Troubleshooting

Common ALiVE issues and their troubleshoots

For the following section, the [XX/XX] tags represent where the issue is located:

• DS: Dedicated server (on a game hosting or a VPS hosting)
• LS: Local server (a server hosted on your personal machine)
• CS: Client sided (an issue noticed by users and unrelated to the server)
• SL: Solo (an issue noticed in solo campaigns hosted on the local machine)

[DS/LS] 'I am getting low server-side FPS on my mission'

• How do detect?
  • Arma works with 2 FPS counters. The client FPS are the frames per second a user gets on his machine. This is mostly affected by the amount of geometry (objects) arma has to render. The server FPS are only related to calculating AI movements and scripts, anything over 24FPS is overkill. To see the server-sided FPS counter, login as an admin (using '#login password' in the in-game text chat) and use the command '#monitor t' in the in-game text chat where t is a time in seconds (i.e. '#monitor 5'). If you notice your FPS counter below 24 you can try and gain a few using mission & server optimizing. You should get at least 10FPS to get playable performances.

• What affects it?
  • Server-sided FPS can be affected by the following: (ordered by amount of influence)
    • ALiVE objectives
    • Amount of AI spawned on the map
    • Server-sided scripts (included in the mission file BUT ALSO IN MODS!!)

• How to troubleshoot?
  • 1: Check for abusive scripts: (commands below)
    • Run hint str diag_activeScripts; globally in the debug console, it should output something like this: [0,0,0,1]. This represents the amount of scripts running on the server. Check that the number is not anomaly high. [1]
    • Run [] spawn { hint str diag_activeSQFScripts; }; globally in the debug console, it should output all SQF scripts running on the server, look for anything out-of-the-ordinary. [2]
    • Run {systemChat str _x} forEach diag_activeMissionFSMs; globally in the debug console, it should output all FSM scripts running on the server, look for anything out-of-the-ordinary. [3]
  • 2: Check for abusive AI calculations.
    • Test the missing with less than 50 units spawned at the same time.
    • Check that ALiVE uses your HCs if you have any (in the ALiVE_Required module > AI Distribution > Headless Clients)
    • If you see performance increase while lowering AI count, consider using headless clients to increase AI count (a good rule of thumb is max 300 AI per HC).
  • 3: Lower abusive objectives.
    • The last thing you can do is lower your objective counts. I have noticed Civilian objectives not having a huge impact so not having filters on them shouldn't be much an issue. The biggest change is noticed with asymmetric objectives.
    • Run your mission with placement module debug on and see all the objectives on your map. Notice what objectives you can sacrifice without impacting gameplay (some modded maps have an odd placement and sizing of towns making for unbalanced objective density on the map).
    • Apply filters and run your mission with debug until you can find a balancing point between FPS and gameplay. You can also use a combination of asymmetric commander on big objectives only and occupation commander on small objectives with the same faction as a 'filler' to trick the player into not noticing the lack of enemies in the small towns.

[DS/LS/SL] 'All my spawned AIs defaulted to CSAT and NATO units'

• How do detect?
  • Running the mission, modded faction spawn vanilla faction units.

• What affects it?
  • Spawned units are affected by the following: (ordered randomly)
    • Faction classnames (typos)
    • Mods installed on hosting platform (could be your own computer)

• How to troubleshoot?
  • 1: Check all your classnames for typos, BLU_F, OPF_F and CIV_F are the 'fallback' factions, meaning if any error, ALiVE will use one of these to spawn its units.
  • 2: Check for module clashes; make sure all your synced modules use the same classnames (ie. AI commander, AI placement ect...) sometimes, clashes result in an error leading to the fallback faction to be used.
  • 3: Check your installed mods and startup parameters. Sometimes the missing will launch even if the mods arn't loaded correctly. If you use dedicated servers, make sure the mod is read correctly and is loaded.

[DS/LS/CS/SL] 'I get this message when trying to use the Alive mod'

• How to detect?
  • Start the server/game and notice

include file x cba addons main script_macros.hpp not found

• What affects it?
  • This error is affected by @CBA_A3 presence

• How to troubleshoot?
  • 1: Check if @CBA_A3 is installed correctly (via steam on client, or manualy check the mod in the FTP if in DS)
  • 2: Check the startup command (for clients, check if the mod is checkedin the launched and placed above (before) @ALiVE (in the case of @CBA_A3, it should be the first mod to load regardless of your modlist); for servers check your startup command and look for typos).
  • 3: Repair the mod (in launcher right click on the mod and hit 'repair'; on server, delete the entire mod and redownload it from steam)
  • 3.1: Totaly redownload the mod (unsubscribe from workshop, delete mod folder, re-subscribe and redownload).
  • 4: Check RPTs to see if the mod loaded correctly. Maybe the mod is installed incorrectly.

[DS/LS/SL] 'I'm getting an error with placement modules and markers'

• How to detect?
  • Start the server/game and notice

Warning no location found for placement, you need to include military location within the TOAR marker

• What affects it?
  • This error is affected by the following: (in no particular order)
    • ALiVE placement modules
    • Map markers
    • Classnames and var names for both placement modules & map markers

• How to troubleshoot?
  • All the following need to be done for EACH TAOR unless you know precisely which one is causing the hassle.
  • 1: Check the name given to the TAOR [4] and the one placed in the placement module's appropriate field. CHECK FOR TYPOS!!!!
  • 2: Check that the TAOR includes towns available in the currently used filter settings (see following steps if unsure)
  • 3: Empty the TAOR field in the placement module and turn on the debug for said TAOR. Check for the error, if the error is still present it can mean one of 2 things:
    • A: The map you are using does not contain objectives of this type, maybe open your placement filters a bit?
    • B: The module you are troubbleshooting is not the module yielding the issue.
  • 4: Using the debug, notice available objectives and reconsider your TAOR placement. Resizing or moving or your TAOR marker may be needed to fix this issue.

[DS] 'Mission takes a very long time to load / Infinite Load Screen'

• How do detect?
  • Boot server
  • Join lobby, chose a spot
  • Join game
  • Get stuck in loading screen (whith the picture), may notice to be stuck in a 2nd loading menu if playing modded.

• What affects it?
  • Loading time of mission may be locked for multiple reasons:
    • Mods difference between client and server, outdated CBA or ACE have been known to cause issues.
    • ALiVE initialisation (only if loading time is noticed only after boot; not on 2nd join or if infinite loading)
      • Number of objectives
      • Modules not synced correctly
      • Virtual AI Commander (OPCOM) cannot find any groups in the addon faction config.
      • Virtual AI Commander (OPCOM) cannot find any objectives on the map or within the TAOR.

• How to troubleshoot?
  • 1: Check server&client-sided mods. Look for out-of-date mods. See => [1]
  • 2: Run an official AliVE scenario to test your setup. These should not take too long to load.
  • 3: Ensure ALiVE modules are properly synced (F5) in the editor and not Grouped (F2). The editor loves to group modules so always double check.
  • 4: Check that the AI Commander has at least one Placement module with the same faction in the override box, the classname is spelt correctly and the addon is in the list of Supported Factions.
  • 5: Try expanding the TAOR and use debug on the Placement modules to check some objectives show. Check that the map is in the list of Supported Maps. Note that sometimes maps are updated and the indexing is out of date.
  • 6: Reduce ALiVE objective count acording to server specs. See => [2]
  • 7: Understand that ALiVE needs to do a lot of work and that init time may be a sacrifice to be done on some machines if you want to run huge missions on certain maps.

[DS/LS/SL] 'Persistence isn't working'

• How to detect?
  • Start the server/game
  • Login as admin (if DS)
  • Server save & exit
  • Restart server/game
  • Login and notice persistence didn't take effect

• What affects it?
  • For Cloud:
    • @ALiVE + @ALiVEServer
    • Your War Room account and server setup
    • For Windows [DS ONLY]: File permissions
  • For Local:
    • @ALiVE
    • For Windows [DS ONLY]: File permissions

• How to troubleshoot?
  • 1: For full mission persistence via the War Room, check that you having @ALiVEServer and have set up your server details as per the instructions in your group's server profile page.
  • 2: When saving the mission, you must use the "Server Save & Exit" button. Do not Abort or do #missions, as this exits too quickly for ALiVE to gather the data. If in doubt, it's sometimes worth having the admin manually save his profile before quitting.
  • 3: When restarting the server, it sometimes helps to wait a few minutes on the map screen for all the scripts (including any other mods) to initialise before joining the game.
  • 4: Note that vehicles are only saved after a player "get out" event. Objects are only saved after they are moved around with Logistics Support.
  • 5: For cloud:
    • A: Check your @ALiVEServer mod
    • B: [DS] Check that @ALiVEServer is started both as a mod and server mod on the server.
    • C: For windows: check that the correct user had read-write-execute permissions on this folder recursively.
    • D: Check your War Room account for any errors
    • E: Check your War Room server setup for any errors
  • 5: For local:
    • A: Check that your <username>.vars.arma3profile exists on the server after saving and that the server can reach the filepath and has read-write-execute permission on that file.
    • B: Check that the RPT does not contain any errors
    • C: Check for any other third party scripts/mods that may include a persistence functions. Things may clash.

[CS] 'My Game Crashes on loading a mission on X map with ALiVE'

• How to detect?
  • Start the server/game
  • Login on an ALiVE server
  • Game crash

• What affects it?
  • This error has only been known to be affected by the memory allocator

• How to troubleshoot?
  • In the Arma 3 launcher, head to the parameters tab
  • In the Advanced section, look for Memory Allocator
  • Switch memory allocator

[DS/LS/SL] 'ACE (or other) IEDs in the IED module do not explode'

• How do detect?
  • Run the mission using ACE in the IED module
  • Step on an IED (VBIEDs do not seem to be concerned)
  • IED does not explode

• What affects it?
  • IEDs spawned by the IED module are affected by the following:
    • "3rd Party IEDs" option
    • Classnames defined in the modules (typos)
    • Mods installed on hosting platform (could be your own computer)

• How to troubleshoot?
  • 0: A common mistake seems to be to miss a spot in the IED module wiki page. "assumes the mod is using the Arma 3 "mine" as its base class (see notes below)." In the case of ACE, make sure the correct classnames are used. (ACE_IEDLandSmall_Range_Ammo, ACE_IEDUrbanSmall_Range_Ammo, ACE_IEDLandBig_Range_Ammo, ACE_IEDUrbanBig_Range_Ammo)
  • 1: Check all your classnames for typos.
  • 2: Check your installed mods and startup parameters. Sometimes the missing will launch even if the mods aren't loaded correctly. If you use dedicated servers, make sure the mod is read correctly and is loaded. If you are using modded IEDs and the server dosn't have the mod, it won't be able to spawn them/use them correctly

Going further:

• [1] diag_activeScripts: Returns 4 element array with numbers of currently running scripts in format: [spawn-ed, execVM-ed, exec-ed, execFSM-ed] [3]
• [2] diag_activeSQFScripts: Displays [[" hint str diag_activeSQFScripts;", "", true, 1]] [4]
• [3] diag_activeMissionFSMs: Returns array with active Mission FSMs. [5]
• [4] TAOR: Tactical Area Of Responsibility => TAOR

ALiVE Common Error Messages (Legacy)

I get this message when trying to use the Alive mod

include file x cba addons main script_macros.hpp not found

You are missing the required mod: @CBA_A3

I'm getting an error with placement modules and markers

Warning no location found for placement, you need to include military location within the TOAR marker

Try the placement module without any TAOR marker defined and with debug switched on in the module, once the game starts take a screen shot of the map so you can see what locations are available over the whole map. Then place your TAOR marker (making sure the marker covers the center point of an existing location from you screen shot). Alternatively expand the size of your TAOR marker until some location is found.

Mission takes a very long time to load

ALiVE initialisation time depends on the size of the map, number of objectives and Placement modules you have. On very large and complex missions it can take up to 15 minutes on the loading screen. Try filtering out the small and low priority objectives.

Infinite Load Screen

This is typically caused by one of the following:

1. Modules are not synced correctly. Ensure ALiVE modules are properly synced (F5) in the editor and not Grouped (F2). The editor loves to group modules so always double check.

2. The Virtual AI Commander (OPCOM) cannot find any groups in the addon faction config. Check that the AI Commander has at least one Placement module with the same faction in the override box, the classname is spelt correctly and the addon is in the list of Supported Factions.

3. The Virtual AI Commander (OPCOM) cannot find any objectives on the map or within the TAOR. Try expanding the TAOR and use debug on the Placement modules to check some objectives show. Check that the map is in the list of Supported Maps. Note that sometimes maps are updated and the indexing is out of date.

4. Troubleshooting: if in doubt, always test with vanilla factions (e.g. OPF_F and BLU_F) and ideally a vanilla map (e.g. Altis) to rule out any issues with your ALiVE installation or setup.

Persistence isn't working

1. For full mission persistence via the War Room, check that you having @ALiVEServer and have set up your server details as per the instructions in your group's server profile page.

2. When saving the mission, you must use the "Server Save & Exit" button. Do not Abort or do #missions, as this exits too quickly for ALiVE to gather the data. If in doubt, it's sometimes worth having the admin manually save his profile before quitting.

3. When restarting the server, it sometimes helps to wait a few minutes on the map screen for all the scripts (including any other mods) to initialise before joining the game.

4. Note that vehicles are only saved after a player "get out" event. Objects are only saved after they are moved around with Logistics Support.

My Game Crashes on loading a mission on X map with ALiVE

Try switching memory allocator