Configure HCP VBS

HCP VBS reads four JSON files from the same folder as the DLL (VBS4’s mycomponents/HCPVBS/) at startup. A missing or malformed file falls back to the compiled defaults shown below - the plugin never fails to load because of a bad configuration file.

🚫

HEAT Capture has no named-pipe listener. HCP VBS’s own committed HCPVBSConfig.json sets communication.type to "namedpipe", targeting \\.\pipe\HEATCollector - a leftover from an earlier “HEAT Collector” service that named pipes predate. Current HEAT Capture’s plugin interface is REST plus WebSocket only (see the HEAT Capture web API). With "namedpipe" selected, HCP VBS creates the pipe and waits for a client; nothing ever connects, so every publish attempt fails, and because autoReconnect is unconditionally forced on at startup regardless of what the file says, the plugin logs Write failed, attempting reconnection and recreates the pipe on every collection tick, indefinitely, without ever raising an error a log filtered to warnings or above would show. Set communication.type to "websocket" to use the interface HEAT Capture actually exposes.

HCPVBSConfig.json

Communication

Setting	Type	Default	Effect	When to change
`communication.type`	string	`"namedpipe"` as shipped; `"websocket"` if the key is absent or the file is missing	Selects the transport	Always set to `"websocket"` against current HEAT Capture; see above

WebSocket

Setting	Type	Default	Effect	When to change
`websocket.hostname`	string	`"localhost"`	Host for the session HTTP calls (`start-session`, `stop-session`, `current-session`)	HEAT Capture runs on a different machine
`websocket.port`	string	`"50001"`	Port for the session HTTP calls	Must match HEAT Capture’s configured port - see below
`websocket.address`	string	`"ws://localhost:50001/ws"`	Base WebSocket URL. Built independently of `hostname`/`port` above - changing one does not change the other	Must match HEAT Capture’s configured host and port
`websocket.publishEndpoint`	string	`"/publish"`	Appended to `address` to form the publish URL	Leave as `/publish`

🚫

The shipped port is wrong for current HEAT Capture. HEAT Capture’s own default HTTP/WebSocket port is 5005 (see Configure HEAT Capture), not 50001. Set websocket.port to 5005 (or whatever WebSettings:Port is set to on the target workstation), and update websocket.address to match, for example "ws://localhost:5005/ws". The resulting publish URL is address + publishEndpoint - here, ws://localhost:5005/ws/publish - which must equal the /ws/publish endpoint HEAT Capture documents.

Named pipe

Present for completeness; do not use this transport against current HEAT Capture (see above).

Setting	Type	Default	Effect
`namedpipe.pipeName`	string	`"\\\\.\\pipe\\HEATCollector"`	Win32 named-pipe path HCP VBS creates and serves
`namedpipe.bufferSize`	integer	`65536`	Pipe I/O buffer size in bytes
`namedpipe.timeoutMs`	integer	`5000`	Pipe connection timeout in milliseconds
`namedpipe.autoReconnect`	boolean	`true` in the file; has no effect	See below

⚠️

namedpipe.autoReconnect cannot be turned off. The plugin overwrites it to true unconditionally right after loading the file, regardless of what the JSON says.

Session

Setting	Type	Default	Effect	When to change
`session.startEndpoint`	string	`"/api/session/start-session"`	Appended to `hostname:port` for the session-start HTTP POST	Leave as shipped
`session.stopEndpoint`	string	`"/api/session/stop-session"`	Appended to `hostname:port` for the session-stop HTTP POST	Leave as shipped

session.sessionEndpoint (the current-session GET) is not read from this file - it is fixed in the plugin at /api/session/current-session regardless of what a JSON file sets.

Collection

Setting	Type	Default	Effect	When to change
`collection.intervalSeconds`	number	`0`	Documented as the seconds between data collections; has no effect - see below	Not applicable
`collection.captureEnabled`	boolean	`true`	Master switch: `false` stops all frame preparation, transmission and event recording	To pause capture without unloading the component

🚫

collection.intervalSeconds does nothing. The value is parsed from the file, but the code path that would apply it (HCPVBSEventManager::SetCollectionInterval) is never called from anywhere in the plugin. The actual collection cadence is a separate, hardcoded 0.1 second (10 Hz) interval inside the event manager that this setting cannot reach. There is currently no way to change how often HCP VBS collects entity data from HCPVBSConfig.json.

captureEnabled does work: it gates OnTick at the call site, so setting it to false stops frame preparation, transmission, and all tracking-event recording. It cannot be re-enabled while VBS4 is running - the plugin only reads it once, at Component_OnStart, before the mission is loaded.

DISMappings.json

Fallback mapping from a VBS ObjectType_v1 name to a DIS entity type pattern, used only when DISConfigNameMappings.json (below) has no entry for the entity’s config class name.


{
  "mappings": [
    {
      "vbsType": "tank",
      "disType": "1.1.*.1.*.*.*",
      "description": "Tank: Kind=1 (Platform), Domain=1 (Land), Category=1"
    }
  ]
}

vbsType - a VBS ObjectType_v1 name, for example tank, car, human.
disType - kind.domain.country.category.subcategory.specific.extra; * resolves to 0. A string with fewer than seven parts has the remaining parts set to 0.
description - informational only.

DISConfigNameMappings.json

Primary lookup, keyed by the entity’s VBS model config class name. Checked before DISMappings.json; if no entry matches here, HCP VBS falls back to the type-based mapping above, then to "0.0.0.0.0.0.0" if neither matches.


[
  {
    "disType": "1.1.0.7.0.0.0",
    "vbsModel": "vbs_civ_truck_light_transport_wht_x"
  }
]

Entries are typically generated with the scraper tool in build/vs2022/scraper/, which reads the VBS Gateway DIS mappings table.

EntityDenyList.json

Excludes entities from tracking entirely - they never generate a creation event, never appear in a SimulationFrame, and never generate tracking events.


{
  "denyList": [
    { "type": "ammunition", "configClassName": "" },
    { "type": "", "configClassName": "Land_Cargo20_military_F" }
  ]
}

An entity is denied if it matches any rule in the list. Within a rule, both fields must match for that rule to apply; an empty string in either field matches anything for that field.

Field	Empty means	Non-empty means
`type`	Match any VBS object type	Entity must have this VBS object type
`configClassName`	Match any config class	Entity’s config class name must equal this string exactly

HEAT Capture team. Last updated 2 October 2026.

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