Architecture

Processes

Database bridge

extDB2 was 32-bit only and caused the 2026-08-01 x64 failure. Production now uses extDB3 with @ExileServer\extDB3_x64.dll, @ExileServer\extdb3-conf.ini, and @ExileServer\sql_custom\exile.ini. The server launcher sets -maxMem=12288 as the explicit 12 GB x64 memory target.

Threading — the fact that shapes every design decision

Arma’s server simulation runs on one thread. -cpuCount and -exThreads affect file, texture and geometry loading only. SQF spawn does not create a thread; every scheduled script in every addon shares roughly 3 ms per frame on that single thread.

Consequences, all of which are load-bearing:

• More cores do not raise server FPS. A headless client does, because it is a separate process with its own thread.
• A private while {true} do {sleep n} loop in an addon does not get its own slice — it takes one from everything else. Use ExileServer_system_thread_addTask.
• Object count is the dominant FPS lever, because simulation is per-frame and serialised.

Content layers

@ExileServer/addons/        server-side PBOs. Clients never receive these.
  exile_server.pbo            Exile's own core
  xcsv_chatter.pbo            ours — faction radio
  a3xai / dms / occupation    third-party AI and missions

mpmissions/Exile.Tanoa.pbo  the mission. Clients DO download this.
  config.cpp                  CfgXM8 app registrations, CfgExileCustomCode
  initPlayerLocal.sqf         client bootstrap
  xcsv/                       ours — trader voice, welcome, census, admin TP

That split is the reason trader dialogue and the welcome briefing are not in the server PBO: anything that draws per-player UI has to ship in the mission, because the mission is what clients actually receive.

CfgExileCustomCode — the sanctioned override seam

Exile’s own PBOs ship unmodified. Where behaviour needs changing, the function is re-pointed at one of ours. This is what keeps us clean under CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 and it is how the entire third-party ecosystem works.

Exactly one registration per function wins. If two addons want the same function they must be merged by hand. A lost merge is why Exile_Scavenge was silently dead on this server for weeks — three addons wanted ExileClient_object_player_initialize, two made it into the merge and Scavenge did not.

The local model, and where it is not

XCSV GUARD can call a local model (LM Studio) to classify and explain logs. Hard boundaries, by design:

• It has no tools and takes no actions. It returns text.
• Its output is untrusted data, never a decision and never load-bearing.
• Request bodies are written to a temp file, so no prompt content is ever interpolated into a command line.
• Players cannot reach it. In-world chatter is static text tables written offline and reviewed by a human. There is nothing running for a player to influence.
• The stack starts and stops fine without it.

Anti-cheat

BattlEye has selected enforcement live: 4 of 51 script rules are enforcing. The rest remain staged/log-only until their exceptions are triaged.

infiSTAR logs locally and works; its cloud reporting has returned 403 from the very first log line and never once succeeded.

Anything we write that creates, deletes or moves objects touches these filters. Text- and UI-only addons need no exception, which is why they are preferred.

Related

• Runbook · Repositories · Lessons