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Each helicopter variant has its own JSON config file at $profile:\CZAutoz_Heli\HeliConfigs\, named <Classname>_Config.json. Settings are applied per-file, so each variant can be tuned independently. As of v0.2 each file is organised into clear sections — flight, altitude, aerodynamics, control (with a nested response block), autorotation, tailRotorFailure, damage (with zones and burn), fuel, battery, sling, audio and camera. Each setting below is shown by its full path (for example control.response.rollAccelTau).

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Config Files

Delete any file and restart to regenerate it with all defaults. Each file is independent — changing one variant does not affect others of the same type.
Since v0.3.1, Smart Config Updates run on every mod update: values you never changed adopt the new defaults automatically, while everything you customised is kept — per key. No extra files or fields are involved — versioning is tracked once, in mod_config.json, and the per-helicopter files contain nothing but settings.
Modify these values at your own risk. The defaults for every helicopter have been carefully tuned by the development team for the best flight experience. Changing flight parameters (lift, control strengths, response, drag, etc.) can result in helicopters that feel broken or are impossible to fly. If you do make changes, keep a note of the original defaults so you can revert.If in doubt, leave these at their defaults. The global settings in mod_config.json (cargo, repair, toggles, logging) are safe to adjust freely.
The per-helicopter defaults listed below (lift, control strengths, response, drag, etc.) are indicative dev-tuned values and can change between builds — the in-game Admin Panel always shows the live per-helicopter values.
Admin Panel labels vs. JSON paths. The Admin Panel edits these exact settings, but shows them under friendly names. Most map obviously (control.pitchStrength → Pitch Strength, fuel.burnLPH → Fuel Burn (L/hr)). The less‑obvious ones, in case you’re looking at the panel and want the detail here:
  • Roll / Pitch / Yaw Accel Smoothing → control.response.rollAccelTau / pitchAccelTau / yawAccelTau
  • Roll / Pitch / Yaw Decay Smoothing → control.response.rollDecayTau / pitchDecayTau / yawDecayTau
  • Bank-to-Turn Strength → control.b2tStrength
  • ETL Lift Bonus / Speed Threshold → aerodynamics.etlBonus / aerodynamics.etlSpeed
  • Envelope Threshold / Drag Scale → aerodynamics.envelopeThreshold / aerodynamics.envelopeDragScale
  • Tail Rotor Spin Rate / Descent Rate → tailRotorFailure.spinRate / tailRotorFailure.descentRate
  • Max Fuel → fuel.maxCapacity  ·  Camera Distance → camera.distance
Panel and JSON change the identical value — the panel just applies it live (no restart).

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flight

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control

The control section governs how the helicopter responds to input. The nested control.response block uses time constants (Tau, in seconds) — lower values make a control snappier, higher values make it smoother/heavier. In the Admin Panel these six show as Roll / Pitch / Yaw Accel Smoothing (the *AccelTau — how fast the control winds up when you push the stick) and Decay Smoothing (the *DecayTau — how fast it settles back when you ease off). It’s purely control feel — it has no effect on lift, speed, or anything performance‑related, so it’s safe to tune to taste. Lower ≈ sharp/responsive; higher ≈ heavy/cinematic.

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altitude

Altitude values are entered in feet.

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aerodynamics

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autorotation

Since v0.2.8 the autorotation glide is tuned per helicopter — light scouts autorotate well (the rotor carries more of the weight, gentle descent), heavies drop faster.

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tailRotorFailure

Behaviour when the tail rotor is destroyed. Same across all variants by default.

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damage

Each zone is an independent on/off toggle. As of v0.2.2 a disabled zone (0) takes no damage from any source — gunfire, explosions and collisions (previously the toggles only gated collision damage, so a heli with zones off could still be shot to a wreck). Setting all zones to 0 makes the helicopter fully invincible:
Rotors-only mode: enable only rotor1/rotor2 (everything else 0) and the rotors can be shot or damaged (they degrade and shear) while the hull stays invulnerable — ideal for servers running AI that fire on helicopters. Rotor damage never destroys the airframe; it only costs you lift and control.

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fuel

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battery

Same across all variants by default.
Two different numbers, often confused. The CZ_HelicopterBattery itself holds 500 units of charge — that is the battery’s capacity, not a setting. battery.startDrain is how many of those units one start (or stop) costs, and the Admin Panel’s slider for it runs 0–100.
Setting battery.startDrain = 0 does not remove the battery requirement — it only stops the drain. A charged, unruined battery is always needed to start the engine. See Required Items.

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sling

Sling loading — the underslung load the helicopter can hook and carry. Each airframe has a lifting class matched to its size; a load heavier than the limit simply cannot be hooked.
0 means unset, not disabled. If sling.maxKg is 0 when the config is read, the airframe’s shipped preset default is restored on the next boot (and the server log says so). To turn sling loading off, use the server-wide switch features.slingloadEnabled = 0 in mod_config.json — that removes the hook-up and release actions on every helicopter.

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audio

Audio lives in each variant’s own file, so volumes can be tuned independently per variant. All default to 1.0.

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camera