ALiVE.OS · ALiVE 3 Development

Map Indexer

Builds the object and objective data new maps need before other ALiVE modules can use them.

In development · 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 Map Indexer does

Map Indexer is a one-time setup tool, not something used during normal missions. It is placed as an Eden module - only one can exist per mission, since a second module is ignored - and its job is to build the underlying map data that every other ALiVE module depends on: where the buildings are, what kind of building each one is, and where military and civilian objective areas should go. Mission makers only need this when preparing a brand new map for ALiVE that has not been indexed before. Once triggered from the in-game ALiVE menu, it scans the terrain, walks the mission maker through categorizing unfamiliar objects if needed, and then automatically works out sector and objective clusters for both military and civilian activity. It needs DeWrp to read the terrain, and a copy of ALiVE in a folder named exactly @ALiVE inside the Arma 3 folder, with the ALiVEClient_x64.dll that comes with ALiVE at the top of it. For a terrain on the Steam Workshop, the Index a Terrain page in the Platform section does the whole job on ALiVE's indexing server instead, with nothing to set up. This is a developer-facing utility more than a player feature. Most people playing or building missions on already-supported maps will never need to run it.

In short, if a map already has ALiVE support, this module has no effect on gameplay. It only matters the first time someone brings a new, unsupported map into ALiVE.

Capabilities

What it handles

indexing

Builds the map database ALiVE needs

Scans every object placed on a map (buildings, roads, terrain features) and sorts them into categories such as military buildings, civilian housing, power and comms infrastructure, ports, rail, and fuel sites. This is the raw data every other ALiVE module reads to know where things are on a given map.

clusters

Generates objectives and sectors

After the object scan, it automatically builds sector data and then generates military and civilian objective clusters, merging them together into the final dataset other ALiVE modules use to place tasks, spawn forces and pick locations.

objectcategorization

Object categorization pass

For a brand new map with no existing ALiVE data, it walks the mission maker through categorizing each unique object type one at a time using an in-game picker, since the module cannot guess what a building represents without help. It can also mark trenches and bunkers as fieldworks, and fills in objects the shipped indexes already agree on.

customsettings

Custom map support

Includes settings for pointing at a custom map PBO path, overriding the map boundary size for non-standard terrains, and choosing an operating system option to work around indexing crashes.

How to use it

Getting started

Place the Map Indexer moduleOnly for a brand new, unsupported map. Drag one Map Indexer module into Eden. Only one can be used in a mission, and it doesn't need syncing to anything.
Leave Object Categorization and Known Categories on YesBoth default to Yes. Object Categorization only matters when the map has no static data yet: Yes has you categorise each unique object, and No uses a built-in list of common building names. Known Categories fills in objects the shipped terrain indexes all agree on, so you only categorise the rest.
Set the map PBO path and environmentSet Map PBO file path to the terrain's PBO path relative to the Arma 3 folder (for example Addons\map_Stratis.pbo). It goes straight to ALiVEClient, so the default placeholder path fails the scan, even on a standard map. Pick the map's Composition Environment, and set Custom MapBound only for a non-standard terrain size.
Check the Operating System optionLeave the Operating System setting on Windows 7 unless the scan crashes. Windows 7 starts DeWrp from the Mikero DePboTools folder in Program Files (x86); Windows 10 starts it through your Windows PATH instead. If Arma crashes as the scan starts, try the other choice.
Check ALiVE, DeWrp and BattlEye before startingThe indexer works from a copy of ALiVE in a folder named exactly @ALiVE inside your Arma 3 folder, not from the Workshop copy, with ALiVEClient_x64.dll and alive_object_blacklist.txt at the top of it. It also needs DeWrp to read the terrain, and BattlEye off for the run. The Submit a Terrain page covers each of these.
Open the ALiVE menu and choose Map IndexerIn game, open the ALiVE menu and choose Map Indexer. Watch the progress messages: object scan, object categorisation if the map has no static data, then sector and cluster generation. Press any key when the screen asks, once when the static data is ready and again at the end. Check the RPT log if it stalls.

Settings

Every setting, and what it does

These settings tell the Map Indexer which map file to index and how to treat the objects it finds. It's a tool for adding ALiVE support to a new map and relies on the ALiVE plugin to do the indexing itself. Indexing doesn't start on its own: you start it from the ALiVE menu once you're in the mission as a player, and the object categorisation and exported map data are only produced when the plugin finds no static data for the map already.

Quick setups

Index a map without sorting every object by hand

Object Categorization: No

You won't be asked to categorise each unique object on the map; the indexer uses its built-in default categories instead. Either way the step only runs when the map has no static data yet.

Categorise a map by hand without redoing what other maps already settled

Object Categorization: Yes
Known Categories: Yes

Objects every shipped index agrees on are filled in for you; you only categorise the ones they don't. On Malden, Altis, Tanoa, Chernarus and Takistan that's 97 to 100% of the categorised objects done for you.

The indexer keeps crashing

Operating System: Windows 10

This switches the plugin to its other compatibility mode, which the tooltip suggests trying after a crash.

Index a desert map

Composition Environment: Desert

The desert composition set is written into the exported map data, so ALiVE places desert-style compositions there without you editing the file afterwards. This only happens when the indexer builds fresh static data; if the map already has some, that step is skipped and nothing is written.

General

6 settings

Object CategorizationDefault: Yes

Choices: Yes / No

Yes means you'll be asked to categorise each unique object on the map when the indexer builds the map's static data. No skips that and uses a built-in default set matched on common building names. Either way this step only runs when the plugin finds no existing static data for the map.

Known CategoriesDefault: Yes

Choices: Yes / No

Only matters when Object Categorization is Yes. Yes fills in, and skips, every object the shipped terrain indexes all categorise the same way (5,490 models, most of the houses and clutter on the common maps), so you're only asked about the rest. The RPT says how many were filled in. No asks you about every object.

Map PBO file pathDefault: @CustomMap\Addons\custom_map.pbo

The path and file name of the map's PBO, relative to your Arma 3 folder. It's handed to the plugin as typed, with no check, so replace the example text with your map's real path.

Custom MapBoundDefault: 0

A map size in metres to use instead of the map's own size. Leave it at 0 to use the map's own size; any other value should cover the whole map, rounded up to the nearest 1000. It sizes the sector grid the indexer builds on every run, but it's only written into the exported map data when the indexer builds fresh static data, so a map that already has static data keeps the size already saved there.

TrySet 16000 for a map whose playable area runs to about 15.3 km but reports a smaller size.

Operating SystemDefault: Windows 7

Choices: Windows 7 / Windows 10

How the indexer starts DeWrp, the tool that reads the terrain. Windows 7 runs it in a command window from C:\Program Files (x86)\Mikero\DePboTools\bin, so that folder has to exist with DeWrp in it, whatever your PATH says. Windows 10 starts it with no window and finds it through your Windows PATH, which Arma only picks up once Steam has been restarted. If Arma crashes as the scan starts, try the other choice.

Composition EnvironmentDefault: Urban

Choices: Urban / Woodland / Desert / Jungle / Pacific / Bocage

The kind of terrain this map is, which decides the set of ALiVE compositions used on it. It's written into the exported map data when the indexer builds fresh static data, so you don't need to add it by hand after indexing. If the map already has static data that step is skipped and nothing is written, though the choice still steers composition picks during the indexing run.

Recent work

What's changed lately

Known Categories skips what the shipped indexes agree onWhen you categorise a map by hand, objects that every shipped terrain index puts in the same category (5,490 models, mostly houses and clutter) are filled in for you. On Malden, Altis, Tanoa, Chernarus and Takistan that covers 97 to 100% of the categorised objects. Set it to No to do every object yourself.
Runs on a dedicated serverWith nobody connected, the indexer skips the wait for a player and both key presses, and uses the categories already in the map's static data file. Without that file it stops and says so in the RPT.
Fieldworks tick in the object pickerThe in-game picker has a Fieldworks tick for trenches and bunkers soldiers can stand in. Groups of 3 or more within 50 m become fieldwork objectives in the military clusters file, and Military Placement uses them when its Fieldworks setting asks.
Indexing takes about half as longThe terrain analysis keeps a spatial index and caches of the map's objects instead of searching the whole map again for each sector, and the output files are written in batches. Finding the building clusters that become objectives is also faster on large maps.
Every model reaches the static dataA category holding exactly one model used to be left out of the static data, and the last model went missing in categories of 61, 121 and so on. Both are fixed.
Pick the composition environment on the moduleThe module has an environment setting (Urban, Woodland, Desert, Jungle, Pacific or Bocage, Urban by default). The choice is written into the exported data, so you no longer edit it in by hand.

Status

Where it stands

Delivered

Core indexing workflow works

Placing the module and triggering it from the ALiVE menu runs through the full pipeline: object scan, categorization prompts when needed, sector generation, and military plus civilian cluster generation, with on-screen progress messages at each stage. In game it pauses twice for a key press: once the static data is ready, and again at the end.

Custom map options

Custom map options let you point the indexer at a specific map PBO file and override the map boundary size. The Operating System and Object Categorization settings now take effect as well; both were being discarded before anything read them, so every run behaved as though the defaults had been left alone.

Runs on a dedicated server

With nobody connected, it skips the wait for a player and both key presses. The object categories then have to be in the map's static data file already, because only a player can categorise objects in game; without that file the run stops and says so in the RPT.

Index a Terrain does it for you

The Index a Terrain page in the Platform section takes a terrain's Steam Workshop link and runs the whole job on ALiVE's indexing server: download, object scan, sorting the objects, sectors and objectives. You follow each step on the page, check every object's categories at the end and send the result in for review.

Faster indexing and a second-module warning

The analysis runs in about half the time it did. Placing a second Map Indexer now shows a warning and the second module does nothing, instead of the two quietly fighting over settings.

Testing

How you can help

This is only relevant when testing a map that has not been indexed for ALiVE before. Place the Map Indexer module in Eden, start the mission, open the ALiVE menu in-game and choose Map Indexer. Watch for the on-screen progress messages (starting index, categorizing objects if prompted, generating sector and cluster data, completion message) and check the RPT log if it stops partway through or reports a problem. If the map is already indexed, running this module has nothing to check, it is not part of normal mission testing.

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

2026-11-01
In Eden Known Categories hides while Object Categorization is off.
2026-10-15
New Known Categories setting (on by default): when you categorise objects yourself, every object the shipped terrain indexes all categorise the same way is filled in and skipped, so you only categorise the rest (#499).
2026-10-15
The object blacklist used when indexing a map in game has 2,937 more clutter models (7,083 to 10,020): the crates, benches and fence posts the shipped indexes already treat as clutter.
2026-10-11
Opening a map with no ALiVE index in the editor, VR for one, no longer pops up a "Script ... not found" error.
2026-10-07
Indexing writes its output files in batches instead of a line at a time, and the terrain analysis reuses its grids, so the end of an index run is quicker. Contributed by SpyderBlack723.
2026-10-06
Indexing a map takes about half as long: the analysis keeps a spatial index and caches of the map's objects instead of searching the whole map again for each sector. Contributed by SpyderBlack723.
2026-10-06
The in-game indexer writes every model in each category. A category holding exactly one model was left out, and the last model went missing at 61, 121 and so on.
2026-10-06
The in-game indexer has a Fieldworks tick. Tick it on its own for trenches and bunkers soldiers can stand in; groups of three or more become fieldwork objectives.
2026-10-06
Finding the clusters of buildings that become objectives only compares buildings near each other, which is much faster on large maps. Contributed by SpyderBlack723.
2026-10-03
The map indexer can now run on a dedicated server with nobody connected: it skips the wait for a player and the two key presses, and uses the object categories already in the map's static data file. Without that file it stops and says so.
2026-09-22
Placing a second Map Indexer module warns you instead of letting the two quietly fight over the settings.
2026-08-13
The indexer now carries an environment setting: Urban, Woodland, Desert, Jungle, Pacific or Bocage, Urban by default. Your pick is written into the exported data, so you no longer have to edit it by hand. Worth confirming the export carries the environment you chose.
2026-08-06
Corrected the setup steps: there is no Use Existing Static Data setting. The Object Categorization setting decides how objects are categorised, not whether the terrain is re-scanned.
2026-08-05
The Map Indexer's operating system choice and Custom Static Data setting now take effect. Changing either used to make no difference.
2026-07-27
Page first published.