side

1.001.001.001.001.501.000.50

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Description

Description:

Returns the side of a unit, vehicle, object or location.

• side of a renegade soldier is sideEnemy
• side of an empty vehicle is civilian
• side of a crewed vehicle is, if present, commander's > gunner's > driver's or > cargo's side, in this order
• side of a captive or dead unit is civilian. Use side group _unit to get the underlying side (see Example 2)
• you can use playerSide to know the real player's side

ⓘ

Converting a side to string will not always return the side command text: e.g str resistance; // returns "GUER".
See Side page to see the return value of all side commands.

Groups:

Sides

Syntax

Syntax:

side target

Parameters:

target: Object, Group or Location

Return Value:

Side

Examples

Example 1:

if (side player == west) then { hint "Player is on the West side" };

Example 2:

_sideAlsoWorkingForDead = side group _deadUnit;

Example 3:

_sideLocation = side myLocation;

Example 4:

if (side player != playerSide) then { hint "player is renegade or dead"; };

Example 5:

Check the side of the vehicle:

_vehicleSide = side group _vehicle; // sideUnknown (CIV for Arma 3) if empty or dead crew, otherwise the appropriate side

Additional Information

See also:

CfgVehicles Config Side Value Side playerSide west east resistance civilian sideLogic sideFriendly sideEnemy sideUnknown sideEmpty sideAmbientLife Side Relations BIS_fnc_sideID BIS_fnc_objectSide

Notes

Report bugs on the Feedback Tracker and/or discuss them on the Arma Discord or on the Forums.
Only post proven facts here! Add Note

Ceeeb - c

Posted on Mar 23, 2007 - 04:51 (UTC)

In Arma, the following objects are on side civilian: dead bodies and vehicles, empty vehicles, all mission editor placed objects (that do not have an inherit side), all objects with interactive components such as ladders and doors, man made structures such as buildings (including classless wrp placed objects), docks, high tension powerlines, see-saws, large rubbish bins, fountains. Basically if an object uses a non-simple damage or physics simulation it is likely to be on the civilian side.
NOTE: If you need to know the side of a dead body, you can use faction command as a workaround -- Killzone_Kid

Ceeeb - c

Posted on Feb 12, 2007 - 06:28 (UTC)

In Operation Flashpoint v1.96, the side return value for a vehicle is based on the side of its commander, then gunner, then driver, then cargo. It will retain its side value until it is either empty, or a unit of another side takes over in a equal or higher role, irrespective of the side of other units still on board. This can be used to simulate friendly fire, as a vehicle can be made to appear to be an enemy even though all units on board are actually friendly.

Tankbuster - c

Posted on Mar 19, 2010 - 16:48 (UTC)

As Ceeeb says above, in Arma 2, side for a vehicle often depends on who the command or driver is, for example, A KA52, piloted by a USMC guy will have side WEST. For an accurate result of what 'where the vehicle was made', use faction. This ignores the pilot/commander, so in my example here, this KA52 will always return faction "RU". Note that faction returns different values to side though.

RKurtzDmitriyev - c

Posted on Feb 04, 2011 - 18:11 (UTC)

Side values for ambient life (animals) are bizarre. side _unit returns "CIV", but playerSide returns "AMBIENT LIFE" when the player is an animal. In that case, playerSide == side player; returns false! Fortunately, you can easily check if a unit is an animal with _unit isKindOf "ANIMAL";