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veafServerHook — VEAF server hook

File: VEAF-Server-hook.lua | Location: Saved Games/<server>/Scripts/Hooks/

Purpose

A DCS hook (GameGUI environment) running on a dedicated server. It:

  • listens to chat, runs its own server commands (/send, /pause, /restart…) and relays any other /module command (/secu elevate, /alias…) to the mission through veafRemote / veafSecurity;
  • loads the pilots list (permission level per UCID);
  • optionally restarts the server when idle (opt-in);
  • optionally pushes telemetry to an API server (opt-in).

This is not a mission module: it is not injected into the .miz. It is dropped into the server's Scripts/Hooks/ folder and loaded at DCS startup.

Installation

  1. Drop VEAF-Server-hook.lua into Saved Games/<server>/Scripts/Hooks/.
  2. Drop veaf-pilots.txt into the Saved Games/ root (one shared file serves every server by default) and edit it. To use a per-server file instead, set pilotsDir (see below).
  3. Add a VEAF-specific-server-hook.lua in the same folder for per-server configuration (see below).
  4. Restart the server: the hook is loaded at DCS startup; reloading the mission is not enough.

DCS load order: files in Scripts/Hooks/ are loaded alphabetically. VEAF-Server-hook.lua loads before VEAF-specific-server-hook.lua, which can therefore override the settings below before the first event fires.

Configuration (via the specific hook)

VEAF-Server-hook.lua is generic; its defaults suit a plain server. Anything server-specific goes into VEAF-specific-server-hook.lua:

veafServerHook.enableAutoRestart     = false  -- restart watchdog + /restart /restartnow /halt commands
veafServerHook.enableBufferingSocket = false  -- telemetry to an API server (native BufferingSocket module)
veafServerHook.pilotsDir             = nil     -- pilots file folder; default = shared Saved Games/ root
  • enableAutoRestart (default false): enables the idle-server restart and the restart / restartnow / halt chat commands. Leave off when restarts are handled by an external tool (e.g. DCSServerBot).
  • enableBufferingSocket (default false): enables telemetry. The native BufferingSocket module is loaded defensively: if absent, telemetry is disabled automatically and the hook keeps working (no crash).
  • pilotsDir (default nil → the shared Saved Games/ root, one level above the server folder): every VEAF server reads the same veaf-pilots.txt there with no per-server config. Point it elsewhere (e.g. the hook's own folder) for a standalone server with its own list.

The specific hook also carries serverName and serverBotChannel (injected into the mission).

Pilots file (veaf-pilots.txt)

A Lua table indexed by UCID, with one permission level per pilot:

pilots =
{
  ["<ucid>"] = { name = "Name", level = 99 },
  ...
}

Permission levels (ascending):

Level May…
0 send messages (/send)
1 relay VEAF commands to the mission (/alias, /atis, /secu elevate… — each module then applies its own check; /secu login and /secu logout now only answer that there is no global login any more)
10 /pause, and /restart, /halt (if enableAutoRestart)
30 /restartnow
50 /haltnow
90 /code (arbitrary code execution)
99 administrator

Update

Replace VEAF-Server-hook.lua with the new version, keep the existing VEAF-specific-server-hook.lua and veaf-pilots.txt, then restart the server.

After 6.25, the hook sends the pilot's level to the mission on every slot change. With an older hook, a mission reloaded while a pilot stays connected does not know their level until they type a chat command: the radio menu treats them as a level-0 pilot, and the mission log says so (took [...] with no known level).