Battl3Bots Beta 10-23-2026

Battl3Bots: new name

BF3 BotMod is now Battl3Bots. The release zip, the setup window and the server console all use the new name.

Your install and settings carry over. The files keep their old internal names (BotModCore.dll, the BotMod folder), so just run the new Install-BotMod.bat to update.

Rush

• Rounds start with no human on the server. The bots now enter the level the way a joining player does. That brings the M-COMs and sector spawns online, so Rush plays out like Conquest.
• Up to 64 players on Rush. The player cap now comes from the game's own table for each mode. You can override it per mode in the new BotMod\BotMod_modecaps.txt, which ships with RushLarge 64.
• Attackers leave their spawn. Fixes include:
  • spawn points with no position data are learned from where bots appear;
  • each side keeps to its own spawns (defenders spawn nearest the live M-COMs);
  • fake M-COMs on the attackers' ship are ignored;
  • maps whose spawns sit outside the navigation grid get the grid extended in the background.
• Attacker tanks push past their M-COM toward the defenders, instead of stopping against the nearest wall.

Ships, boats and amphibious vehicles

• Carrier and assault-ship wells. Bots leave the flooded well (Kharg Island, Wake Island and any map using that ship) the way a player would:

  • in the water: to the middle line, then straight out of the mouth;
  • on deck: pick a boat, or go down the stairs, along the dock and down the ramp.

  The ship's layout is placed automatically from its position on every map that uses it.

• Beach landings. Boats and amphibious vehicles (AAV, LAV-25, BTR-90) land on the beach nearest the objective. They keep clear of land on the way, then hit the beach at speed and drive up the incline.

• Amphibious vehicles that can't find a drivable landing now unload their riders like a boat, instead of being abandoned at sea.

• Amphibious vehicles no longer route by sea to a spot under a cliff.

Vehicles

• Vehicles path around stopped vehicles (friendly, enemy or empty) and wait for moving teammates.
• 30% damage rule, everywhere:
  • a vehicle under 30% health is for Pilots only;
  • a squad driver calls "Get out!" at 30%;
  • nobody gets into one under 15%.
• Squads take vehicles farther away for long trips: within 120 m when the trip is 400 m or more. For example, CTF squads now take the base dirt bikes.
• When a destination is inside a building, vehicles now drive to the nearest point they can reach, so squads no longer bail out of their jeeps at the start.
• Transport helicopters drop their passengers within 30 m of the spot (or after 4 s within 50 m), instead of circling.
• The AC-130 gunship's paradrop spawn is used when a team holds it. Bots never take its driver seat, which crashed the game.
• The vehicles console command shows each vehicle's health, whether it is occupied, and empty vehicles that were left alone.

Soldiers

• Your commands come first. "Get in", "Need medic" and "Need ammo" from a human interrupt whatever the bot was doing.
• Medics use the defibrillator before medkits. A downed teammate within 35 m comes first, and medics no longer hand medkits to bodies.
• After a revive near the enemy, bots crawl to cover before standing up.
• Bots can now reach objectives halfway up staircases. Manual navigation links go in BotMod\BotMod_navlinks.txt.
• AA gunner bots join on every mode, whenever their team has room.
• Bots can get unstuck from vault loops.

Stability and performance

• Fixed several server crashes:
  • restarting a map twice;
  • the gunship's driver seat;
  • entering a burning vehicle;
  • a vehicle approach with no position.
• Fixed the server-wide stalls from long vehicle route plans. Route plans are rate-limited and cached.
• Ship well and navigation checks re-run on each level load. They are cheap after the first pass.

Download

Battl3Bots-beta.zip: unzip it and run BF3-BotMod-beta\Install-BotMod.bat.

Beta 10-20-2026

BotMod Beta 10-20-2026

Everything since Beta 10-15-2026. Install as before: unzip, run Install-BotMod.bat.

Aiming and gunfights

• Bots really aim down the sights now. Before, every "scoped" shot was fired from the hip. They now raise their sights in every fight, at any range.
• Accurate rifles: each rifle's bullet leaves a little high and to the right of where the sights point. BotMod corrects this per weapon, using each weapon's real bullet speed and drop. The corrections ship in BotMod_adsbias.txt and keep learning.
• Snipers are dangerous now: they aim from the hip first, then raise the scope, hold their breath (Shift), line up exactly, fire, and breathe between shots. They carry the M98B (12x scope, straight-pull bolt), spot enemies out to ~225 m on their own, and take on spotted enemies out to 400 m. In testing they went from the worst K/D on the server to the best, killing in one or two hits.
• UMP-45 for snipers up close: Recon switch to a UMP-45 inside ~25 m and back to the rifle beyond ~35 m.
• Full-auto bursts: machine guns, tank coax, Humvee/Growler gunners, riders shooting from open seats, and Support LMGs fire bursts of at least 2 seconds. A bug since the previous build made every automatic weapon fire single rounds. That's fixed.
• Head shots: a bot that can only see your head over cover (a roof edge, a parapet) now shoots at it instead of giving up.
• Bots notice you up close: within 15 m they turn on you whatever they're doing. They no longer ignore you for 10 s after a fight. A bot walking to a vehicle now stops to fight instead of walking past you.

Recon

• High ground: a squad's Recon climbs to a rooftop or other high ground overlooking the flag the squad is attacking or holding. Getting there comes first; it only fights on the way if an enemy is very close or shooting at it. With no contact for 30 s it moves to another perch or rejoins the squad. In a long-range fight it looks for higher ground nearby.
• Gadgets: Recon place a T-UGS where the team has none nearby, otherwise a claymore. Support claymores and Engineer AT mines follow the same "not if a teammate's is already there" rule.

Anti-air and helicopters

• Supports are anti-helicopter crews: they carry their team's rocket launcher (SMAW / RPG-7) and fire it only at helicopters in the air within ~200 m, leading the target. Ground vehicles stay the Engineers' job.
• Tighter attack runs: attack helicopters turn about 300 m past the target and come straight back, instead of flying off toward the map edge. With a clear shot from where they are, they start the run right away instead of climbing first. They avoid enemy C-RAM / Pantsir coverage.
• Faster transport helicopters (60 m/s), no more skimming the ground, and smoother climbs over terrain.

Rides, pilots and squads

• Vehicle rotation: Pilots take turns across transport helicopters, tanks/IFVs and jets/attack helicopters, using whichever vehicle has sat idle longest. They spawn straight into it and announce "Get in!".
• Boarding: drivers call "Get in!". Bots nearby and whole squads come running, and the vehicle leaves when full or after a short wait.
• Ride offers: empty transports post "ready for ride requests" in team chat. The squad with the most members nearby calls "Requesting pickup for <Alpha/Bravo/...> squad", and squadmates link up.
• Squads take their own vehicles together. Lone bots take quads/bikes for short trips and jeeps for longer ones. Bots never drive rocket artillery.
• Pilot outfit: Pilot bots wear the helicopter pilot helmet and flight gear, with a PDW kit.

Maps and objectives

• Rooftop flags: bots capture a flag from the flag's own floor (stairs, ladders), not from the floor below. Example: the construction site on Sharqi.
• Ladders: bots step off the top properly and no longer loop up and down the same ladder.
• Windows and boats: bots trapped in rooms knife through the windows. Boats land at waterline ladders, and the AAV swims.
• Fake flags: a capture point nobody can take (Bandar's centre) is learned and skipped.
• Conquest Assault rounds now end: tickets bleed when one side holds more flags.

Stability

• Fixed a cause of the recurring server crash: a bot boarding a tank in the same second its driver died in it.
• Fixed a BotMod crash related to destroyed vehicles.

Admin

• !bots N / !bot N, !bots full, !map / !maps, !map restart (restarts the current round).
• Console rostermode: one class per team for testing, e.g. rostermode recon (sniper war), rostermode support none, or rostermode normal.

Beta 10-15-2026

Beta 10-15-2026

Helicopters

Helicopter bots are now working in live play: landing, pickups, and attack runs all tested on a running server. The BotMod console commands (helihold, heliauto, heliattack) let you control them directly.

• Safe landings. Bot helicopters can now land cleanly on flat ground, carrier decks and rooftops. They check the ground under them first, slide away from uneven spots, and ease down gently instead of dropping.
• Transport pickups. Call "Need pickup" and the nearest Pilot in a jeep, IFV, tank or helicopter with free seats answers over team chat and comes to get you. Ground vehicles drop riders just short of the flag. Helicopters land at a flat spot near you, carry you to the nearest flag that isn't yours, and drop you over it.
• Attack runs. Attack helicopters fly low strafing and rocket runs against the nearest visible enemy, run their weapons dry, pass through, turn back, and cool off at altitude. They never fly lower than 25 m over what is beneath them, and they climb to clear hills in their path.
• Auto mode. In auto mode a helicopter hunts nearby ground enemies, and with nobody in sight it patrols to the nearest flag that isn't yours.
• Attack helicopter gunner seat. The gunner seat stays free for human players. Bots only fly.

Fixes and tuning

• Anti-air guns only defend their own half of the map, and they now lead fast aircraft properly, so they actually hit jets and helicopters.
• Objective first (from 10-14). Bots weigh capturing flags above chasing kills. Infantry that get stuck in a long firefight push or flank around the enemy, and Pilot tanks and IFVs that trade fire for too long drive around to a new position.
• Pilot rides. Pilots that make no progress toward their vehicle give it up so other Pilots can take it.

Beta 10-14-2026

Bots now play the objective first: they push past stalemates instead of trading fire in the same spot all round, and every map's navigation has been rebuilt fresh.

Objective first

• Infantry heading for a flag no longer stop for distant fights. They still deal with enemies close by, anyone shooting at them, and enemies standing in their way.
• Stalemate breaker. A bot that has fought from the same spot for 40 seconds without getting anywhere breaks off. Then it either:
  • flanks: moves 30-60 m to the side, preferring higher ground and spots the enemy can't see, then heads on to its flag; or
  • pushes straight for its flag.
    For 30 seconds after, only close enemies stop it. Squadmates stuck in the same fight go with it.
• Tanks and IFVs that trade fire in one place for 45 seconds drive round the fight, away from the side the fire comes from and onto higher ground where possible, then continue to the flag. They shoot on the move instead of slowing down to aim.
• Air Superiority: Pilot jets go for the blimps first. They only break off for enemy aircraft that are close, on their tail, or near the blimp they are taking.

Aircraft

• Bot jets no longer collide head-on. When closing fast they break to their own right and split up/down about 2.5 seconds before impact.
• The air brake is only used at speed, which ends the stalls in tight turning fights.
• Bot jets stay below an altitude cap (500 m above the highest flag), so dogfights no longer spiral up out of the fight.
• A stalled or hovering aircraft is no longer mistaken for a ground target.
• Bot jets detect a heat-seeker fired at them and pop countermeasures. Bot kits now include the jet flare launcher.

Spotting

• Bots in vehicles now spot enemies (the Q marker) like bots on foot:
  • jets: aircraft out to 1.5 km, ground vehicles to 800 m
  • tanks and IFVs: vehicles to 400 m, aircraft to 600 m, soldiers to 150 m
    Soldiers they spot are called out to nearby infantry bots.

AA Defense (new)

• On maps with a stationary AA gun (the US C-RAM / the RU Pantsir-S1), each side that has one gets a hidden "AA Defense" bot that sits in it, shooting and spotting enemy aircraft only.
• It joins 60 seconds into the map, and only if its team has room to spare beyond the 2 slots kept for humans. It is the first to leave when a human needs the slot. No gun on the map: no bot.

Getting out of closed-off rooms (new)

• A bot shut in a room with no way out finds a window, knifes out the glass and jumps through, checking first that the window leads somewhere it can reach a flag from.

Navigation fix - all maps rebuilt

• Fixed a bug where saving a map's navigation also saved temporary "stuck here" blocks. Over time this sealed off doorways, leaving rooms and whole areas with no way out (e.g. on Seine Crossing).
• Every map's navigation file has been rebuilt from scratch for this release.

Stability

• Fixed a server crash when a map changed while its navigation was still building (jeep taxi route planning).
• Fixed a server crash when the same map loaded twice in a row: bots could be handed equipment from the unloaded copy.

Beta 10-13-2026

Now every 5th bot spawned is a pilot bot, who will drive heavy vehicles, aircraft, and if none available, will ferry other bots around in the jeeps.

I've also greatly increased the lead accuracy of the bots to be more accurate for moving targets.

Tanks and airplanes will use countermeasures when threatened.

BF3-BotMod-beta.zip

Everything else in this update

New installer

• Install-BotMod.bat now opens a small setup window: Browse to your server's bf3_server_Final.exe, then Install / update or Uninstall. It works wherever your server lives, whatever the folder is called.
• An uninstall.bat for that exact server is written into the BotMod settings folder.
• Logs and leftover files are never copied; your existing settings are kept on updates.

Pilots and aircraft

• On every mode (not just Air Superiority): if no jet of a side has been flying for a minute, the next pilot to respawn goes straight into a free jet of that side and takes off. Only one at a time, so the bots don't take every jet - humans can still grab them.
• Pilots spawn at the map's own HQ where the jets are (e.g. Wake Island's LHD lower deck) while regular squads keep the closer HQ.
• Pilots board jets from beside the cockpit, not behind the tail.
• Pilots no longer drive bulldozers, and mobile AA (LAV-AD, 9K22 Tunguska, Vodnik AA) is their last pick before a jeep.
• Pilot LAV-25s / IFVs use the coax as their second gun (no more TOW at infantry); tanks get the reload upgrade.
• When your team holds every flag, pilot tanks and taxis go guard the 2 flags nearest the enemy HQ.
• A pilot that can't reach a vehicle only skips it for itself - it no longer locks other pilots out of tanks.

Jeep taxis

• Taxis keep to roads and streets and stay off objects: roads are learned per map from the ground material and shape (flat strips, 4-16 m wide, at least twice as long as wide), street middles preferred, pavements and open fields avoided.
• They aim through the middle of narrow gaps and steer clear of street props (mailboxes, news stands).
• They only pick up bots within earshot, never sit idle after a pick-up, try another flag when one can't be reached by road, and drive the normal route rather than give up.
• A taxi that bumps the same corner twice re-routes around it instead of rocking against it.

Boats

• Bots only take a boat when the trip really needs one (no more 7-second coast rides), and squads on an island now use the boats instead of swimming across.
• Pilots in a boat sail for the nearest free tank or IFV, land by it and take it.
• Boats back out of their moorings and the LHD well deck cleanly and avoid running aground on small islands.

Tickets

• A bot respawn now costs half a ticket (bots die easier than humans - rounds were ending too fast).