Arma 3: Communication Menu

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)

Note

Arma 2: 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.
Communication menu and icons

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).

Note

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

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

Add Menu Item

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

• BIS_fnc_addCommMenuItem
• BIS_fnc_removeCommMenuItem

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

Note

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: