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Arma 2

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Arma 2
Arma 2 cover
Developers
Bohemia Interactive
Publishers
505 Games
Got Game Entertainment
Engines
Real Virtuality 3
Release dates
Windows June 17, 2009
Arma 2 on Wikipedia

Warnings

GameSpy online services have been shut down (see Network for solutions).
Arma
Arma: Cold War Assault 2001
Arma: Armed Assault 2006
Arma 2 2009
Arma 2: Operation Arrowhead 2010
Arma Tactics 2013
Arma 3 2013
Arma Reforger 2022

Key points

Online multiplayer for Arma 2 and Arma 2: Free has stopped working on May 31, 2014 due to GameSpy services being shut down.[1] Use Master Server Browser.

General information

Official forum
GOG.com Community Discussions for game series
GOG.com Support Page
Steam Community Discussions

Availability

Source DRM Notes Keys OS
Retail
DRM details are not known
SecuROM DRM.[2] Removed in Patch v1.05.[3]
Icon overlay.png
Windows
Developer website
Icon overlay.png
Windows
Steam
Icon overlay.png
Windows
Combined Operations includes both Arma 2 and Arma 2: Operation Arrowhead; some mods (e.g. DayZ) require both games.
Product keys for Arma 2, Arma 2: Operation Arrowhead and digital versions of Arma 2: Combined Operations optionally activate on Steam.[4]

DLC and expansion packs

Name Notes
British Armed Forces Requires Arma 2: Operation Arrowhead
Windows
Private Military Company Requires Arma 2: Operation Arrowhead
Windows
Army of the Czech Republic Requires both Arma 2 and Arma 2: Operation Arrowhead.
Windows

Essential improvements

Patches

Digital distribution versions are already patched; for other versions use the patches below.

Skip intro videos

Use the -nosplash and -skipIntro command line arguments[5]

Game data

Configuration file(s) location

System Location
Windows %USERPROFILE%\Documents\ARMA 2\arma2.cfg
Steam Play (Linux) <Steam-folder>/steamapps/compatdata/33900/pfx/[Note 1]

Save game data location

System Location
Windows %USERPROFILE%\Documents\ArmA 2
Steam Play (Linux) <Steam-folder>/steamapps/compatdata/33900/pfx/[Note 1]

Save game cloud syncing

System Native Notes
Steam Cloud

Video settings

Video settings.
Video settings.

Template:Video settings

Range finding by using certain scopes like the PSO scope might not be accurate anymore when playing on a non-default FOV.

Input settings

Input settings.
Input settings.

Template:Input settings

Audio settings

Audio settings.
Audio settings.

Template:Audio settings

Localizations

Language UI Audio Sub Notes
English
Spanish

Network

Multiplayer servers can optionally use BattlEye anti-cheat protection.
Only Operation Arrowhead on Steam has a working server browser; for Arma 2 and non-Steam Operation Arrowhead use Master Server Browser.

Multiplayer types

Type Native Players Notes
LAN play
128
Online play
128 Server browser only works for Operation Arrowhead on Steam.

Connection types

Ports

Protocol Port(s) and/or port range(s)
UDP 2302-2305
Universal Plug and Play (UPnP) support status is unknown.

VR support

3D modes State Notes
Devices
Tobii Eye Tracking
Use Tobii Game Hub. Supports head tracking.

Issues fixed

Run the game at screen refresh rate

Changing refresh rate[citation needed]
  1. Go to %USERPROFILE%\Documents\ARMA 2\.
  2. Open arma2.cfg in Notepad.
  3. Change refresh=60; to the desired refresh rate.

Audio crackling

Set default audio and communication devices to same device[citation needed]
  1. Open Sound in Control Panel
  2. Set Default Communication Device and Default Device to the same device.

Other information

API

Executable 32-bit 64-bit Notes
Windows

Middleware

Middleware Notes
Multiplayer GameSpy

Command line arguments

See list of available command line entries for Arma 2

Graphical tweaks

  • Set the 3D resolution and the interface resolution to exactly the same value. The value isn't as important, because no matter what, if the numbers don't equal, there will be performance loss. Ideally, both values would be set at 100.
  • Set Video Memory to "Default". By default (confusing, but keep reading), Arma II will cap the VRAM at an unspecified value. This value is actually lower than the "Default" option in the settings, but will still be named "Default".
  • Texture Quality is dependent on the amount of RAM in your system, but due to the tweak above, it is safe to set the option to higher values.
  • Disable VSync.
  • For a higher frame rate and reduced input latency, turn off the fancy options, like smoothing and head bobbing. To turn off motion blur, either download this mod or set post processing settings to "Very Low". This does speed up camera movement, so experiment to your liking. you can also use your Nvidia Control Panel as shown here to increase you frame rate.
  • For faster rendering, turn on PPAA instead of the normal AA (Anti-Aliasing).

System requirements

Windows
Minimum Recommended
Operating system (OS) XP, Vista
Processor (CPU) Intel Pentium 4 3.0 GHz, Intel Core 2.0 GHz, AMD Athlon 3200+
System memory (RAM) 1 GB
Hard disk drive (HDD) 10 GB
Video card (GPU) Nvidia GeForce 7800
ATI Radeon 1800
256 MB of VRAM

Notes

  1. 1.0 1.1 File/folder structure within this directory reflects the path(s) listed for Windows and/or Steam game data (use Wine regedit to access Windows registry paths). Games with Steam Cloud support may store data in ~/.steam/steam/userdata/<user-id>/33900/ in addition to or instead of this directory. The app ID (33900) may differ in some cases. Treat backslashes as forward slashes. See the glossary page for details.

References