Communication Menu – Arma 3

Latest revision as of 14:53, 25 October 2025

Communication menu is a commanding menu where support or mission requests are placed.

The player can access it using following means:

Open the quick command menu ~ and select "Communication" item
Press 8 then 1 (Reply - Communication)

For Arma 2 and additional information, see Arma 2: Custom Command Menu.

Available items are announced upon adding by a notification and remain visualized as icons next to the commanding menu.

Configuration

Config

Communication menu items can be defined in config - global Config.cpp, Campaign Description.ext or mission Description.ext (searched in this order, the latter has the highest priority).

ⓘ

'CfgCommunicationMenu' is purely scripted config which requires the use of scripted function BIS_fnc_addCommMenuItem. It will not work with showCommandingMenu script command.

Preview and path for icons

class CfgCommunicationMenu
{
	class myArtillery
	{
		text = "Artillery Strike";		// Text displayed in the menu and in a notification
		submenu = "";					// Submenu opened upon activation (expression is ignored when submenu is not empty.)
		expression = "player setVariable ['BIS_SUPP_request', ['Artillery', _pos]];";	// Code executed upon activation
		icon = "\a3\Ui_f\data\GUI\Cfg\CommunicationMenu\artillery_ca.paa";				// Icon displayed permanently next to the command menu
		cursor = "\a3\Ui_f\data\IGUI\Cfg\Cursors\iconCursorSupport_ca.paa";				// Custom cursor displayed when the item is selected
		enable = "1";					// Simple expression condition for enabling the item
		removeAfterExpressionCall = 1;	// 1 to remove the item after calling
	};

	class menu_comms_1
	{
		text = "Menu Comms 1";
		submenu = "#USER:MENU_COMMS_1";	// will open submenu that is defined as global variable MENU_COMMS_1
		expression = "";
		icon = "";
		cursor = "";
		enable = "1";
		removeAfterExpressionCall = 0;
	};
};

Available default icons:

"\a3\Ui_f\data\GUI\Cfg\CommunicationMenu\artillery_ca.paa"
"\a3\Ui_f\data\GUI\Cfg\CommunicationMenu\attack_ca.paa"
"\a3\Ui_f\data\GUI\Cfg\CommunicationMenu\call_ca.paa"
"\a3\Ui_f\data\GUI\Cfg\CommunicationMenu\cas_ca.paa"
"\a3\Ui_f\data\GUI\Cfg\CommunicationMenu\casheli_ca.paa"
"\a3\Ui_f\data\GUI\Cfg\CommunicationMenu\defend_ca.paa"
"\a3\Ui_f\data\GUI\Cfg\CommunicationMenu\instructor_ca.paa"
"\a3\Ui_f\data\GUI\Cfg\CommunicationMenu\mortar_ca.paa"
"\a3\Ui_f\data\GUI\Cfg\CommunicationMenu\supplydrop_ca.paa"
"\a3\Ui_f\data\GUI\Cfg\CommunicationMenu\transport_ca.paa"

You can also preview pre-defined items using the Splendid™ Config Viewer.

Simple expressions

Expression	Effect	Tested
1	Always available
0	Always disabled
cursorOnGround	Only callable when pointing at a valid position
IsLeader	Player has to be the leader of his group
IsAlone
IsAloneInVehicle
IsCommander
VehicleCommander
CommandsToGunner
CommandsToPilot
NotEmpty
NotEmptySoldiers
NotEmptyCommanders
NotEmptyMainTeam
NotEmptyRedTeam
NotEmptyGreenTeam
NotEmptyBlueTeam
NotEmptyYellowTeam
NotEmptySubgroups
NotEmptyInVehicle
SelectedTeam
SelectedUnit
FuelLow
AmmoLow
Injured
Multiplayer
AreActions
CursorOnGroupMember
CursorOnHoldingFire
CursorOnEmptyVehicle
CursorOnVehicleCanGetIn
CursorOnFriendly
CursorOnEnemy
CursorOnGround
CanSelectUnitFromBar
CanDeselectUnitFromBar
CanSelectVehicleFromBar
CanDeselectVehicleFromBar
CanSelectTeamFromBar
CanDeselectTeamFromBar
FormationLine
FormationDiamond
SomeSelectedHoldingFire
PlayableLeader
PlayableSelected
IsWatchCommanded
IsSelectedToAdd
HCIsLeader
HCCursorOnIcon
HCCursorOnIconSelectable
HCCanSelectUnitFromBar
HCCanDeselectUnitFromBar
HCCanSelectTeamFromBar
HCCanDeselectTeamFromBar
HCNotEmpty
PlayerVehicleCanGetIn
IsXbox
IsTeamSwitch
CursorOnNotEmptySubgroups
SomeSelectedHaveTarget
CursorOnGroupMemberSelected
HCCursorOnIconSelectableSelected
HCCursorOnIconenemy
PlayerOwnRadio
CursorOnNeedFirstAID
CursorOnNeedHeal

Add Menu Item

Use the following functions to add the item in your mission or system:

Number of slots is limited to 10, no pagination is implemented. Larger number is an edge case, no mission should need as many supports.

ⓘ

See all Communication Menu functions.

Submenu

Config

submenu = "#USER:MENU_COMMS_1"; // "MENU_COMMS_1" is just a global variable, can be named anything

SQF

A submenu is an array in format [menuInfo, item1, item2, ... itemX]:

menuInfo: Array format [menuName, hasInputFocus]:
- menuName: String
- hasInputFocus: Boolean - as of Arma 3 v1.05, if "has input focus" is false, custom icons are not displayed
itemX: Array format [itemName, assignedKey, submenuName, command, expression, isVisible, isActive, iconPath]:
- itemName: String - displayed title
- assignedKey: Array of Numbers (see DIK KeyCodes) - e.g 0 = no key, 1 = Esc, etc
- submenuName: String - user menu name string (e.g "#USER:MY_SUBMENU_NAME"), "" for script to execute.
- command: Number - for main menu, -1 = CMD_SEPARATOR, -2 = CMD_NOTHING, -3 = CMD_HIDE_MENU, -4 = CMD_BACK, -5 (custom menu only) = CMD_EXECUTE
- expression: Array of Strings format [type, codeString]:
  - type: String - the "expression" string, always
  - codeString: String - SQF code in string format (see e.g toString); the expression has predefined variables:
    - _caller: Object - unit which called the item, usually player
    - _pos: Array in format Position - cursor position
    - _target: Object - cursor target
    - _is3D: Boolean - true when in 3D scene, false when in map
    - _id: String - item ID as returned by BIS_fnc_addCommMenuItem function
- isVisible: String - visibility condition; "1" for true, "0" for false, or optional argument string e.g "CursorOnGround"
- isActive: String - enabled condition; "1" for true, "0" for false, or optional argument string e.g "CursorOnGround"
- iconPath: String - (Optional, default "") cursor icon path for this menu item

Example

MENU_COMMS_1 = [ ["MenuName", false], ["Teleport", [2], "", -5, [["expression", "player setPos _pos;"]], "1", "1", "\A3\ui_f\data\IGUI\Cfg\Cursors\iconcursorsupport_ca.paa"], ["Kill Target", [3], "", -5, [["expression", "_target setDamage 1;"]], "1", "1", "\A3\ui_f\data\IGUI\Cfg\Cursors\iconcursorsupport_ca.paa"], ["Disabled", [4], "", -5, [["expression", ""]], "1", "0"], ["Submenu", [5], "#USER:MENU_COMMS_2", -5, [], "1", "1"] ]; MENU_COMMS_2 = [ ["Submenu", false], ["Option 1", [2], "", -5, [["expression", "hint 'Option 1';"]], "1", "1"], ["Option 2", [3], "", -5, [["expression", "hint 'Option 2';"]], "1", "1"], ["Option 3", [4], "", -5, [["expression", "hint 'Option 3';"]], "1", "1"] ];

showCommandingMenu "#USER:MENU_COMMS_1"; // displays the custom menu

Existing Submenus

Some of the existing submenus:

Menu	Menu Location
"#User:BIS_fnc_addCommMenuItem_menu"	Group/Reply communication menu /High Command Group reply menu
"#User:BIS_MENU_GroupCommunication"	High Command/UAV Reply communication menu
"#USER:BIS_VR_commMenu_1"	VR Training Mission menu
"#USER:HCWPWaitRadio"	High Command/UAV Waypoints waitRadio menu
"#USER:HCWPWaitUntil"	High Command/UAV Waypoints waitUnitl menu
"#USER:HC_Custom_0"	High Command/UAV Action menu
"#USER:HC_Missions_0"	High Command/UAV Missions menu
"#USER:HC_Targets_0"	High Command/UAV Targets menu
"#USER:BIS_fnc_kbMenu_menu"	Conversation menu
"#USER:BIS_MENU_SOM_SecOps"	Communication menu
"#USER:BIS_MENU_SOM_Support"	Communication Support menu