Empty Side Supply Income Stagnation

Empty-Side Supply Income Stagnation Ramp (per-tick decay that zeroes an unmanned side's town income)

Source-verified 2026-06-23 against master f8a76de3. Paths relative to Missions/[55-2hc]warfarev2_073v48co.chernarus/ unless noted. Arma 2 OA 1.64.

WFBE_CO_FNC_StagnateSupplyIncomeNoPlayers is the throttle that progressively starves a side's town supply income while that side has zero live players. It is not a flat cutoff: each income tick that finds the side empty bumps a per-side counter, and the counter is converted into an ever-growing decrease percentage that linearly ramps the income payout down toward zero. A side with persisted database skill is exempt entirely. The function is registered from Common/Init/Init_Common.sqf:170 and runs only on the positive-income path of ChangeSideSupply when that caller opts in.

What Decays And What Does Not

Stagnation is gated by the 4th argument (_includeStagnation) of ChangeSideSupply. The income tick is the only producer that passes true; every other supply credit passes false (or omits the argument), so those credits never decay even when the side is empty.

Credit	4th arg (_includeStagnation)	Stagnates?	Source
Town supply income tick	true	Yes	Server/FSM/updateresources.sqf:87 (B74.1 f8a76de3)
Supply-mission completion	false	No	Server/Module/supplyMission/supplyMissionCompleted.sqf:40,43
Logistics interdiction kill reward	false	No	Server/Module/supplyMission/supplyMissionStarted.sqf:28
Attack-wave activation debit	(3 args, omitted)	No	Server/PVFunctions/AttackWave.sqf:40
Anti-stack skill compensation	_includeStagnation (= false)	No	Server/Module/AntiStack/skillDiffCompensation.sqf:27,70,128
AI commander stipend / wildcard drops	false	No	Server/AI/Commander/AI_Commander.sqf:217; Server/Functions/AI_Commander_Wildcard.sqf:542,1012

The gate lives in the common writer: stagnation runs only when the amount is positive and the flag is set. Common/Functions/Common_ChangeSideSupply.sqf:16-18:

if (_amount > 0 && _includeStagnation) then {
	_amount = [_amount, _side] call WFBE_CO_FNC_StagnateSupplyIncomeNoPlayers;
};

Note the argument-parse shape: _includeStagnation is read only when count _this > 3 (Common_ChangeSideSupply.sqf:8). _reason was previously also gated on > 3 (causing 3-arg callers to drop it), but that has been fixed to > 2 in master (Common_ChangeSideSupply.sqf:12). A strictly 4-argument caller is still required to enable stagnation.

The Stagnation Ramp

When stagnation is enabled, the function receives [_amount, _side] and runs four phases. Common/Functions/Common_StagnateSupplyIncomeNoPlayers.sqf:3-4.

1. Persistence-DB skill early exit (the bypass)

Before counting players, the function queries saved per-side total skill from the persistence database (if that bridge exists). Common/Functions/Common_StagnateSupplyIncomeNoPlayers.sqf:14-24. If the queried side has any saved skill (> 0), it returns the unmodified amount and never touches the no-player counter. Common/Functions/Common_StagnateSupplyIncomeNoPlayers.sqf:26-36:

if (_side == west) then {
    if (_teamSkillWest > 0) exitWith { _amount; };
} else {
    if (_side == east) then {
        if (_teamSkillEast > 0) exitWith { _amount; };
    };
};

Consequence: a side with saved DB skill never stagnates, regardless of how long it sits empty. The ramp only ever bites a side that is both unmanned and has no persisted skill. (The skill query itself is the same WFBE_SE_FNC_CallDatabaseRequestSideTotalSkill "REQUEST_SIDE_SKILL" lookup used by the anti-stack mechanic.)

2. Live-player census and tick accumulation

The function walks allUnits, keeps only isPlayer units whose side matches the target side, and counts them. Common/Functions/Common_StagnateSupplyIncomeNoPlayers.sqf:38-47. The counter is then advanced per side: empty → increment; populated → reset to zero. Common/Functions/Common_StagnateSupplyIncomeNoPlayers.sqf:49-67:

if (_side == west) then {
    _teamWestPlayers = count _sidePlayers;
    if (_teamWestPlayers <= 0) then {
        TEAM_WEST_TICKS_NO_PLAYERS = TEAM_WEST_TICKS_NO_PLAYERS + 1;
        _supplyDecreasePercentage = TEAM_WEST_TICKS_NO_PLAYERS * SUPPLY_INCOME_TICK_MODIFIER_MULTIPLIER;
    } else {
        TEAM_WEST_TICKS_NO_PLAYERS = 0;
    };
} else { ... east mirror ... };

Both counters are then broadcast so clients can mirror them. Common/Functions/Common_StagnateSupplyIncomeNoPlayers.sqf:69-70 (publicVariable "TEAM_WEST_TICKS_NO_PLAYERS" / "TEAM_EAST_TICKS_NO_PLAYERS"). A single returning player on the side resets that side's counter to 0, instantly restoring full income on the next tick.

3. Clamp the decrease percentage to 0..1

The raw ticks × multiplier product is clamped: anything above 1 is forced to 1 (full income kill), anything below 0 to 0. Common/Functions/Common_StagnateSupplyIncomeNoPlayers.sqf:72-78.

4. Apply only on the open interval (0, 1)

The reduction is applied only when the percentage is strictly between 0 and 1. Common/Functions/Common_StagnateSupplyIncomeNoPlayers.sqf:80-83:

if ((_supplyDecreasePercentage > 0) && (_supplyDecreasePercentage < 1)) then {
    _amount = round(_amount * (1 - _supplyDecreasePercentage));
    [...] Call WFBE_CO_FNC_LogContent;
};
_amount

Mechanically important detail of the < 1 strict upper bound: while pct is inside the open interval (0,1) the income is scaled down, but the moment ticks × multiplier reaches 1 (clamping pct to exactly 1.0) the branch no longer fires and the function returns the full, unmodified _amount. So the ramp does not produce a literal zero payout — it scales income down to its harshest fractional value the tick before the product hits 1, then disengages. At the default 0.10 multiplier that boundary is tick 10: ticks 1–9 scale income from 90% down to 10%, and tick 10 (and every tick after) returns full income untouched. Treat tick 10, not tick 11, as the behavioral boundary.

Tunables

From Common/Init/Init_CommonConstants.sqf, under the //--- Supply income stagnation when no players. block.

Constant	Value	Role	Source
SUPPLY_INCOME_TICK_MODIFIER_MULTIPLIER	0.10	Per-empty-tick increment to the decrease percentage (decimal fraction).	Common/Init/Init_CommonConstants.sqf:580
TEAM_WEST_TICKS_NO_PLAYERS	0	West empty-tick counter (runtime accumulator, broadcast).	Common/Init/Init_CommonConstants.sqf:578
TEAM_EAST_TICKS_NO_PLAYERS	0	East empty-tick counter (runtime accumulator, broadcast).	Common/Init/Init_CommonConstants.sqf:579

There is no GUER (resistance) branch in the stagnation function; only west and east are handled. Common/Functions/Common_StagnateSupplyIncomeNoPlayers.sqf:26-67.

Ramp Schedule (default multiplier 0.10)

pct = ticks × 0.10, clamped to [0,1]; payout multiplier is 1 - pct, applied only while pct is strictly inside (0,1). Computed from Common/Functions/Common_StagnateSupplyIncomeNoPlayers.sqf:53,72-83 and Common/Init/Init_CommonConstants.sqf:580.

Empty ticks	Raw pct	Clamped pct	Payout factor	Effect on income
0	0.00	0.00	1.00 (guard off)	Full income
1	0.10	0.10	0.90	round(amount × 0.90)
5	0.50	0.50	0.50	round(amount × 0.50)
9	0.90	0.90	0.10	round(amount × 0.10)
10	1.00	1.00	(guard off, pct < 1 false)	Returns full amount unmodified
11+	≥1.10	1.00	(guard off)	Returns full amount unmodified

The harshest scaling is at tick 9 (90% off); at tick 10 and beyond the strict < 1 guard disengages and the raw amount passes through. The audit log line reports round(_supplyDecreasePercentage * 100) as the percent and the post-scale amount, but only fires on the same (0,1) interval. Common/Functions/Common_StagnateSupplyIncomeNoPlayers.sqf:82.

Relationship To The Anti-Stack Mechanic

The Anti-Stack Skill-Balance Mechanic grants compensation supply to the weaker side, and it defers to this throttle by passing _includeStagnation = false on its ChangeSideSupply calls. Server/Module/AntiStack/skillDiffCompensation.sqf:27,70,128. So compensation credits are never decayed — only the per-town income tick is. Both subsystems share the same persistence-skill lookup (WFBE_SE_FNC_CallDatabaseRequestSideTotalSkill, "REQUEST_SIDE_SKILL"), and the DB-skill early exit here is what makes a persisted-but-currently-empty side keep full income while still being eligible for anti-stack compensation.

Practical Rules

Rule	Why	Source
Only the income tick stagnates. Do not assume any other supply credit decays for an empty side.	Stagnation is gated on the 4th arg; only updateresources.sqf:87 passes true.	Common/Functions/Common_ChangeSideSupply.sqf:16-18; Server/FSM/updateresources.sqf:87
A side with saved DB skill never stagnates.	The skill > 0 early exit returns the unmodified amount before any counter work.	Common/Functions/Common_StagnateSupplyIncomeNoPlayers.sqf:26-36
One returning player fully restores income next tick.	A populated side resets its counter to 0, so pct drops back to 0.	Common/Functions/Common_StagnateSupplyIncomeNoPlayers.sqf:54-56,63-65
Treat tick 10 (not 11) as the behavioral boundary at the default multiplier.	The < 1 guard skips the multiply once pct clamps to 1, returning full income.	Common/Functions/Common_StagnateSupplyIncomeNoPlayers.sqf:72-83
Keep stagnation reasoning separate from ChangeSideSupply arg-parse fixes.	_includeStagnation and _reason both gate on count _this > 3, an existing quirk.	Common/Functions/Common_ChangeSideSupply.sqf:8-14

Continue Reading

• Anti-Stack Skill-Balance Mechanic
• Resource Income Tick Distribution Engine
• Side Team State Function Reference
• Economy Towns And Supply
• Mission Tunable Constants Catalog