docs

FFXIV ACT FAQ

Important - Read These First

Which OverlayPlugin fork am I supposed to use?

The correct version of OverlayPlugin is the one in the OverlayPlugin org. Neither the hibiyasleep nor ngld versions are currently maintained.

Troubleshooting stuff

My ACT isn’t showing any numbers. What can I do?

Go to Plugins > FFXIV Settings and click Test game connection.

It complains about the firewall. What should I do?
Make sure you have a firewall exception for ACT. Also make sure that the .exe file (visible under Details) and network type are correct.

If you’re sure the firewall exception is correct, disable the firewall. If that fixes your problem, your exception is not correct. If that doesn’t fix your problem, come to the Discord and mention that your parser doesn’t work even when your firewall is disabled.
It complains about memory signatures/addresses. What should I do?
This usually means your parser doesn’t work with your game version. Check the plugin page for updates. If you already have the latest version, you’ll probably see a notice at the top of this FAQ that an update is being worked on.

If you got this error with the latest parser and the game hasn’t been updated in the last several days, go to the Discord and ask for help.
It complains that it can’t find the game process.
Make sure you’re running the correct ACT .exe. Advanced Combat Tracker.exe for the game in DirectX 11 mode (the default) and ACTx86.exe for the game in DirectX 9 mode.
It complains that no recent network traffic has been received.
Check if your firewall is interfering with the parser or if your VPN is causing problems.

If you use a VPN, try disabling the “High performance network parser”. Disabling it means ACT will cause more CPU load but it might fix your problem.

My overlay isn’t updating / not showing

First, check if your FFXIV plugin is the first entry in your plugins list (you can find that on ACT’s Plugins tab). If it isn’t move it to the top using the arrows and restart ACT. If that didn’t fix your issue, continue reading.

Make sure that ACT is showing DPS info on the Main tab. If that doesn’t work, you’ll have to fix ACT / the parser first. See the above section for more information about that.

Next, check the overlay log if it contains any of the following messages. The overlay log is the area below your overlay settings.

System.NullReferenceException - Object reference not set to an instance of an object.
Remove your current OverlayPlugin (delete the files and the folder you should have created for the plugin), restart ACT, click the Get Plugins button on the Plugins tab and select OverlayPlugin from that list. This will install the latest OverlayPlugin for you.
Could not load type 'RainbowMage.OverlayPlugin.EventSourseBase' from assembly 'OverlayPlugin.Core, ...'
You tried to use an addon or plugin which requires a newer version of OverlayPlugin, but you are using an obsolete fork.

You either have to look for a different download / build of the addon/plugin you’re trying to use or switch to the newest OverlayPlugin.
System.TypeLoadException - Could not load type 'System.ValueTuple3' from assembly 'System.ValueTuple, ...
Update your .NET framework to 4.7.1 or newer.

Finally, here are some typical issues which can lead to an overlay showing up but not updating:

Remove your current overlay, click New and select the overlay from the preset list. That should fix any issues related to a wrong URL, ACTWS setting, etc.
If you’re using hibiyasleep’s or ngld’s OverlayPlugin, uninstall it and install the newest version.
If you’re using the main OverlayPlugin fork, load it directly after the FFXIV_ACT_Plugin.dll to make sure no other plugin conflicts with it.
If you’re trying to use MopiMopi or SkillDisplay with the mainline version, make sure you check the ACTWS checkbox.
If you’re using any other overlay, uncheck that box since it can break overlays which don’t support ACTWS (like Cactbot).
Certain overlays like MopiMopi don’t work with the hibiyasleep version.

My overlay only shows if I’m out of the game / alt-tabbed

Set your game to run in Borderless mode. Fullscreen means the game has exclusive control of your screen and other programs can’t draw over it.

Discord, Steam, etc. get around this by hooking into the game. We’re trying to avoid this which is why we use windows to draw over the game.

But it worked before ?!
Yeah, that was Windows doing some black magic. Essentially, it forced the game into a mode similar to Borderless. For some reason, this has been disabled in a recent Windows update.

My overlay shows over the game but stops updating

This is usually an issue with AMD’s graphics driver. Make sure you disable AMD Chill or come to the Discord and ask for help there.

My overlay doesn’t sort by DPS

You have to enable sorting. Go to Plugins > MiniParseEventSource and set Sort By to DPS.

OverlayPlugin failed because it couldn’t download something

Go to the OverlayPlugin tab. It’ll tell you more about the file it tried to download. You’ll be able to retry the download or manually download the required file there.

OverlayPlugin complains that Newtonsoft.Json is outdated

Go to your ACT folder (that’s where your Advanced Combat Tracker.exe is) and delete Newtonsoft.Json.dll. That file isn’t part of ACT and most likely ended up there as part of a plugin. Please install plugins in %AppData%\Advanced Combat Tracker\Plugins or sub folders to avoid issues like this.

If OverlayPlugin still complains about Newtonsoft.Json even after you deleted that file, make sure that it’s loaded before ACTWebSocket and Discord Triggers and any other plugin that might contain an old version of Newtonsoft.Json. If you need help locating the currently loaded version of Newtonsoft.Json, go to ACT’s Plugins tab and click View Loaded Assemblies on the right side. It’ll list all currently loaded assemblies and should show you the path to the currently loaded Newtonsoft.Json.dll.

Join the Discord if you need further assistance.

OverlayPlugin complains that SharpCompress is outdated

Disable ACTWebSocket or load OverlayPlugin before ACTWebSocket. If that doesn’t help, check if you have a SharpCompress.dll file in your ACT folder (the folder that contains Advanced Combat Tracker.exe) and delete it. Check the above section for further info since it’s the same problem just a different file.

Cactbot’s config tab is empty

Check if your overlay log (the text box below your overlay settings) contains an error complaining about an outdated version of Newtonsoft.Json. If it does, follow the instructions above. If it doesn’t, make sure you updated all of Cactbot’s files (and not just the DLL or ui folder). If that doesn’t help either, join the Discord.

General questions

How do I install OverlayPlugin or Cactbot?

Go to ACT’s Plugins tab and click the Get Plugins button. Select the plugin you want from that list. If ACT complains during the Cactbot installation that it doesn’t contain a plugin interface, then you have to update your OverlayPlugin first. The easiest way to do that is to completely remove your current OverlayPlugin and then add it again through the Get Plugins button.

How do I check my plugin versions?

Go to the Plugins tab, click on the plugin you want to check and look on the right side for FileVersion:. Next to that label, it will tell you the plugin version.

Where are the log files saved?

Go to Plugins > FFXIV Settings and look for the Log file location.

The default location is %appdata%\Advanced Combat Tracker\FFXIVLogs. If you have not customized the location, you can paste this into your start menu for quick access.

What is ACTWS and how does it relate to OverlayPlugin?

ACTWS was an older solution for exposing a WebSocket to transfer live data out of ACT. OverlayPlugin has since absorbed all of its functionality, making it obsolete.

Where can I find any documentation on the log file?

Cactbot’s log guide is the best we currently have. We don’t have any real documentation on the parser itself but feel free to ask on Discord if you have any specific questions.

Glossary

ACT, Advanced Combat Tracker
This program offers the core functionality by calculating DPS, HPS, etc. based on a log file.
ACTWS, ACTWebSocket
This plugin runs a web server which accepts WebSocket connections which allows other applications to use ACT’s data. Not maintained anymore. Most of the functionality has been integrated into ngld’s OverlayPlugin.
Cactbot
A collection of various overlays. Raidboss can show you timelines for boss fights and dungeons, the eureka overlay can show you points of interest for eureka, oopsyraidsy can show you certain mistakes and why people die.
FFXIV ACT plugin
This plugin contains the FFXIV parser for ACT (there are other plugins which allow ACT to parse the data for other games). It captures the network packets sent/received by the game and additional data from memory and writes that information to a log file. ACT then reads that file and parses it with help from the plugin.
FFLogs
A website that allows you to upload the raw network logs and aggregates them.
Hojoring, Special Spell Timers, Yukkuri, UltraScouter
Hojoring is a collection of the following three plugins:
- SpecialSpellTimer
  Oversee skill cooldowns, trigger notifications for enemy actions, timeline for raids, etc.
- Yukkuri
  Replaces ACT’s Text to Speech engine. Can interface with most TTS engines currently available.
- UltraScouter
  Extended HUD. Can display enemy HP values, remaining cast time, distance and direction of hunt marks, threat visualization, etc
OverlayPlugin
This plugin is used for most overlays. It effectively runs a Chromium browser in the background to render web pages on top of the game. Various information like the current DPS values are forwarded by the plugin to the web page to display.
Parser
See FFXIV ACT plugin above.
Triggers
A trigger allows you to define a certain action (showing an overlay, playing a sound, starting/stopping an OBS recording, …) that should happen whenever a certain thing happens in the game. Very powerful but requires a solid understanding of regular expressions and log lines.
Triggernometry
More or less replaces ACT’s Custom Triggers feature with a much more capable version. For example, variables and conditions are supported, as well as visual warnings and callouts (auras).

The plugin is a toolbox for building your own things for whatever calls and situations you like, and as such it does not contain any triggers out of the box. You can, however, find people sharing their creations through the plugin’s remote repos feature or on Triggernometry’s Discord server where you will also be able to find assistance in building your own things.

Disclaimer: A few of the above plugin descriptions have been taken from the FFXIV Discord’s #plugin-showcase.

Overlays

If you have the latest OverlayPlugin, take a look at the different presets it offers (click the New button on the OverlayPlugin.dll tab). That list is more complete and includes previews.

Triggernometry, SpecialSpellTimers and UltraScouter can also display additional information on top of the game.

TODO: Add updated screenshots for all of these. Would probably more useful than the text descriptions.

However, pure DPS data / DPS tables are usually displayed by one of these:

Kagerou, README link
A very popular overlay displaying DPS, damage taken and HPS. Has a lot of options to customize the displayed data and overall look and feel. Works with all overlay renderers.
MopiMopi, README link
Also fairly popular. Displays DPS and HPS. Doesn’t group the data into tabs and instead displays both tables next to each other. Requires ngld’s OverlayPlugin or ACTWebSocket.
a modified version of RainbowMage
RainbowMage created OverlayPlugin and the first overlay that worked with it. Since then multiple modified versions have been created. This repo contains a pretty broad selection and additional overlays.

Works with both hibiyasleep and ngld OverlayPlugin.
Ember, README link
This overlay tries to follow FFXIV’s overall UI design and offers a bunch of data.
Works with all overlay renderers.
Horizoverlay, README link
A simple horizontal damage meter overlay. It currently shows player dps, damage %, hps, encounter duration and total dps. Works with OverlayPlugin 0.3.3.13 or newer (both hibiysleep and ngld).
Ikegami, README link
A simple horizontal miniparse overlay. Works with all overlay renderers.