Arma 3 Scripting

Command in Positions

getPos

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Description

Returns object or location position. If the argument is an object, the return value is in format PositionAGLS.

The alternative syntax gets the position given distance and heading away from provided object or position - the command equivalent of BIS_fnc_relPos.

Important

Do not use this command's first syntax to get an object's position in 3D format:

  • the Z value from this command is relative to the surface underneath, and there is no compatible setter command to use it with; the commonly misused code: _obj1 setPos getPos _obj2 is absolutely wrong
  • this command is significantly slower than other position commands because it has to calculate the surface below a position from objects in the (2D) area; its performance therefore suffers from areas with a high density of objects such as cities, and can easily be ~20x slower than other, simpler position commands - see this benchmark. The only correct usage of this command is to determine the altitude of an object from the surface below it (see #Example 4).

Syntax

Syntax 1

getPos object

Parameters:

Returns: PositionAGLS - where Z is the height over the surface underneath

Syntax 2

getPos location

Parameters:

Returns: PositionAGL - see locationPosition

Syntax 3

since arma3 1.56

origin getPos [distance, heading]

Parameters:

Returns: PositionAGLS - the Z value is terrain level Above Ground Level, either 0 over land or getTerrainHeightASL (negative value) over water

Examples

Example 1

hintSilent str getPos player;

Example 2

getPos vs. other methods (over sea). Pay attention to Z values:

getPos ship;                // [2412.01, 6036.33, -0.839965]
getPosATL ship;                // [2412.01, 6036.33, 19.4266]
getPosASL ship;                // [2412.01, 6036.33, -0.920066]
getPosASLW ship;            // [2412.01, 6036.33, -0.865981]
visiblePosition ship;        // [2412.02, 6036.33, -0.837952]
visiblePositionASL ship;    // [2412.02, 6036.33, -0.91798]
position ship;                // [2412.01, 6036.33, -0.839965]

Example 3

getPos vs. other methods (over land, on top of a 100m high building). Pay attention to Z values:

getPos car;                    // [2508.64, 5681.47, 0.0609589]
getPosATL car;                // [2508.64, 5681.47, 100.0356369]
getPosASL car;                // [2508.64, 5681.47, 171.718]
getPosASLW car;                // [2508.64, 5681.47, 171.718]
visiblePosition car;        // [2508.64, 5681.47, 0.0609512]
visiblePositionASL car;        // [2508.64, 5681.47, 171.718]
position car;                // [2508.64, 5681.47, 0.0609589]

Example 4

Determine if a free-falling unit is close enough to the surface (including buildings, aircraft carriers etc) below to deploy the parachute:

waitUntil { sleep 1; getPos player select 2 < 200 };
hint "Deploying a parachute might be a good idea";

Example 5

Find position 100 metres and 45 degrees from player position:

player getPos [100, 45];    // e.g [1834, 2230, 0] if resulting pos is over land
                            // or [120, 256, -271] if resulting pos is over water

See also

getPosVisual · getRelPos · setPos · Position · position · getPosATL · getPosASL · getPosASLW · visiblePosition · visiblePositionASL · getMarkerPos

Community notes

Dr_Eyeball

getPos obj select 2 might return the vertical position above ground level, but for a stacked object, it returns the vertical position above the object beneath it. The same problem existed for getPosASL (pre-Arma 2 games only). There was a thread in the BIS forums which suggested the use of the command modelToWorld instead to get around this issue where an absolute vertical position is required. ArmA Ver 1.02.