How to Add Bots to a Venice Unleashed Server (fun-bots Guide)

To add bots to a Venice Unleashed server, install the fun-bots mod: download the latest release from its GitHub page, unpack it into the server's Admin/Mods folder, add the mod's folder name to Admin/ModList.txt, and restart. Bots spawn on supported maps right away. Then give yourself permission with funbots.Permissions <yourname> UserInterface.* in the server console so you can open the in-game settings with F12 and tune how many bots spawn and how well they aim.

What fun-bots does

fun-bots is the bot mod most VU servers use. Bots run around, shoot, throw grenades, use rockets, and on supported maps drive vehicles. They follow recorded paths called traces, which is why support depends on the map and mode. It is a server side Lua mod, so like every VU mod it downloads to players automatically when they join. Nobody installs anything extra.

It is the reason a lot of small groups run VU at all: four friends can play Caspian Border or Firestorm with full teams instead of an empty map.

Venice Unleashed, Battlefield 3 with community servers

Before you start

A working VU server. If you do not have one yet, start with how to host a Venice Unleashed server.
Access to the server's files, through the file manager or SFTP.
A server console, either the server window, Procon, or the live console in our panel.

The fun-bots wiki recommends at least a 3 GHz CPU and 1 to 2 GB of RAM for the server, and notes the need grows with the number of bots. VU is 32 bit and largely single threaded, so a fast CPU core matters most. Lots of bots on a 120 Hz server is the most demanding combination.

Step 1: Download the right release

Go to the fun-bots releases page on GitHub. You will see:

Type	When to use it
Release	Public servers, anything you want to be stable
Pre-release	More features, a little less tested
Development build	Testing only

Download the release zip. The current major version at the time of writing is 3.0.0, published in February 2026.

Step 2: Unpack into Admin/Mods

Stop the server and take a backup.
Unpack the zip on your PC.
Upload the folder into Admin/Mods/ on the server. On our servers that is vu/instance/Admin/Mods/.

Check the layout. mod.json must sit directly inside the fun-bots folder:

Admin/
  Mods/
    fun-bots-3.0.0/
      mod.json
      ext/
      ...

If you see fun-bots-3.0.0/fun-bots-3.0.0/mod.json, you have one folder too many. Move the inner folder up a level. The folder name can be whatever the zip gave you, as long as ModList.txt matches it exactly.

Step 3: Add it to ModList.txt

Open Admin/ModList.txt and add the folder name on its own line:

fun-bots-3.0.0

VU loads no mods unless they are listed here, even if they sit in the Mods folder. Save and start the server. Watch the console for errors from the mod. If the server will not start, see Venice Unleashed server not starting.

Step 4: Give yourself permission

fun-bots 2.0 and later use permissions instead of a single password. Until you have permission, F12 does nothing. In the server console (the wiki shows this through Procon, and any server console works):

funbots.Permissions YourSoldierName UserInterface.*
funbots.Permissions YourSoldierName ChatCommands.*

The first line opens every part of the F12 menu to you, the second all chat commands. To check what a player has, run funbots.Permissions YourSoldierName. To take a permission away, put ! in front of it, for example funbots.Permissions SomeName !ChatCommands.KickAll.

For a private server with only trusted friends, you can skip permissions entirely by setting IgnorePermissions = true in the mod's ext/Shared/Config.lua. Then everyone can open the menu, so never do that on a public server.

Step 5: Choose how many bots spawn

Open the menu in game with F12. Settings changed there save and apply without editing files, which is the method the fun-bots wiki recommends. The same settings live in ext/Shared/Config.lua if you prefer to edit by hand, with a server restart afterwards.

The spawn mode decides how the bot count behaves:

SpawnMode	What it does
`manual`	Bots only spawn when an admin spawns them
`fixed_number`	A fixed number of bots
`increment_with_players`	Starts with a base number and adds bots as players join
`balanced_teams`	Fills teams so they stay even (the default)
`keep_playercount`	Keeps the total of players plus bots at a target

The settings that go with it:

Setting	Default	Meaning
`InitNumberOfBots`	10	Base number of bots for the spawn mode
`NewBotsPerNewPlayer`	1.6	Extra bots per human who joins, in increment mode
`SpawnInBothTeams`	true	Bots on both sides, or only against the players
`KeepOneSlotForPlayers`	true	Always leave a slot free for a human to join
`UseVehicles`	true	Let bots drive and fly on supported maps

There are also per mode caps, such as 32 bots per team for Conquest Large and 24 for Rush by default.

Venice Unleashed gameplay

Step 6: Make them easier or harder

Aim is the main difficulty lever. BotAimWorsening defaults to 0.2. Lower is sharper, 0 is the hardest, and 1 or more makes them sway a lot. BotWorseningSkill (default 0.40) varies skill from bot to bot so not every bot is equally good. Vehicle aim has its own worsening values, and gunships and choppers are deliberately less accurate by default. For a relaxed co-op night, raise aim worsening first, then lower the bot count.

Step 7: Use maps the bots know

Bots need traces for each map and mode. The fun-bots supported maps list covers the base game maps such as Grand Bazaar, Caspian Border, Seine Crossing, Firestorm, Damavand Peak, Kharg Island and Operation Metro, plus DLC maps from Back to Karkand through End Game, with the supported modes for each. Vehicle support is narrower than infantry support. Build your MapList.txt from map and mode pairs on that list:

MP_007 ConquestLarge0 1
MP_012 ConquestLarge0 1
MP_Subway RushLarge0 1

On a map or mode without traces, bots stand around or do not spawn properly.

Useful chat commands

With the matching permissions, admins can type commands in game chat, for example !kickall to remove every bot, !kill to kill bots, or !spawnbots to add some. The wiki warns that heavy use of spawn commands can cause lag or even crash a server, so add bots in small batches.

Upgrading fun-bots later

The wiki notes that your configuration is not carried over when you install a newer version. Before upgrading, copy your Config.lua values somewhere, replace the folder, update the name in ModList.txt if it changed, and set your values again.

Run it on a server that stays up

A Venice Unleashed server on GamezServers gives you the Admin/Mods folder and ModList.txt in the file manager and over SFTP, a live console for funbots.Permissions commands, and panel settings for max players (64 by default), server frequency and RCON. Take a backup in one click before each mod change. For a bot heavy server, start at 8 GB and move up from the panel if you need more.

FAQ

Press F12 in game. You need the UserInterface permissions, granted with funbots.Permissions in the server console, unless IgnorePermissions is on.

Do players need to install fun-bots?

No. VU sends server mods to players automatically when they join.

Why do bots not spawn on my map?

The map or mode has no traces in fun-bots. Check the supported maps list and pick a map and mode pair it covers.

Can bots fly jets and helicopters?

Bots can use vehicles on maps where fun-bots supports them. Vehicle support is listed per map and is narrower than infantry support.

How many bots can a VU server handle?

It depends mostly on CPU speed. Start with the defaults, watch for lag on a full map, and lower the bot count or tick rate before anything else.