STW/Air Drops

For players

Only the leader of a player group can request an airdrop by default. The server resolves the leader's faction, filters the available items for that faction, and validates the marked area before any item can be selected.

1. Become the leader of your group.
2. Open the map and place a marker at the intended delivery point.
3. Write one of the recognised marker texts: AIRDROP, AIR_DROP, or AIR DROP. They are case-insensitive.
4. After the request is accepted, close the map. The delivery dialog opens after the map has closed.
5. Select a Schedule: Immediate, Delayed, or Set Time of Day; then confirm the available Item to deliver. The faction is preselected and cannot be changed by the client.

Scheduling a delivery

The delivery dialog can schedule a selected vehicle or crate using the scenario's in-game clock. The available choices are:

• Immediate: starts the delivery as soon as the server accepts it. A server can disable this option.
• Delayed: enter a delay in hours and minutes. It defaults to 1 hour, 0 minutes.
• Set Time of Day: shows the current in-game date and time, then lets you choose Month, Day, Year, Hours, and Minutes. Its fields default to one in-game hour ahead.

Delayed and absolute-date requests must meet the server's minimum scheduling delay. A date/time in the past, or one earlier than that minimum, is rejected safely and does not create a delivery. Multiple future requests may be scheduled; normal player requests still obey the faction cooldown when they become due, while Game Master requests remain exempt from that cooldown.

Crate drops and custom crate types

Request a crate drop with a marker named CRATE_DROP, CRATE DROP, or CRATEDROP; the text is case-insensitive. Group leaders can also use Airdrop → Place CRATE DROP on the map command wheel. After closing the map, choose the available crate type in the delivery dialog.

Create a new crate drop

1. Create and configure an STW Crate in a Workbench session. Add the exact items and packed containers you want delivered.
2. Let STW Crates save the crate. The generated crate-content JSON must be from STW Crates v2, which preserves items inside backpacks and other containers.
3. Copy the JSON for exactly one crate into this server-profile folder:

$profile:STW/ParachuteDrop/CratesContent/

Give the file a meaningful .json name, for example STWEngineerCrateContentsUS.json. Its filename becomes the crate type shown in the drop dialog. The system discovers valid JSON files in this folder automatically—no configuration edit or server restart is needed after the file is copied.

Example custom crates: download the US medical crate or USSR medical crate, copy the file into CratesContent, and it will appear in the crate-drop picker.

Get more crates: visit the STW Discord crate resources channel for additional crates.

Easy-to-edit one-item sample

Download the one-item US crate sample for the smallest valid STW Crates v2 crate definition. It contains one US medical kit, making it a clean starting point for a new crate type.

1. Download the sample, rename it (for example, STWAmmoCrateContentsUS.json), and place it in $profile:STW/ParachuteDrop/CratesContent/.
2. Replace the value of the item's prefab field with the full ResourceName of the item you want to deliver.
3. To add items, duplicate the complete object inside the items array, separate the objects with commas, and change each prefab value. Keep the outer file to exactly one crate.

Random crate catalog download

Random Combat Supplies and Random Apparel Crates are supplied by STW Crates and can be selected in the crate-drop dialog only when their public catalogs are installed on the server.

1. Download STWRandomCratesWeapons.json and STWRandomCratesApparel.json. You can also download the STWExplosivesAndMinesUS_USSR.json crate.
2. Place both catalog files in:

$profile:STW/Crates/Catalogs/

Restart the scenario/server after copying the files. The weapons catalog is required for Random Combat Supplies Crates and the apparel catalog is required for Random Apparel Crates. The path uses Catalogs, with an s.

Automatic airdrop deployments

The authoritative server can periodically deploy one random STW crate to a random safe location anywhere on the map. This is independent of player markers, player cooldowns, and Game Master placement requests.

Every cycle waits a newly randomized real server-time interval. The default range is 60 to 90 minutes. Scenario time acceleration does not shorten it, and a server/scenario restart starts a fresh interval rather than preserving a countdown.

Each deployment chooses an available random crate type with equal weight, then selects an eligible faction and available size at random. Random Combat Supplies and Random Apparel crates remain available when their public STW Crates catalogs are installed; they are faction-neutral.

The server samples up to 64 map locations and applies the same landing-zone validation used for ordinary airdrops. If no safe location is found, it skips that cycle and schedules the next one; it never drops a crate at an unsafe fallback location.

Scenario Properties

Game Masters can make session-only changes through Scenario Properties → STW Air Drops:

Drop-zone rules

STW/Air Drops uses the established Transport Helipads landing-zone acceptance rules. A request is rejected when the target area is unsafe for a delivery.

The server checks the location when the marker is accepted and checks again immediately before starting the delivery. If the area is no longer valid, no payload is released.

What you see after acceptance

Your typed request marker is immediately replaced with a locked STW airdrop icon in your faction colour. It is visible only to the owning faction and remains while you select an item and while the payload is descending.

• The icon is removed if the request is cancelled, expires, is rejected, or the payload reaches the ground.
• The payload is visible during the descent, held in a controlled landing state to avoid bouncing, stuttering, or taking fall damage before touchdown.
• When enabled, the C-130 visual flyby crosses the target area and releases the cargo during the pass. It is cinematic support, not a flyable aircraft or a requirement for delivery.

Delivery availability and optional vehicle content

The item list is faction-filtered and resource-checked by the server. STW/Air Drops carries its own allow-list, so it does not require STW/Light Vehicles and does not start that mod's automatic vehicle spawner.

Vanilla choices are available for their factions. Optional RHS, HMMWV variants, TIGR, and JLTV entries appear only when their source prefabs are installed and usable by the server. Players can never submit an item the server has not approved.

For Game Masters and scenario authors

Use a clear target area and a faction with at least one valid delivery item. The map-marker request flow is intended for live players; Game Master use follows the configured default faction when no ordinary player faction can be resolved.

For a cinematic event, leave the C-130 flyby enabled. For a minimal or silent logistics experience, disable it: the parachute delivery remains fully functional without the aircraft visual.

Server configuration

The server creates the configuration file on its first start:

$profile:STW/ParachuteDrop/STWParachuteDropConfig.json

Stop the server before editing it, then restart the scenario/server after saving changes.