Respawn And Death Lifecycle Atlas

Respawn And Death Lifecycle Atlas

This page maps player death, custom respawn selection, gear restoration, MASH/mobile/camp spawn options and AI respawn. It also separates live respawn behavior from the dead MASH marker relay.

Source root: Missions/[55-2hc]warfarev2_073v48co.chernarus.

Why This Matters

Respawn touches client UI, action-menu recovery, skill reapply, gear economics, camp ownership, MASH/officer skills, mobile ambulances, AI team continuity, kill scoring and HQ/MHQ state. Small changes here can break player action menus after death, make gear penalties unfair, multiply kill scoring, or accidentally turn a local respawn feature into a networked authority surface.

Engine And Mission Shell

Area	Evidence	Meaning
Engine respawn mode	Rsc/Header.hpp:3-6 sets respawn = 3, respawnDelay = WF_RESPAWNDELAY and respawnDialog = false.	The mission suppresses the default engine dialog and implements its own death camera + respawn menu.
Player death handler compile	Client/Init/Init_Client.sqf:111,127 compiles WFBE_CL_FNC_OnKilled and WFBE_CL_FNC_UI_Respawn_Selector.	Player death and respawn marker animation are local client functions.
Initial client placement	Client/Init/Init_Client.sqf:471-488 chooses the newest base factory/HQ fallback and places the joining client near it.	First spawn is not the same path as post-death respawn menu selection.
Player killed EH rebind	Client/Functions/Client_OnKilled.sqf:77-89 adds a new Killed EH to the fresh player object and calls PreRespawnHandler.	Death clears EH/action state on the old unit, so rebind/reapply is a core lifecycle step.
AI respawn EH	Server/AI/AI_AddMultiplayerRespawnEH.sqf:1 attaches MPRespawn handling for non-player leaders.	AI leader respawn is server-side and separate from the player menu.

Player Flow

flowchart TD
    Killed["Player Killed EH"] --> OnKilled["Client_OnKilled.sqf"]
    OnKilled --> Cleanup["Remove old actions, close dialogs, save death position"]
    Cleanup --> WaitAlive["waitUntil alive player"]
    WaitAlive --> TeamLeader["RequestSpecial update-teamleader"]
    TeamLeader --> Rebind["Re-add Killed EH"]
    Rebind --> PreRespawn["PreRespawnHandler"]
    PreRespawn --> Menu["WFBE_RespawnMenu"]
    Menu --> Available["Client_GetRespawnAvailable"]
    Available --> Select["Map click / closest spawn"]
    Select --> OnRespawn["OnRespawnHandler"]
    OnRespawn --> Gear["Move player, apply gear/default penalty"]

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Death Handler Responsibilities

Client_OnKilled.sqf removes stale action IDs from the dead body (:25-45), closes active dialogs (:49-52), records WFBE_DeathLocation (:54), fades out (:57-58), waits for the engine to create the new player object (:60), updates the server-side team leader via RequestSpecial (:63-64), ensures local group leadership (:67-72), binds the new Killed EH (:77-84), calls PreRespawnHandler (:87-89), starts the death camera (:92-150) and opens WFBE_RespawnMenu (:155-156).

Client_PreRespawnHandler.sqf is the action/skill recovery hook. It reapplies the skill effect (:5), restarts updateactions.fsm (:6), re-adds the WF menu and player-AI actions (:8-10), re-runs WASP death/action glue (:11), recompiles RPG drop support (:12) and adds the Fired/HandleDamage hooks (:13,32). This is why the current source-only skill idempotency fix still needs respawn smoke: Skill_Init.sqf should run once, but WFBE_SK_FNC_Apply must still run after death.

Respawn Menu Responsibilities

GUI_RespawnMenu.sqf owns the custom UI loop. It focuses the map on death position (:5-7), starts or reuses WFBE_RespawnTime from WFBE_C_RESPAWN_DELAY (:12-23), refreshes available spawn locations once per second (:43-49), creates/deletes local spawn markers (:55-87), updates the countdown and selected label (:89-101), lets map clicks choose the nearest spawn within 500 meters (:103-110) and calls OnRespawnHandler after the timer (:130-156). The selector animation loop lives in Client_UI_Respawn_Selector.sqf:14-35 and sleeps every 0.03 seconds while a selected target exists.

Spawn Sources

Source	Player availability	AI availability	Notes
HQ/base factories	Client_GetRespawnAvailable.sqf:7-31 starts with HQ and adds Barracks/Light/Heavy/Air factories.	AI_AdvancedRespawn.sqf:77-104 and AI_SquadRespawn.sqf:65-90 fall back to HQ or closest structure.	Dead HQ is removed if another base spawn exists.
Mobile ambulance class list	Client_GetRespawnAvailable.sqf:32-45 scans WFBE_%1AMBULANCES near death location using upgraded range.	AI_AdvancedRespawn.sqf:44-53; AI_SquadRespawn.sqf:43-51.	Players require empty cargo; OnRespawnHandler.sqf:29-31 can move the player inside if unlocked.
Officer MASH/FARP	Client_GetRespawnAvailable.sqf:47-58 reads local WFBE_Client_Logic getVariable "wfbe_mash" and range-checks it.	No equivalent AI MASH path found in audited AI respawn scripts.	Live for the local deploying client; team-shared MASH respawn is not proven by source.
Squad leader	Client_GetRespawnAvailable.sqf:60-65 allows leader respawn if enabled and close to death location.	AI uses team wfbe_respawn object/string state instead.	WFBE_C_RESPAWN_LEADER == 2 forces default gear when chosen.
Threeway defender towns	Client_GetRespawnAvailable.sqf:67-76; Common_GetRespawnThreeway.sqf:6-8.	Not seen in AI respawn scripts except via camps.	Defender can respawn in fully-held side towns in threeway mode.
Camps	Client_GetRespawnAvailable.sqf:78-81; Common_GetRespawnCamps.sqf:11-94.	AI_AdvancedRespawn.sqf:37-40; AI_SquadRespawn.sqf:36-39.	Modes: classic, nearby camps, defender-only; optional hostile safe-radius rules.

Mini-scout follow-up 2026-06-04 confirmed two practical spawn-table caveats:

• Service Point and Command Center base respawns are explicitly commented out in Client_GetRespawnAvailable.sqf:23-26; the live base set is HQ plus Barracks/Light/Heavy/Air factories.
• Mobile respawn is conditional, not just object-based: Client_GetRespawnAvailable.sqf:33-45 requires an ambulance-class vehicle inside the upgrade-gated range and with free cargo space before it enters the candidate list. Camp availability has its own hostile-safe filtering in Common_GetRespawnCamps.sqf:11-94.

No revive framework is wired in the audited source. The 2026-06-04 respawn scout found no mission-script revive/reviving/revived path under source Chernarus, and the live architecture is kill event, custom death camera, respawn menu, then Client_OnRespawnHandler.sqf. Do not document MASH as a revive feature; it is a respawn candidate source with a dead marker-sharing edge.

Gear And Penalty Rules

Client_OnRespawnHandler.sqf moves the player to the chosen spawn and applies custom or default gear. It forces default gear for mobile, MASH or leader respawn when the corresponding parameter equals 2 (:11-24). Mobile respawn can put the player into the vehicle if cargo is free and it is unlocked (:26-33).

Custom gear is reused from wfbe_custom_gear when WFBE_RespawnDefaultGear is false and the selected spawn allows custom gear (:35-79). Penalty mode is WFBE_C_RESPAWN_PENALTY:

• 0: no custom-gear charge.
• 2: full custom gear price.
• 3: half price.
• 4: quarter price.
• 5: intended as charge-on-mobile only.

Patch-ready edge: in mode 5, _charge becomes false for base/HQ structures (Client_OnRespawnHandler.sqf:54-59), but _skip is still set when _funds < _price (:61-70). That means an unpaid base respawn can still lose custom gear if the player cannot afford the theoretical price. A future patch should gate the skip on _charge too, or explicitly define mode 5 as "custom gear requires affordability everywhere but only charges on mobile" if that was intended.

Default gear is class-specific by skill type (Client_OnRespawnHandler.sqf:81-106): Spotter, Officer, Soldier, Engineer, SpecOps and Medic each map to a side-specific default gear variable.

Parameters And Defaults

Rsc/Parameters.hpp:399-447 exposes the live admin parameters:

Parameter	Mission parameter default	Fallback if nil	Notes
WFBE_C_RESPAWN_CAMPS_MODE	1	2 at Init_CommonConstants.sqf:275	Parameter wins in normal mission launch; fallback protects older/missing params.
WFBE_C_RESPAWN_CAMPS_RULE_MODE	1	2 at :277	Hostile safe-radius policy.
WFBE_C_RESPAWN_DELAY	30	10 at :278	Player UI and AI waits read this.
WFBE_C_RESPAWN_LEADER	0	2 at :279	2 means enabled with default gear.
WFBE_C_RESPAWN_MASH	1	1 at :280	Enables officer MASH action and MASH spawn option.
WFBE_C_RESPAWN_MOBILE	1	2 at :281	2 means enabled with default gear.
WFBE_C_RESPAWN_PENALTY	0	4 at :282	Parameter default disables penalty; fallback quarters custom gear price.
WFBE_C_RESPAWN_CAMPS_RANGE	400	550 at :276	Camp scan/range behavior.

MASH Split: Live Respawn, Dead Marker Relay

Live pieces:

• Officer action is added only when WFBE_C_RESPAWN_MASH > 0 in Client/Module/Skill/Skill_Apply.sqf:42-55.
• Deployment creates the side FARP/MASH type near the player and stores it as WFBE_Client_Logic variable wfbe_mash in Client/Module/Skill/Skill_Officer.sqf:7-29.
• The respawn menu reads that local wfbe_mash object in Client_GetRespawnAvailable.sqf:47-58.
• Undeploy deletes the tent and resets cooldown in Client/Module/Skill/Actions/Officer_Undeploy_MASH.sqf:19-21.

Dead/broken marker edge:

• Server PVEH listens for WFBE_CL_MASH_MARKER_CREATED in Server/Module/MASH/MASHMarker.sqf:1-13.
• Client receiver for WFBE_SE_MASH_MARKER_SENT exists in Client/Module/MASH/receiverMASHmarker.sqf:1-29, but its compile line is commented in Client/Init/Init_Client.sqf:132.
• No live deploy path was found broadcasting WFBE_CL_MASH_MARKER_CREATED.

Do not call MASH respawn dead unless specifically talking about team-shared/JIP marker synchronization. The source-backed statement is: local officer MASH respawn exists; MASH marker sharing is dead/orphaned; team-wide MASH respawn is not proven. Deployment stores wfbe_mash on WFBE_Client_Logic, and respawn availability reads that same local variable, while the server only seeds the value to objNull.

Service Points Are Support Nodes

Service points are not active respawn nodes in current Chernarus source. Client_GetRespawnAvailable.sqf:23-26 still has commented command-center and service-point candidate code, but the live respawn list continues through HQ/base, mobile ambulance, local MASH, leader, threeway and camp candidates. Keep service-point behavior in the service/EASA support lane unless an owner deliberately revives service-point respawn and smokes the UI, JIP and default-gear rules.

AI Respawn

There are two audited AI leader paths:

• AI_AddMultiplayerRespawnEH.sqf:1 adds an MPRespawn handler that calls AIAdvancedRespawn for non-player units on the server.
• AI_SquadRespawn.sqf:14-111 runs a loop watching non-player team leaders, waits for death/alive transitions, then handles respawn.

Both server AI paths:

1. Rebind Killed scoring EHs (AI_AdvancedRespawn.sqf:24-30; AI_SquadRespawn.sqf:26-30).
2. Collect camp and mobile candidates unless forced respawn is set (AI_AdvancedRespawn.sqf:34-53; AI_SquadRespawn.sqf:33-51).
3. Wait WFBE_C_RESPAWN_DELAY (AI_AdvancedRespawn.sqf:55-63; AI_SquadRespawn.sqf:53).
4. Re-equip from side AI loadout variables keyed by upgrade level (AI_AdvancedRespawn.sqf:67-76; AI_SquadRespawn.sqf:55-64).
5. Choose stored team respawn object, HQ/closest structure fallback or random available camp/mobile candidate (AI_AdvancedRespawn.sqf:80-115; AI_SquadRespawn.sqf:68-100).
6. Reset non-autonomous movement orders after respawn (AI_AdvancedRespawn.sqf:117-125; AI_SquadRespawn.sqf:102-110).

Team respawn state is group setVariable ["wfbe_respawn", _respawn, true] via Common_SetTeamRespawn.sqf:1-8; groups are initialized with blank respawn in Server/Init/Init_Server.sqf:474-483.

AI loadout tier note: both AI respawn paths currently read _upgrades select 13, which matches WFBE_UP_GEAR = 13 in Common/Init/Init_CommonConstants.sqf:50. Future cleanup should use the named constant, clamp the selected tier to available WFBE_%SIDE_AI_Loadout_0..3 arrays and guard empty arrays before random count.

There are two distinct AI leader respawn implementations. AI_AddMultiplayerRespawnEH.sqf:1 routes non-player MPRespawn events to AI_AdvancedRespawn.sqf, while AI_SquadRespawn.sqf:14-111 runs a loop for non-player team leaders. Treat this as parity-sensitive when changing camp/mobile/HQ fallback rules.

Kill Scoring And Cleanup

The player Killed EH sends the common kill report path through WFBE_CO_FNC_OnUnitKilled (Client_OnKilled.sqf:77-84; Common_OnUnitKilled.sqf:8-14). The server handler RequestOnUnitKilled.sqf resolves last-hit fallback for suicide/null killer cases (:16-23), logs the death (:25), exits if the killer is not alive (:27), schedules trash cleanup (:50-55), updates side casualties/vehicles lost (:57-59), awards score/bounty for enemy kills (:63-101) and sends teamkill notices for player-led friendly kills (:103-109).

Known adjacent hazard: HQ death has its own redundant client EH/JIP path and idempotency issue documented in Deep-review findings DR-20 and Server runtime. Do not mix ordinary unit kill scoring with HQ-killed processing.

Known Risks And Patch-Ready Items

Status	Item	Evidence	Next action
Patch-ready	Respawn penalty mode 5 can skip custom gear on base/HQ respawn when player lacks funds, even though _charge is false.	Client_OnRespawnHandler.sqf:54-70	Patch _skip to respect _charge, or document owner-confirmed intended semantics. Smoke custom gear at base and mobile under sufficient/insufficient funds.
Owner decision	MASH is local to the deployer in audited source; team-wide MASH respawn is not proven.	Skill_Officer.sqf:26; Client_GetRespawnAvailable.sqf:47-58	Decide whether MASH should be personal, squad/team-shared, or marker-only. If shared, design server-owned registry/JIP replay.
Broken/dead edge	MASH marker synchronization is orphaned.	Init_Client.sqf:132; MASHMarker.sqf:1-13; receiverMASHmarker.sqf:1-29	Revive with server-held marker records and deletion replay, or delete/comment the dead relay more clearly.
Smoke pending	Source-only skill idempotency patch depends on respawn reapply still working.	Client_PreRespawnHandler.sqf:5; Client skill init idempotency	Smoke Soldier/non-Soldier cap and post-respawn skill actions after LoadoutManager propagation.
Review target	Respawn UI loop sleeps 0.01 and selector sleeps 0.03.	GUI_RespawnMenu.sqf:113; Client_UI_Respawn_Selector.sqf:19-35	Keep as bounded death-screen-only UI work; if optimizing, preserve marker responsiveness and cleanup.
Cleanup target	AI respawn loadout tier uses a literal gear-upgrade index and assumes a non-empty loadout array.	AI_AdvancedRespawn.sqf:68; AI_SquadRespawn.sqf:56; Init_CommonConstants.sqf:50	Replace literal 13 with WFBE_UP_GEAR, clamp/bounds-check tier selection and smoke Vanilla plus non-Vanilla AI leader respawn.

Validation Checklist

• Player dies, old WF menu/action IDs are removed from corpse, and the menu returns on the new unit.
• Respawn menu opens, countdown runs, map click selects nearest spawn within 500 meters, and markers clean up after spawn.
• Base/factory, camp, mobile, leader and MASH spawn options appear only under their parameter/range/ownership rules.
• Custom/default gear behavior matches WFBE_C_RESPAWN_PENALTY, WFBE_C_RESPAWN_* == 2, and player funds.
• Officer deploys MASH, can respawn at own MASH within upgraded range, can undeploy it, and does not get misleading shared markers unless the marker feature is intentionally revived.
• AI team leaders respawn after configured delay, re-equip, pick sane camp/mobile/base fallback, and reset orders when not autonomous.

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Related: Feature status | Abandoned feature revival | WASP overlay | Testing workflow