COUNT line says how many of each.
- 2026-11-01Toggle View only uses the game's own third person view, and isn't offered where the mission turns third person off. With it off, the camera it used hid the scroll menu, so players couldn't place or cancel.
- 2026-11-01Three more Build List Presets: Mechanised (Infantry plus APCs and IFVs), Armoured Base (everything but artillery and aircraft) and Airfield (aircraft, supplies, trucks and field works). Armour is now 2 kinds: APCs and IFVs, which carry troops, and tanks, which take the rest.
- 2026-11-01A kind of FOB keeps its own extras when Never Build lists them: the class is offered at the kinds that name it and still never at the plain FOB. A static or vehicle keeps its usual price and tier.
- 2026-11-01In Eden the FOB supply, kit, troop and limit settings show only for the Supply Source and FOB Limit they fit.
- 2026-11-01The Who Can Dismantle window fits: the access item row reads "Players carrying an access item" and every row's tooltip is one line.
- 2026-11-01While placing a FOB item a Toggle View action on the scroll menu puts the view behind and above the player, so it's easier to see where the item is going.
- 2026-11-01A static weapon built at a FOB now stays exactly where the player put it, instead of being moved up to 100 m to a road side or open field when it spawned.
- 2026-11-01The Player FOBs list report at mission start goes to the RPT only; players no longer see it on the map screen. An empty build list or names not in the game still reach admins as a hint.
- 2026-11-01A CfgALiVEFOBBuildables block can give anything built at a FOB a build time: buildTime = 45; beside its cost. The player works it off on the same bar as deploying, and supply is taken only when it's done. The Build Menu shows the time.
- 2026-11-01New settings Deploy Time, Dismantle Time and Stop The Timer If. With a time set the player kneels while a bar shows the seconds left; moving (by default) or coming under fire can stop it. Both default to 0.
- 2026-11-01The Permissions window shows all five Who Can rows, so List can be ticked in game, and Use module settings puts the module's settings back.
- 2026-11-01An admin's Permissions change is kept over a restart when Persistent is on, until Use module settings.
- 2026-11-01Who Can Dismantle gains Players carrying a Player Logistics access item.
- 2026-10-31New Check The Lists button: says in Eden which list Player FOBs uses, what it can build and which typed names aren't in the game, without running the mission.
- 2026-10-31At mission start the RPT says what Player FOBs' build list keeps and names any typed name that isn't in the game. An empty build list or a bad name also reaches admins as a hint.
- 2026-10-29A new FOB starts on Standard FOB: the Infantry list with one of each model, from the player's own faction. With RHS loaded, BLUFOR's catalogue drops from 675 items to 534. Build List Preset gains Custom and a Custom List Name, and a FOB type can name a list with catalogue=.
- 2026-10-29Manage FOB has a Change Type control, so a FOB can become another type without being taken down. It costs the new type's deploy cost.
- 2026-10-29The Outpost and Infantry presets offer field works 3 m high or less, and no preset offers firing range targets.
- 2026-10-29With FOB Arsenal on, the headquarters has a FOB Arsenal action once the FOB reaches the tier the Arsenal needs.
- 2026-10-29Vehicles collected at a Logistics Hub can be recycled within 100 m of one of your side's hubs, giving their point back to the force pool. Hub crates can be cleared but give nothing back.
- 2026-10-29Build list tabs and buttons now highlight in the tablet's green.
- 2026-10-29New setting Build List Preset: Everything (the default), Outpost, Fortified Base, Infantry or Logistics Hub, worked out from what each item is, so it suits any mod. Existing missions don't change.
- 2026-10-29The icons in the FOB Build list are white now, so they no longer vanish against the dark list.
- 2026-10-29The Troops tab now lists infantry groups from modded factions like RHS. RHS US Army desert and woodland each go from 0 groups to 20.
- 2026-10-28The Build Menu has a Troops tab. Players can raise a single soldier from tier 1 or a group from tier 2, paid from the FOB's supply, and the men hold the FOB until it's lost. New settings Soldier Cost (50 a man) and Troops Per Tier (8) set the price and the limit, and Build Only These, Never Build and Also Build now take soldier classes and group names, such as BUS_InfSquad=400.
- 2026-10-27Also Build items now stay on the build menu when Build Only These is set.
- 2026-10-27In Eden this module's settings now sit under shorter headers, at most 8 settings in a group, and the Settings section here follows the same headers. Every setting keeps its name and default, so saved missions load as before.
- 2026-10-27Also Build entries are offered even when Build Only These is set, in the Build Menu and the FOB Arsenal. Before, Build Only These meant exactly those and dropped Also Build. Never Build still beats both.
- 2026-10-26The FOB Arsenal no longer offers vehicle and emplacement weapons no soldier carries, such as a tank's machine gun and its belts, mortar tubes and pylon missiles (46 items gone with 3CB and ACE, 29 with the Creator DLC). With the USS Nimitz mod loaded, the Build Menu no longer offers the carrier's invisible spawner or its catapult shuttle.
- 2026-10-26A tier 3 FOB can build helicopters and planes. A helicopter goes onto the helipad nearest where you aim (within 10 m, with nothing in reach of its rotor); a plane only onto an airfield's taxiway or parking, never a runway or the road past the field. The preview turns red and says why when it can't go. Helicopters cost 300 to 800 and planes 350 to 1000, and an aircraft comes back on the same spot after a restart.
- 2026-10-25Gear listed in Build Only These no longer empties the Build Menu when the FOB Arsenal setting is off: the gear is set aside and the menu is built from the rest of the list. With the setting on, the gear goes to the Arsenal, as before.
- 2026-10-25Players can build an Arsenal at a FOB from tier 2, for 60 supply. It offers the infantry gear of every loaded mod, and what a player takes out is charged to the FOB's supply when they close it. Off by default: turn on Arsenal on the module.
- 2026-10-25The build menu no longer offers a mod's copy of the invisible helipad. Firewill's aircraft pack files its lock-on target there, so it showed up as a 25-supply helipad with nothing to see once built. The game's six helipads stay, the invisible one included.
- 2026-10-25With Build Only These set, a FOB type's extras are still built. One the list doesn't have can only be built at the types that list it, so a Fire Base can have its own tanks while a plain FOB can't. Before, they were dropped unless they were on the list too, and then every FOB could build them.
- 2026-10-25A class in Build Only These can carry its own price, such as Land_HBarrier_5_F=12, so a mission can set prices without a description.ext block. A price that isn't a whole number from 1 to 100000 is ignored and the mission's own price kept. The Build List page writes prices this way.
- 2026-10-25New field Build Only These: class names separated by commas, and the Build Menu offers exactly those and nothing else. The Build List page writes the list for you.
- 2026-10-24The Build Menu window is taller, so the item list shows about 25 rows before you scroll instead of 15. The details box and the Place and Close buttons moved down with it.
- 2026-10-24A FOB type can now set its own respawn tier, starting supply and supply per minute, so a Logistics FOB can be a respawn point from Tier 1 while a Fire Base never is. Left out, the Player FOBs setting applies.
- 2026-10-24ALiVE's own map pins (Addon Options, Map pins and markers) now cover FOBs, which now use Arma's icon on your side's NATO frame.
- 2026-10-23With Tidy map labels on and an ALiVE pin style picked in Map pins and markers, a plain FOB shows an ALiVE FOB pin, and its name sits in the first free spot beside it in your side's colour. A FOB type with its own marker keeps it.
- 2026-10-23A FOB that is also a rally point shows one marker, named "<name> (rally point)", instead of a FOB marker with a yellow rally flag on top of it. With the COP on, the HELD label sits below the FOB's name.
- 2026-10-22FOB Types has its own module icon in Eden instead of the Player FOBs one: the FOB base with a list of types above it.
- 2026-10-22New FOB Types module: synced to Player FOBs, a FOB kit can become a fire base, a patrol base or any type you set up, each with its own headquarters, build list, who may deploy it, limit, cost, map marker and name. Without it nothing changes.
- 2026-10-21A dismantled FOB's kit and its crate of leftover supply are saved with the FOBs, so a restart puts them back where they were, the kit for its side and the crate with what it held.
- 2026-10-21Clear Current Mission's Data and Wipe ALL ALiVE Data now remove saved Player FOBs too, so a cleared mission no longer brings its FOB and marker back on the next load.
- 2026-10-21The FOB Kit Object and FOB Supply Crate Object tooltips now give a real per-side example, WEST=B_CargoNet_01_ammo_F, EAST=O_CargoNet_01_ammo_F, GUER=I_CargoNet_01_ammo_F, and say what WEST, EAST and GUER mean.
- 2026-10-21Ticking a building in Headquarters Buildings no longer jumps the list back to the top, so several further down can be ticked without scrolling back each time.
- 2026-10-20The Build List row's button now reads Open the list (fill in below): the class names go in Never Build or Also Build, just under it.
- 2026-10-20The Headquarters Buildings picker has tick boxes: tick as many buildings as you like per side. A class typed below the list is added to the ticked ones.
- 2026-10-20Headquarters Buildings takes several class names, separated by commas. Players then pick one with Next Headquarters while placing a FOB kit.
- 2026-10-20New settings Kit Object and Supply Crate Object swap the ALiVE kit box and supply crate for any object, one for every side or one per side. Empty keeps the ALiVE ones.
- 2026-10-19HQ now tells the side when a FOB runs low on supply (once per shortage), when a supply truck delivers (how much went in and what's in stock now) and when a new garrison is paid for (its cost and what's left).
- 2026-10-19Typed number settings now show their unit in the label, for example Discovery, Alert and Capture Radius (m), Capture Time (s) and Repair Time (s).
- 2026-10-18The FOB Build List opens from Eden: from the ALiVE menu at the top of the editor, or with the Open the build list button on the Player FOBs module, just above Never Build.
- 2026-10-16Allowed Players now also takes a slot's Variable Name from Eden (P1, jtac, convoy_driver), alongside player IDs and unit classes. A variable name lets in whoever takes that one slot.
- 2026-10-16New Who Can Dismantle setting on the Player FOBs module decides who can dismantle a FOB, recycle at it or rename it. Tick any mix: anyone on the side (the default, so existing missions don't change), group leaders, the player who deployed it, or players on a list.
- 2026-10-16Allowed Players is the list: player IDs (the 17-digit Steam ID) and unit classes, separated by commas. A unit class lets in every player in that slot. Admins can always dismantle a FOB.
- 2026-10-16The FOB window greys out Rename and Dismantle for anyone who isn't allowed, with a tooltip saying why, and Recycle doesn't show for them. The server checks every request as well.
- 2026-10-16Each FOB remembers who deployed it, and saves keep that. Older saves and captured FOBs fall back to group leaders.
- 2026-10-16Logged-in admins can change it in game: a Permissions button in the FOB window, or FOB Permissions in the ALiVE admin menu from anywhere. It holds until the mission restarts.
- 2026-10-15One Manage FOB action (within 25 m of your side's FOB) replaces the separate Status, Upgrade, Repair and Dismantle actions. Its window shows state, tier and supply, and renames the FOB (32 characters at most); the marker, rally point and respawn follow.
- 2026-10-15The Build Menu has a tier drop-down beside Search: Available (the default), Tier 1 to 3, or All tiers. Items the FOB isn't high enough for are greyed and can't be placed.
- 2026-10-14The FOB build menu has a search box: type part of a name to narrow the list (#1085).
- 2026-10-14You can pick the scroll wheel or the ACE menu for FOB actions yourself, in Addon Options.
- 2026-10-13Respawn Point is now a tier (Off, 1, 2 or 3), saved FOBs are rebuilt before the build list (about 26 s sooner with RHS), and Force Pool mode shows the side's force pool.
- 2026-10-13FOB kits and supply crates can be ordered from the Player Resupply tablet, Deploy FOB shows where the FOB will go and why a spot won't do, and missions can set their own build list.
- 2026-10-12New module, Player FOBs: players deploy a FOB from a kit, build fortifications, static weapons and vehicles with supply, upgrade it through three tiers, and hold it against enemy commanders who come to take it.