K9

K9 lets players spawn and control a companion animal, ride with it in vehicles, search people or vehicles, detect bombs, and follow player trails. This page covers version 1.7.4.

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INSTALLATION

  1. Extract the downloaded product ZIP into your server's resources folder.
  2. Confirm the extracted resource folder is named exactly BigDaddy-K9.
  3. Open BigDaddy-K9/settings.ini and replace productkeyhere under [licensing] with the product key from your Big Daddy Scripts account.
  4. Add the following to server.cfg:
ensure BigDaddy-K9
  1. Restart the server. Do not use the restart console command to install or reload the resource.

DO NOT RENAME THE BigDaddy-K9 FOLDER. The resource loads its configuration and internal exports by that exact name.

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CONFIGURATION

Configuration is stored in BigDaddy-K9/settings.ini. Boolean values must be true or false.

Licensing and permissions

Setting Packaged default Description
key1 productkeyhere Product key under [licensing].
useAcePermissions false Enables ACE permission checks.
acePermission command ACE object checked when permissions are enabled.
permissionToSpawn true When ACE permissions are enabled, restricts /k9, /k9spawn, /k9command, and /k9options to authorized players.
permissionToBite false When enabled, only authorized players may order a bite.

Search commands require an authorized player whenever ACE permissions are enabled.

For example, to allow only members of group.leo to use the restricted K9 features:

[settings]
useAcePermissions=true
acePermission=k9.use
permissionToSpawn=true
permissionToBite=true

add_ace group.leo k9.use allow

See the ACE permissions guide for assigning players to groups.

Behavior

Setting Packaged default Description
randomSearchResults false Automatically completes person and drug/weapon vehicle searches instead of waiting for /k9alert.
chanceSearchFound 50 Search-result threshold from 0 to 100; 50 produces approximately even random results. In the current implementation, lower values make a found result more likely and higher values make it less likely.
commandAnims true Allows handler hand signals. Each player can still toggle them with /k9signals.
policeK9door 2 Preferred police-vehicle door: -1 automatic, 1 front passenger, 2 rear left, or 3 rear right.

Keys

The key names are case-sensitive and must match an entry in the included validkeys.txt file.

Setting Default Action
ModifierKey LEFTALT Modifier held with every command key. Leave blank for single-key commands.
CommandComeKey HOME Come/follow, or enter/exit a vehicle.
CommandSitKey INSERT Sit.
CommandDownKey PAGEUP Lie down.
CommandBiteKey PAGEDOWN Enter bite-targeting mode.
CommandCancelKey DELETE Cancel the active command, attack, search, or animation.
CommandSpeakKey S Bark.
AttackKey E Select the displayed bite or search target.

Locales

Values under [locales] control the configurable notifications, prompts, and chat messages. Change the value after = without changing the setting name. Keep the file in INI format and do not add quotes around values.

COMMANDS

Command Description
/k9 Opens the K9 command menu.
/k9spawn <type-or-model> Spawns a built-in animal or a custom add-on ped model.
/k9options Opens appearance variations for the spawned K9. Requires BigDaddy-BDMenu to be started and only displays options supported by that ped model.
/k9command <action> Sends an action to the spawned animal. Actions are listed below.
/k9alert <true-or-false> Completes the current manual search. Use true (or 1) when something was found; any other value reports nothing found.
/k9signals Toggles handler hand signals for the current player.

Built-in spawn types are shepherd, rottweiler, retriever, husky, poodle, pug, westy, and cat. The command uses westy, not westie.

Example custom model:

/k9spawn a_c_k9

K9 actions

Action Description
come Calls the K9 and resumes following. If the handler or K9 is in a vehicle, this toggles vehicle entry/exit.
sit Makes the K9 sit.
down Makes the K9 lie down.
speak Makes the K9 bark.
bite Enters bite-targeting mode. Select a displayed target with the configured AttackKey.
car Toggles vehicle entry/exit. If the handler is on foot, the K9 uses the vehicle ahead of the handler.
searchvehicle Enters drug/weapon vehicle-search targeting mode.
searchvehiclebombs Enters bomb-search targeting mode. Integrates automatically with a running BigDaddy-Bombs resource.
searchperson Enters person-search targeting mode.
track Looks for a nearby player trail and begins tracking it. Press X to cancel an active trail.
cancel Stops the current command, attack, search, or animation.
free Releases the K9 to wander and removes it from the handler's control.
delete Removes the spawned K9.

Small breeds (pug, poodle, and westy) cannot perform searches. Some animations also depend on the selected animal model.

SEARCH WORKFLOW

  1. Spawn a search-capable K9.
  2. Run searchvehicle, searchvehiclebombs, or searchperson through /k9command.
  3. Look at the desired target and press the displayed AttackKey (default E).
  4. If randomSearchResults=false, roleplay the result and run /k9alert true or /k9alert false. Nearby players also receive the WDIF chat prompt.

With randomSearchResults=true, person and drug/weapon vehicle searches finish automatically. Bomb searches use BigDaddy-Bombs when it is running; otherwise they use the manual /k9alert workflow.

DEFAULT HOTKEYS

All hotkeys can be changed under [keys] in settings.ini.

Key combination Action
LEFT ALT + HOME Come/follow or enter/exit a vehicle.
LEFT ALT + INSERT Sit.
LEFT ALT + PAGE UP Lie down.
LEFT ALT + PAGE DOWN Enter bite-targeting mode.
LEFT ALT + DELETE Cancel the current command.
LEFT ALT + S Bark.
E Select the displayed bite or search target.

TROUBLESHOOTING

  • If commands do not register, confirm the folder is named BigDaddy-K9, the resource is ensured, and the product key is valid.
  • If /k9options reports that BigDaddy-BDMenu is not started, install/start that resource before K9 or use the regular /k9 menu instead.
  • If a custom animal has missing or incorrect animations, use a model compatible with GTA V dog animation dictionaries.