Donuts+Swag config files which aims to be as close to live tarkov spawns as possible. These presets include a VROptimized preset for the recent SPT-VR mod that I've been testing for Cybensis - https://hub.sp-tarkov.com/files/file/2419-spt-vr/
So after playing SPTarkov for a long time I always wanted to make my bot experience as close to live Tarkov as possible and no current bot spawning solutions met that for me. This is pretty much the result of me trying to achieve that.
This started off as just trying to optimize donuts/swag as best I could for the SPT-VR mod I’ve been testing. It ended up spiraling into just making an experience as close to live tarkov as I could while also being somewhat performant.
IMPORTANT WARNING: These config files WILL reset all your Questing bots and Donuts f9 settings and totally change/remove all presets for new ones! BACKUP QUESTING BOTS CONFIG AND DONUTS FOLDER IF YOU DON’T WANT TO LOSE YOUR SETTINGS.
Also if you use any other mods that affect spawns or bosses in any way, you’re likely to run into issues. I’ve even confirmed with someone that Acid’s progressive bot system can cause issues with bosses if you use the boss part of that mod, ALP seems to be fine though.
NOTE: I strongly suggest not changing options in the config files or in the F9 menu except for preset selection. It’s setup in a specific way to work nicely with the presets I have setup. If you think you know what you’re doing though then have at it, don’t report issues here though if you change anything.
VR USERS: If you want to use VROptimized preset you need to go into the F9 menu and select it under main settings -> general -> PMC Raid Preset Selection. With the latest update you should be able to play on other presets also but if you really need the extra performance use VROptimized.
SETUP:
- Install Donuts + SWAG - SWAG + Donuts - Dynamic Spawn Waves and Custom Spawn Points
- Install Questing bots - Questing Bots (required, this preset is made with the AILimit feature heavily in mind)
- Install Looting bots - Looting Bots (not required but strongly recommended)
- Download my zip file
- Extract BepInEx and user folder into SPT folder
- Overwrite all
- (optional but recommended) Copy Bepinex folder from the “Optional Configs” folder into your SPT folder. This will set my settings for looting bots and my own SAIN preset, if my SAIN preset is too easy you can increase the PMC difficulty if you’d like. I’d leave scavs as they are though if you want live Tarkov-like scavs
Note: If you want to skip optional and use your own looting bots and SAIN settings just keep in mind, it won’t be the intended way to play with my Truelive preset and you won’t get the experience I’m aiming for.
Recommended Mods:
- SAIN - Solarint’s AI Modifications - Full AI Combat System Replacement
- That’s Lit - Logical AI Vision
Details:
This is a Starting PMC’s only focused configuration for Donuts+Swag, all other presets have been removed. This is meant to be as similar to live tarkov as possible, that means the only PMC’s that’ll spawn are the ones that spawn in the beginning of the raid. Low amount of Scavs at start of raid and they will spawn in waves throughout the raid. In the latest update, scavs are now persistent throughout the map instead of despawning.
Presets:
By default, I have donuts preset set to “TrueLive”. This preset is meant to be the main one and is meant to play like live Tarkov. It can be very random, sometimes low amount of PMC’s, sometimes max amount. The scavs are very random, some raids will be very quiet, some will have a lot of scavs.
TrueLive -
Maximum amount of PMC’s based on live Tarkov. Aside from Streets to avoid killing your PC. Example: Customs can spawn up to 8-11 PMC’s at start of raid
TrueLive-morescavs -
Same as TrueLive but more scavs have roughly a 10% higher chance of spawning
TrueLive-quietraids -
Minimum to maximum amount of PMC’s lowered a bit. Example: Customs can spawn a maximum of 8 PMC’s at start of raid (Use this if you would like better performance)
TrueLive-scavraids -
Preset made specifically for scav raids, there won’t be many PMC’s that spawn in on the map. Example: Random chance of between 2-5 PMC’s on customs and they will spawn in random spots on the map rather than in start spawn locations
TrueLive-VROptimized -
Preset that started it all, this is aimed towards VR players but can obviously be used without VR as an optimized raid option. This preset lowers the amount of starting PMC’s on most maps to a random amount of between 7-10. I’ve also adjusted the max group size to 3 to avoid one PMC group spawning in with 5 and using up all the PMC slots. This makes the PMC’s a bit more spaced out, also fighting 5 PMC’s in VR is hell…
Also, for VROptimized, I can say the two hardest maps to run by far is lighthouse and streets. Unfortunately it’s just the nature of those maps. Streets is hard because it’s just a very unoptimized map in general, lighthouse is hard because of the insane amount of bots due to the rogue base.
Questions I’m sure will be asked:
Q - Do bosses and sniper scavs work?
Yes. I believe these configs should fix the issue many people have with donuts where bosses and sniper scavs do not spawn. I’ve done extensive testing to make sure of that. If you have other mods that effect bot spawns though I can’t make any promises.
Also, another thing about bosses, the way I had to set them up to get them working, there is a bit of a delay before they spawn. It doesn’t happen every time but there’s a big chance if you rush a boss spawn they will spawn on top of you about 5-10 minutes into the raid. Their followers usually will spawn in a bit after the boss spawns in also. Sorry, I tried fixing this but just don’t think it’s possible to make it perfect with current Donuts build, the Alpha v2 build isn’t in a good enough state to use yet either.
Q - How often do bosses spawn?
They are set to the same as live tarkov according to the wiki - https://escapefromtarkov.fandom.com/wiki/Bosses
Q - Can I change Boss spawn chance?
Yes, go into user/mods/SWAG/config and open bossConfig.json. You should be able to edit them there. Tbh just to make sure, change them in user/mods/SWAG/config/bosses too. (can’t guarantee the consistency of boss spawns, they’re weird)
Q - Can I run streets in VR with this?
With the VROptimized preset it makes it more manageable… but obviously your system is also a big part in this. If Kaban and his guards spawn in though… Yeah GG to your PC. Streets in general is not very optimized even on flatscreen live tarkov. (this may change once I update Streets, my 1.2 update doesn’t include streets in the overhaul as it’ll be a whole project on its own)
Q - Will this run good on my system?
Try it and see how it is. The TrueLive and morescavs presets might be a bit heavy for some systems. If you have a slower PC definitely try using quietraids or VROptimized preset.
Q - Can I get spawn killed by other PMC’s?
Yep, just like real Tarkov. Doesn’t happen too often though.
Q - Is this compatible with Unicorn?
No, Unicorn adds zone spawn points. The new spawn zones would only work if they’re added to my pattern files. Unicorn also will overwrite my configuration for SWAG bosses which will probably break boss spawns. This also goes against my goal of a live type of experience, I may even setup my own zones in the future if I feel it’s needed.
Examples of customs:
TrueLive Start to Mid raid -
TrueLive-morescavs Start to Mid Raid -
TrueLive-quietraids Start to Mid Raid -
713 Downloads
-Updated DL link to fix SAIN preset naming, redownload if you downloaded it soon after release
BIG SPAWN OVERHAUL UPDATE
Please go through the install steps again to make sure you get everything you need
- ALL PMC spawns have been completely overhauled to make PMC’s spawns exactly as they are in Tarkov, except for streets, factory, and labs. Streets is something that will take a lot of time to get right so I’m going to do another update in the future for that. Streets is a whole project on its own… Factory and labs I just don’t play often so they’re just using default donuts still, I will get to them though.
- Scav spawn waves and spawn points have also been completely overhauled to be as close to live Tarkov as possible. You will only see scavs in places you see them in Tarkov. Sometimes there will be a lot, sometimes there won’t be.
- TrueLive is now set as default preset instead of random (random is still an option). I did this because the Truelive preset has been made to be VERY random. So it doesn’t really need the randomness of cycling through other presets
- VROptimized is pretty much the same as the Truelive preset except I lowered the amount of PMC’s on all maps
- Questing bots with AILimit is now REQUIRED and my config is part of the install package (use your own settings or change my settings if you want but just keep in mind, it’s configured in a very specific way to work well with my preset)
- Boss spawns are more consistent (I think? boss spawn issue is due to the amount of bots that spawn on start of raid, use quiet raids preset for very consistent bosses)
- SAIN preset now included in install package, it’s under optional configs (strongly recommend, I’ve set it up so that PMC’s won’t die as often to scavs)
- Endless scav spawns spawning on top of you are now unlikely but possible
- Oh and another nice thing, raids should load a bit faster
There’s probably more that I’m forgetting right now but yeah… And if you like the old version more over this one, old version will stay available.
Just as a quick rundown on the way these new scav spawn waves work, it’s VERY different from pretty much every bot spawn solution out there. When I say this is an overhaul, I mean it. The bots don’t spawn anywhere close to the same way they spawn on default donuts.
Every single area bots can spawn are separated into their own spawn zones. The way default donuts works, bot spawn zones take up a large part of the map and they’re named by color. Waves are typically set on pretty short timers and waves zones are usually set as “all” with a few waves that have specific zones set.
The way mine works, instead of zones that cover large areas, my zones cover specific areas scavs can spawn. For example, on customs, skeleton, fortress, and construction are all on their own separate zones and named accordingly. They all have a set chance to spawn and timers for when those spawns will happen.
Some areas that are hotspots like dorms or fortress will be on a shorter timer with a higher chance to spawn. I also have cooldowns setup so that you should never really run into an issue where bots just endlessly spawn and you have no time inbetween. Dorms for example, has a chance to spawn a lot of bots in a short time but once you kill them all, it’s unlikely that more will spawn until like 5-10 minutes later.
617 Downloads
Quick fix for scav raids on customs. No PMC’s were spawning, this should fix that.
878 Downloads
Small update to fix scav spawns on Ground Zero. Accidentally set the map name on both the high level and low level versions to “sandbox” instead of naming the high level one “sandbox_high”. It effectively caused double the amount of scavs.
Check comments tab for a notice regarding the 3.10 update.
1.4K Downloads
Small update:
-Fixed Lighthouse boss spawns, rogues should spawn now. Just like the rest of the boss bots though, they can sometimes take some time to spawn in. I’ve found that occasionally either zryachiy or the rogues won’t spawn in or only a few rogues will spawn in, MOST of the time they will though. Think this is due to the sheer amount of boss bots that spawn
-Adjusted scav spawns a bit for VROptimized preset
-Reduced rogue spawns for VROptimized preset, the default amount of rogues that have a chance of spawning on lighthouse was way too high for VR
Upcoming update:
I am working on a complete overhaul of the spawn zones for both PMC’s and Scav’s. I’m setting up PMC’s to have the exact same spawns as live tarkov and scavs will only spawn in zones they typically will in Tarkov.
I Understand that this may not be everyone’s cup of tea but this is something I’ve wanted from SPTarkov for a long time. Bots that spawn almost identical to spawns in Tarkov. These configs are not meant to be adjusted in any way, if you want something different it’d be best to work on your own presets.
…update on the update:
The new update I’m working on will REQUIRE questing bots with AI limit enabled. With my new spawn setups for scavs it works out nicely because AI on scavs will be disabled while they are in expected scav locations. You can adjust the distance however you want to improve/hurt performance. Despawning will be turned off and instead bot hard cap will be set. This will be a significant performance improvement also.
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Update 3/18/2025
Unfortunately, I am going to hold off on working on this for now. Arys, who took over on development of Donuts, is taking an indefinite break. This means Donuts won’t be updated to 3.11 any time soon unless someone takes over development again. (I wish I could, I have programming knowledge but bepinex modding is an anomaly to me)
Arys has done an insane amount of work re-writting donuts and making it work better than ever and I have nothing but appreciation for their work. Unfortunately, timing was just difficult because Donuts started getting worked on pretty late into 3.10’s cycle. I put a ton of work into updating the presets but there was some pretty minor issues that was holding me back from releasing an update for this preset and before I knew it 3.11 was around the corner.
If/when donuts gets updated to 3.11, I will start working on this preset again.
Have you considered applying this to MOAR + bagels?
Is normal for PCMs to be this passive? Most of them prefer to camp inside a building, they barely change locations. I have all the required mods.
At every raid I see bots eventually running forward and backwards following the same path when analyzing it with the Raid Revew mod.
A little caveat on your raiders.json config, you have time : 75 for raider spawns on labs such as garage door that should have time : -1. So raiders are spawning behind closed garage doors when the button has not been pressed.
{ “BossChance”: 45, “BossEscortAmount”: “1,1,1,1,2,2,2,1,1,1,1,2,2,2,3”, “BossEscortType”: “pmcbot”, “BossName”: “pmcbot”, “BossZone”: [ “BotZoneFloor2” ], “Time”: 75, “TriggerId”: “autoId_00007_EXFIL”, “TriggerName”: “interactObject” },
just having a bizarre time not getting Shturman to spawn
changed his chance to 99% in bossconfig and in config>bosses>shturman
running all the recommended mods
why when I create a new character, start to do prapor’s quest at the ground zero, there is constant shooting and when I go to find the Utyos m.g, the bots endlessly climb the stairs(and mostly they are scavs) and this continues throughout the whole game
i only use your configs for SAIN, QB, LB, Swag & Donuts and a some mods that don’t affect bots (Update15, Fika, APBS, RefFriendlyquest)
what do I have to do about it to fix the problem?
Do goons even spawn for anyone else? Ive done like 50 raids now. And not 1 time did they pop up. All other bosses have.
nice mod . in case of uninstalling the mod, whyever. Is SAIN and SWAG+ Donuts Mods set as before ? (factory settings)
i ask because during installing TrueLive you have to overwrite data in the bepin and plugins folder as it says in the install isntruction.
Oh my god, what a great mod. This preset is really what spt gamers looking for, maybe even perfect. I just had the best pmc encounters in resort for weeks.
And Bosses/Goons /….. are spawning now too. Dont know how you make it, many of us where struggeling getting bosses to spawn. Thank you very much for your work its an amazing mod.
But sometimes it seems to me as if the pmc are all-knowing and are focusing on me, even when I’m hiding. You can exploit this by luring them into a bottleneck, but somehow the behavior seems strange to me. For example, ive done maybe 15 raids on shoreline. I’ve probably had this scenario 5 or 6 times in a row. I go to the east wing, loot a few hotspots in the locked rooms. After a few minutes I hear PMC nearby, I shoot around in the hallway or throw a grenade (even if I throw it from the balcony into nowhere). Now I take up position in a room and watch the entrance door and then the PMC will come, one after the other, with time in between maybe even several teams, like lemmings. Sometimes I didn’t even have to intend it, I just couldn’t get out of the room because the bots (including scavs) all ran purposefully into my hallway/room. I tested it several times with and without a silencer. Can I influence this with donut settings, e.g. if I set pmc bots to hard instead of as online? I don’t want to change anything now without knowing if it will be fucked up afterwards. This is not a negative criticism, this mod has doubled the fun of spt for me and I am very grateful for it. And I can only recommend everyone to use these presets/mod.
Bloody brilliant. thank you