STW Tanks Spawner — Online Manual

STW suite connection

STW Tanks Spawner is made by STW (ScienceTechWorks). It is a self-contained, server-authoritative population system: its core operation does not require another STW mod. It selects the faction keys available to the running scenario, preferring RHS_USAF then US for US-aligned tanks and RHS_AFRF then USSR for AFRF-aligned tanks.

Its marker and persistence approach matches the wider STW suite, while its configuration and save data remain specific to STW Tanks Spawner.

What it adds

After the configured startup delay, the authoritative server analyses suitable terrain and creates separate US and AFRF/USSR tank populations. Spawned tanks are faction-aligned, AI-crewed, unlocked, and engine-started. The built-in catalog contains M1A1/M1A2 variants for the US side, T-72A/T-72B variants for the Cold War AFRF side, and T-14 and T-90M variants for the active post-Cold-War AFRF side. Administrators can select the eras offered to each side.

Terrain-aware placement

Candidates are checked for slope, nearby obstacles, vegetation, and separation from accepted tanks. The server retries positions within analysed areas up to the configured attempt limit.

Safe automatic replacement

Freshly generated tanks can be replaced after destruction. Replacements retain their side and era pool, but use a new terrain-valid location that is safely away from players.

Defensive AI

By default, each generated or restored tank receives a local-defense waypoint around its home position, so it can respond to nearby contacts without roaming across the map.

Useful map support

Optional static markers can reveal exact tank locations or use a deliberately offset position. Marker visibility is controlled by map zoom.

For players

There is no player menu or client-side setup. Join a server running STW Tanks Spawner and use the generated tanks through the normal Arma Reforger vehicle controls.

Tank markers appear only when the administrator enables them and the map is at or above the configured zoom threshold.
Markers may be intentionally approximate. An approximate marker does not necessarily identify the tank’s exact location.
Taking a seat uses the vehicle normally. Fuel support does not refill a tracked tank while a player is inside it.

For Game Masters and scenario hosts

STW Tanks Spawner runs from the server world; it does not add a Game Master placement tool or a player-side configuration menu. Game Masters may interact with the generated tanks using normal world tools, but quotas, placement, defensive behavior, markers, persistence, and fuel support are server settings.

Quota sides are independent. If a configured US-side faction is unavailable, the AFRF/USSR side can still generate its own requested population, and vice versa.

In-game automatic-generation control

Game Masters can enable or disable automatic tank generation during the running game. Open Scenario Properties, choose the STW Tanks tab, and use Automatic Tank Generation. Disabling it immediately removes only system-generated tanks, their crews, and their markers. Re-enabling it requests a fresh generation pass. The choice applies only to the current session; the next game follows the normal server configuration and persistence state.

Server setup

Install and enable STW Tanks Spawner on the server, then start the target scenario and map once.
The mod creates $profile:STW/Tanks/STWTanksConfig.json, $profile:STW/Tanks/STWTanksFuelSupportConfig.json, and $profile:STW/Tanks/STWTanksRespawnConfig.json.
Stop the server, back up the file you plan to change, edit valid JSON, then restart.
Review the server log after startup. Invalid values are corrected and the validated configuration is saved back to disk.

Safe editing: do not edit generated configuration or persistence files while the server is running. Begin close to the defaults; high quotas, large placement attempt counts, and short persistence intervals increase server work.

Configuration

The main file is $profile:STW/Tanks/STWTanksConfig.json. Defaults are shown below; invalid settings are validated at startup.

Setting	Default	Meaning
`targetUSTankCount` `targetAFRFTankCount`	3 / 2	Requested new-population quotas for each aligned side. Negative values become zero.
`minimumTankSeparation` `spawnAreaRadius`	500 m / 130 m	Minimum accepted horizontal tank spacing and candidate-search radius per analysed area. The search radius has a 10 m minimum.
`maximumTerrainSlopeDegrees` `terrainSampleDistance`	8° / 6 m	Terrain slope limit (clamped 1–30°) and sample distance used to assess a candidate.
`obstacleClearanceRadius` `maximumNearbyVegetation`	9 m / 2	Clearance checks for buildings, walls, rocks, boulders, and nearby trees, bushes, shrubs, or forest entities.
`maximumPlacementAttemptsPerArea`	24	Random candidates checked per analysed area; at least one is required.
`showTankMarkers` `usePreciseTankMarkerPositions`	true / false	Enables markers and determines whether their position is exact.
`maximumTankMarkerOffset` `markerZoomThreshold`	250 m / 1.5	Maximum displacement for imprecise markers and the minimum map zoom (PPU) at which markers display. Zero zoom threshold disables zoom filtering.
`generationDelaySeconds`	10	Delay between server-world initialization and terrain analysis. Negative values become zero.
`preferredUSFactionKeys` `preferredAFRFFactionKeys`	RHS_USAF, US RHS_AFRF, USSR	Ordered faction-key fallback lists. The first available key in each list is used for affiliation and default crew generation.
`allowedTankEraTags`	COLD_WAR, POST_COLD_WAR	Allowed vehicle eras for generation and restoration. The default enables the full mixed catalog.

Vehicle era selection

Faction keys assign vehicle affiliation and crew. They do not choose vehicle models. Use allowedTankEraTags to choose the historical vehicle pool:

"allowedTankEraTags": ["COLD_WAR"]

COLD_WAR: pre-TUSK M1A1 variants and the USSR/AFRF T-72A and T-72B base, desert, and FIA variants.
POST_COLD_WAR: M1A1 TUSK variants, all M1A2 variants, Kurganets-25, both T-14 variants, and both T-90M variants.

With USSR and COLD_WAR, the available tank pool is the six T-72A/T-72B variants. With USSR or RHS_AFRF and POST_COLD_WAR, the pool is Kurganets-25, T-14, and T-90M variants. Set both tags to retain the mixed pool.

Local defense

localDefenseEnabled defaults to true. The defaults are a 350 m detection radius, 500 m engagement radius, 250 m response-move radius, and 400 m maximum roaming distance. The effective defend radius is limited by the smallest applicable movement and engagement values, keeping tanks close to their home position.

Fuel support

STWTanksFuelSupportConfig.json defaults to enabled checks every 20 minutes. Empty, undestroyed tanks spawned or restored by this mod are refueled when at or below 0.35 fuel, to a randomized value from 0.45 to 0.80. It never discovers or changes Game Master-placed tanks.

Persistence

Persistence is disabled by default. Set persistenceEnabled to true to save surviving generated tanks at the configured interval (15 minutes by default) and restore them for the same scenario and map. Save files live in $profile:STW/Persistence/ with the form STW_Tanks_<Scenario>_<Map>.json; scenario and map identifiers are sanitized for safe filenames.

Restoration honours allowedTankEraTags. A saved tank outside the currently selected era pool is skipped and logged rather than restored. To reset one population safely, stop the server, back up and then move or delete only that matching persistence file, then start the server. With no save for that scenario/map, the mod creates a fresh tank set.

Soft Dependencies

STW Tanks Spawner loads its vehicle catalog at runtime and ignores prefab entries whose source mod is unavailable. The mod can therefore run without any of the packs below; it simply does not spawn that pack’s vehicles. To use an optional vehicle in multiplayer, install its source mod and all of its requirements on the server and every client.

Optional mod	Workshop ID	Workshop page
RHS - Status Quo	`595F2BF2F44836FB`	Open workshop page
RHS - Content Pack 01	`1337C0DE5DABBEEF`	Open workshop page
RHS - Content Pack 02	`BADC0DEDABBEDA5E`	Open workshop page
WCS_Armaments	`629B2BA37EFFD577`	Open workshop page
WCS_SpaceCore	`5E389BB9F58B79A6`	Open workshop page
WCS_M1A1	`5D1880C4AD410C14`	Open workshop page
T-72 Main Battle Tank	`5E0AB16BEB16D6A4`	Open workshop page
CIE Leopard 2A6	`685952488F7E3CBA`	Open workshop page

The base-game dependency is not listed because it is part of Arma Reforger, not an external Workshop mod. The WCS and RHS entries include their own upstream requirements; follow the dependencies shown on each Workshop page.

Captain Sprocket community

Captain Sprocket

Arma Reforger server: STW Reforger

Community: https://discord.gg/T2AZp6GGMJ

More STW manuals: STW Online Manuals

Automatic tank respawning

Automatic respawning is enabled by default and is configured independently in $profile:STW/Tanks/STWTanksRespawnConfig.json. Only tanks created by the fresh automatic-generation pass are watched. Persistence-restored tanks, Game Master-placed tanks, mission-authored vehicles, and third-party vehicles are never replaced.

When a watched tank is destroyed, one replacement is scheduled after a random delay. The new vehicle retains the destroyed tank’s side and uses the currently enabled era pool, but it is placed at a newly selected terrain-valid candidate rather than at the destroyed position. Replacements are registered again for normal automatic features, including local defense, fuel support, markers, persistence, and future respawning.

Setting	Default	Meaning
`enabled`	true	Enables automatic replacement of eligible destroyed tanks.
`minimumRespawnMinutes` `maximumRespawnMinutes`	15 / 45	Inclusive random delay before a replacement attempt. The maximum is raised to the minimum when necessary.
`playerSafeRadiusMeters`	1,500 m	Minimum distance from every player-controlled entity for a replacement candidate.
`candidateAttempts`	12	Number of cached placement candidates to try for a player-safe replacement.
`retryDelayMinutes`	5	Delay before trying again when no safe candidate is found.

The system never forces a replacement near players. If all checked locations are unsafe, it retains the request and retries later. Pending callbacks are rejected when the world changes, automatic generation is disabled, or respawning is disabled.

Catalog note: Kurganets-25 remains a documented prefab resource, but it is temporarily excluded from the active spawn catalog. It is therefore not selected by the current post-Cold-War pool.