Arma Reforger Server Optimization: AI Limits and Map Garbage Collection

The dynamic Conflict and Combat Operations game modes in Arma Reforger offer players a macroeconomic, large-scale combat simulation where factions battle for control points, request reinforcements, and supply operational bases. The heart of these scenarios is a dynamic AI (Artificial Intelligence) spawning system driven by automated script parameters or Game Masters.

However, over a prolonged game session paired with high player counts, the server inevitably accumulates "world clutter": dozens of burnt-out vehicle wrecks, dropped weapons, empty magazines, and soldier corpses. Combined with unthrottled bot spawning, this triggers a catastrophic drop in server-side FPS. In this article, we will examine how to leverage hidden JSON parameters and administrative console overrides to establish strict AI ceilings and configure automated garbage collection routines on your hosting infrastructure.

Part 1: Managing Computing Loads from Dynamic AI Spawning

Within the Enfusion Engine framework, an individual AI entity is not merely a graphical model, but a complex web of continuous processing subsystems: tactical behavior matrices, pathfinding grids (NavMesh navigation checks), sensory perception sweeps (sight and hearing evaluations), and active inventory indexing trees. Sustaining more than 80–100 active bots simultaneously on a terrain layout can push server thread performance past its limits.

To mitigate this computing pressure, official scenario templates provide an integrated dynamic simulation freeze and threshold system (Garbage Collector & Spawn Limits). These parameters can be overridden using the primary server config.json configuration file or calibrated via mission-specific server_header.json profiles.

Configuring AI Spawning Limits:

Inject or adjust the following properties within the scenario properties block (gameProperties / scenarios) to strictly regulate reinforcement allocations:

"gameProperties": {
    "SCR_AISpawnParams": {
        "m_iMaxActiveAI": 60,
        "m_fDespawnRadius": 1000,
        "m_fMinSpawnRadius": 300,
        "m_bEnableDynamicSimulation": true
    }
}

How It Works: Activating the m_bEnableDynamicSimulation property instructs the server to suspend CPU execution cycles regarding the AI logic of units garrisoned at distant outposts when no human players are nearby. The bot shifts into a static state ("sleeps") until a vehicle or infantry element belonging to an adversarial faction enters its tracking grid perimeter.

Part 2: Configuring the Automated Garbage Collector

The Enfusion Engine features a built-in disposal system known as the GarbageSystem. By default, its parameters are calibrated loosely to preserve the immersive wreckage of an ongoing conflict. Consequently, disabled Ural trucks or Humvees can litter roadway networks for hours, saturating the physical physics engine with complex collider intersection loops.

To force the server to rapidly wipe neutralized entities, insert these hidden cleanup parameters within the "game" block of your config.json:

"game": {
    "GarbageSystem": {
        "m_fDeadBodyLifetime": 180,
        "m_fDestroyedVehicleLifetime": 300,
        "m_fDroppedItemLifetime": 120,
        "m_iMaxDeadBodies": 20,
        "m_iMaxDestroyedVehicles": 5
    }
}

Part 3: Administrative Console Commands for Emergency Cleanses

If server FPS degrades sharply during an event or special operation due to unforeseen operational clutter (e.g., players detonate a logistics convoy of 10 vehicles inside an identical sector), a server administrator possessing superuser credentials can enforce an immediate manual wipe via the developer terminal (evoked using the ~ key after validating an RCon login).

Architectural Rules for Consistent Server Performance

1. Monitor Supply Depots: In Conflict scenarios, player teams frequently hoard hundreds of logistical supply crates inside a singular compound zone. Every individual crate functions as a dynamic, replicating entity. Guide your users to spend supply metrics constructing defensive parameters instead of amassing item clusters in a localized grid sector.
2. Schedule Cyclic Automated Reboots: Even under an optimized Garbage Collector configuration, the Enfusion Engine accumulates runtime geometry cache arrays over time. The ideal operational cycle for a heavily populated Arma Reforger server is deploying scheduled automated reboots via your hosting task scheduler every 6–12 hours. This process secures complete memory reclamation.

Summary: Sustaining high server-side tick consistency (ideally keeping metrics above 40–60 processing steps under hardware graphs) directly depends on your script severity regarding world clutter. Implementing strict AI spawn restrictions and executing aggressive vehicle cleanup parameters ensures your environment remains smooth and stable under maximum slot configurations.