Initialisation Order
Introduction
Whenever a mission is launched (or joined in multiplayer) certain tasks are performed to ensure the mission's various components are initialized correctly and that everyone is synced in multiplayer games (particularly JIP players). Initialization order refers to the order in which those tasks are executed and it's important to take into account when setting up the start of a mission.
Event Scripts are a key part of a mission's initialization order and will be utilized often when working with SQF.
Arma 3
Take note that the order of initialization is different in single player and multiplayer environments. If an entry is unmarked then it applies to both.
| Item | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Single Player Only | |
| Multiplayer Only | |
| Order is not guaranteed |
In multiplayer the following is relevant to every machine including the server and headless clients. If the server is non-dedicated then it should be considered both a server and client.
| Task | Applies To | JIP | Related To | Exec Environment | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Functions with recompile attribute are recompiled | All | ✔ | Functions Library (Arma 3) | ||
| Functions with preInit attribute are called | All | ✔ | Functions Library (Arma 3) | Unscheduled | |
| Object Init Event Handlers are called | All | Unscheduled | |||
| Expressions of Eden Editor entity attributes are called | Eden Editor: Configuring Attributes | Unscheduled | They are called on the server. isPlayer _entity; does not return true immediately. Once entity has become a player, the entity is transfered to the client.
| ||
| Object initialization fields are called | All | ✔ | Unscheduled | ||
| init.sqs is executed | Single Player | Event Scripts | |||
| init.sqf is executed | Single Player | Event Scripts | Scheduled[1] | ||
| Expressions of Eden Editor scenario attributes are called | All | ✔ | Eden Editor: Configuring Attributes | Unscheduled | |
| Persistent functions are called | Client | ✔ | BIS_fnc_MP | ||
| Modules are initialized | All | ||||
| initServer.sqf is executed | Server | Event Scripts | Scheduled | ||
| initPlayerLocal.sqf is executed | Client | ✔ | Event Scripts | Scheduled | |
| initPlayerServer.sqf is executed on the server | Client | ✔ | Event Scripts | Scheduled | |
| Functions with postInit attribute are called | All | ✔ | Functions Library (Arma 3) | Scheduled[1] | |
| "BIS_fnc_init" variable is set to true | All | ✔ | |||
| init.sqs is executed | All | ✔ | Event Scripts | Scheduled | |
| init.sqf is executed | All | ✔ | Event Scripts | Scheduled |
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Note that while the environment is Scheduled (canSuspend returns true), the engine seems to wait until the script is done executing, essentially behaving similarly to an Unscheduled environment - infinite loops will freeze the game, uiSleep may pause the game for up to ~20secs (postInit), etc.