TIGERMERCS DOGFIGHT
More than a Kill Counter.
Structured BFM, Solo AI Training and Team Deathmatch — all controlled by one server-side Dogfight engine.
TigerMercs Dogfight evaluates how a fight is flown, protects active engagements and records meaningful results across several different combat modes.
Three ways to fight
Jet 1-vs-1 BFM
A1 to A4 are dedicated Jet 1-vs-1 arenas for structured BLUE vs RED Dogfights.
Automated fight control, arena protection and BFM evaluation manage the engagement from READY through FIGHT’S ON to the final result.
A kill ends the fight immediately; otherwise the server calls Knock It Off and calculates the final BFM result.
Fight window: 180 seconds.
Warbird 1-vs-1 + Solo AI Training
A5 and A6 are primarily designed as dedicated Warbird 1-vs-1 arenas.
Warbird fights use the same automated fight control, arena protection and BFM evaluation as the Jet arenas, but with a longer fight window.
In addition, both arenas provide a separate Solo AI Training mode using special BLUE F-16C and F/A-18C trainer slots against dynamically spawned modern fighter opponents.
Fight window: 300 seconds.
Team Deathmatch
A separate multiplayer mode from 2-vs-2 up to 8-vs-8.
No 1-vs-1 BFM scoring is used here. Team lives, eliminations, respawns and pilot kills decide the match.
Dynamic 4 / 6 / 8 life and elimination targets depending on team size.
What makes TigerMercs Dogfight different?
Many Dogfight servers ultimately answer one question: Who got the kill?
TigerMercs Dogfight goes further. In structured 1-vs-1 BFM, the server follows the complete engagement and evaluates the tactical advantage created during the fight.
A real combat kill remains the clearest possible result. But if both aircraft survive until Knock It Off, the engagement is still evaluated instead of disappearing as an inconclusive draw.
The kill wins the fight. The score describes how the fight was flown.
How a 1-vs-1 Fight Works
The basic fight flow is identical across A1 to A6. A1–A4 are Jet arenas, while A5–A6 are dedicated Warbird arenas.
- BLUE and RED select aircraft assigned to the same arena.
- Both pilots pass through their READY areas at Waypoint 1. READY is a persistent check-in — not a parking position.
- If desired, a predefined HABFM setup can be selected through the F10 Radio Menu.
- Once both pilots are ready, the server releases them toward the Combat Zone using Waypoint 2 as the Combat / Merge reference.
- Inside the Combat Zone the pilots establish the selected HABFM geometry or conduct a free merge.
- Approach the merge under control and remain SUBSONIC until FIGHT’S ON.
- Once the technical start conditions are valid: FIGHT’S ON.
- A1 to A4 run for a maximum of 180 seconds. A5 and A6 run for a maximum of 300 seconds.
- A genuine combat kill ends the fight immediately. If there is no kill, the server calls KNOCK IT OFF and evaluates the accumulated BFM performance.
No weapons fire before FIGHT’S ON.
Remain SUBSONIC until FIGHT’S ON.
If both pilots reach the Combat Zone without a valid READY release, the server identifies the missing READY side. That pilot must return through READY and then re-enter the Combat Zone.
What does the BFM engine measure?
The 1-vs-1 scoring engine continuously evaluates several aspects of the engagement. The system is designed to reward useful offensive BFM rather than simply counting time spent near the opponent.
Offensive Position
Sustained useful offensive positioning behind the opponent contributes to the final BFM advantage.
Control Zone
Strong close-range control behind the opponent is weighted more heavily than a general offensive position.
Forced Overshoots
Creating or suffering a qualified forced overshoot influences the BFM result. A successful defensive conversion into Offense or Control Zone increases its value.
Confirmed Hit Sequences
Gun hits matter even when they do not immediately produce a kill. Related DCS HIT events are grouped into confirmed hit sequences instead of counting every raw hit event separately.
Kill, Combat Loss or Knock It Off
KILL = 100 : 0
A genuine combat kill ends the 1-vs-1 fight immediately and increases the pilot’s Kill count.
COMBAT LOSS = 100 : 0
If an aircraft is lost immediately after a confirmed hostile hit but DCS does not provide a normal Kill event, the server can resolve the fight as a Combat Loss.
A Combat Loss does not increase the attacker’s Kill count.
KNOCK IT OFF = BFM SCORE
When the fight window expires without a kill, the server starts from a neutral 50:50 result and applies the BFM evidence collected during the engagement.
Offensive position, Control Zone time, qualified overshoots and confirmed gun-hit sequences can shift the final result toward the pilot who created the stronger tactical advantage.
A Knock It Off result does not create a Kill in the leaderboard.
A5 / A6 Solo AI Training
A5 and A6 are the dedicated Warbird 1-vs-1 arenas, but both also provide a separate Solo AI Training function.
The AI mode does not use the normal Warbird slots. Instead, special BLUE Dogfight-Trainer F-16C and F/A-18C slots are available for controlled BFM training against dynamically spawned modern fighter opponents.
Choose the opponent
Through the F10 Radio Menu the pilot can select an F/A-18C or F-16C AI opponent and choose the desired AI skill level.
Available skill levels: Cadet, Average, Good, High and Excellent.
Same BFM logic — unranked
The training fight uses the BFM evaluation system, Kill / KIO handling and arena protection, but AI Training results are not ranked in the competitive PvP leaderboards.
A7 Team Deathmatch
A7 introduces a completely separate multiplayer mode. It does not use the 1-vs-1 BFM scoring system. Instead, the server manages match size, team rosters, aircraft lives, respawns, eliminations and individual combat kills.
Dynamic Team Lives
The number of team lives and the elimination target depend on the selected or detected team size:
- 2–4 pilots per team → 4 lives / 4 eliminations
- 5–6 pilots per team → 6 lives / 6 eliminations
- 7–8 pilots per team → 8 lives / 8 eliminations
AUTO Match Setup
AUTO accepts teams from 2 to 8 pilots per side.
Team sizes may differ by no more than one pilot when the match begins.
Roster Lock
The participating pilots are locked when the match starts. Late joins are prevented from taking over free A7 slots during an active match.
Valid roster members may continue to respawn while their team still has available lives.
Pilot Kill vs Elimination
A genuine enemy combat kill is credited to the pilot.
A crash, ejection, forfeit or other valid aircraft loss can consume a team life without creating a combat Kill for another pilot.
Arena 7 Control
During an active match, Arena 7 Control provides group-specific tactical information approximately every 30 seconds.
The call identifies the nearest valid hostile aircraft using BRA, range in NM and ANGELS.
A7 Radio Plan
Radio 1 / UHF
BLUE & RED: 267.5 MHz
Shared match frequency
Radio 2 / VHF
BLUE: 127.1 MHz
RED: 127.2 MHz
Team-internal radio
Team Deathmatch is completely separate from the 1-vs-1 BFM scoring discipline.
Protected Fights and Arenas
A structured combat system only works if the result belongs to the pilots who actually started the engagement.
TigerMercs Dogfight therefore includes server-side protection for arena occupancy, slot usage, foreign-arena entry and active fight state.
The system is designed to prevent another player from accidentally — or deliberately — creating a false Kill, loss or score.
Active 1-vs-1 fights are also protected by automatic Combat Zone boundary monitoring. A pilot who remains outside the permitted area for 15 seconds can receive a Boundary DQ.
Crashes, disconnects, reconnects, slot changes and other special situations are handled by the fight controller according to the active game mode.
Multicrew Support
Two-seat aircraft are part of the 1-vs-1 system as well. The server can associate multicrew combinations such as F-14 Pilot / RIO and F-4 Pilot / WSO with the fight.
Competitive scoring remains attached to the pilot. The backseater is recorded as part of the crew rather than being treated as a separate scoring competitor.
Results, Statistics & Leaderboards
Completed fights are processed by discipline-specific server-side result systems. Public JSON data is generated without exposing player UCIDs.
Dogfight — Human 1-vs-1
Jet and Warbird 1-vs-1 fights use the structured Dogfight result system.
The Dogfight leaderboard tracks Dogfight Kills, KIO rounds, scored rounds, points and average BFM score.
Ranking principle:
Dogfight Kills first — points decide ties.
Team Deathmatch results do not affect the Dogfight ranking. Combat Loss results do not increase the Kill count.
Team Deathmatch — A7
Team Deathmatch uses its own pilot leaderboard with TDM Kills, TDM Matches and Kills per Match.
Ranking principle:
TDM Kills first — Kills per Match and Matches
provide the next comparison.
Team composition belongs to individual match results and is not part of the persistent pilot leaderboard.
Dogfight and Team Deathmatch are separate competitive disciplines with separate leaderboards. Solo AI Training remains unranked.
Live result and leaderboard data is provided to the website through the server-side JSON/API integration.
Quick Start in DCS — Full Manuals Online
Everything needed to start flying is available directly inside DCS.
After selecting BLUE or RED, the mission briefing provides a compact Quick Start guide.
Additional short guides and reference information are available in the Kneeboard.
For a detailed explanation of the complete fight flow, HABFM setups, AI Training, Team Deathmatch, arena rules and the BFM scoring system including AoT, AoN and Control Zone, download the full TigerMercs Dogfight Server v9.0 Manual.
TigerMercs Dogfight v9.0
The core TigerMercs Dogfight feature set is complete and available as one integrated DCS multiplayer environment.
Jet and Warbird 1-vs-1 BFM, automated fight control, live BFM scoring, protected arenas, multicrew support, Solo AI Training and A7 Team Deathmatch are all part of the same server.
Version 9.0 represents the current operational feature set. Further development will primarily focus on reliability, compatibility, balancing and fixes for issues discovered during normal multiplayer use.
Choose your arena. Check in READY. Make the merge. Fight.
READY. MERGE. FIGHT’S ON.
Fight smart.
Earn the advantage.
Get the kill.
