Community Guides/Vision Mechanics

Despite its top-down perspective, Foxhole's world is fully 3d. Other soldiers are only visible if your character has line of sight to them. Solid structures, or the shape of terrain can prevent you from seeing them, even friendly ones.

Vehicles and Structures are always visible, regardless of any intervening objects or time of day, though the identity of any soldier inside them can be obscured. The only exceptions to this rule are: Field Guns, deployed tripods, and Emplacements. Those follow the same detection rules as soldiers.

The flash and smoke of gunfire, as well as tracers, are always visible even if you can't see the soldiers responsible.

## Day and Night

During the day, there's no limit to how far you can see. With items like the Binoculars or Sniper Rifles it is possible to see other soldiers over a hundred metres away.

As night falls (at 6PM), a circle of light (~30m radius) appears around you while the rest of your screen becomes darker. The circle gets smaller and smaller until midnight (~14m radius), after which it slowly expands again until dawn (6AM).

Outside that circle, every soldier, emplacement, tripod, and field gun becomes invisible to you.

Because this affects your ability to see friendly soldiers as well as enemy ones, it can be easy to lose your teammates at night. Try to stick close to them. If you have a radio, the intel map can help you relocate them.

Being on higher ground or using Binoculars does not increase the radius of your circle.

### Mortar Flares

Mortar Flare Shells illuminate an area during the night. Visibility in that circle is the same as regular daylight.

## Snow Storm

Snow Storms reduce the player's vision in the same fashion as the night but the vision circle varies in size depending on the storm severity and doesn't have a clear visible limit.

## Obstruction

Solid structures block your line of sight, making invisible any soldier, emplacement, tripod, or field gun behind them.

See-through structures (Barbed Wire Fence, Tier 1 Wall (Fence)) and Fire Pits don't block your line of sight.

Enemy pillboxes are not loaded on your screen by the game if you don't have a line of sight with them (obstructed by terrain, a solid wall, a large building, etc...), so you might be in for a surprise when turning a corner. However once the pillbox is loaded on your screen it doesn't disappear even if your line of sight is obstructed again. It will only be invisible to you again if you move far enough that the game stops displaying the asset.

## Bushes

Immobile soldiers in large enough bushes become invisible to anyone who's not right next to them. Crawling or walking will cause them to be revealed, but rotating, changing stance, or taking out weapons does not. Some bushes are small enough that they can only hide someone who is crouching or prone. When you are hidden your outline will take on a faint, striped pattern, and a crossed-out eye icon  will appear at the top left of the screen.

AI-controlled defenses are unfazed by bushes and will shoot at you even if you are hidden in them.

Combating enemies in bushes can be difficult. They can't move without being revealed, so grenades can be a powerful way to flush them out. Vehicles can also run them over, though this may be a risky proposition if there's a chance the enemy has sticky grenades! In the absence of better options, indiscriminate fire into the bush or where their muzzle flash reveals them to be can eliminate enemies. A bayonet charge is also very satisfying in the event you can pull it off.

Field guns, emplacements, and tripods can be hidden in large bushes, allowing them to ambush the enemy. They are only visible to people within 10m.

## Smoke

Smoke blocks the line of sight of players like a wall would. It doesn't blind garrisoned defense AI but only reduces its maximum range, fire rate, accuracy, and reaction time.

Since vehicles are always visible, smoke can be annoying to vehicle crews, who cannot see through the smoke but are not obscured by it.

## AI Vision

AI-controlled defenses use the same vision mechanic as the player.

They won't shoot at targets behind solid structures.

At night, they always see structures except deployed tripods and Emplacements. Their night vision radius is identical to the player, reduced to a minimum of 14m at midnight, making them less effective at night. Unlike the player the AI can't see vehicles outside its night radius. However, the vision of AI defenses with powered spotlights is unaffected by night time.

AI defenses will still retaliate when fired upon even if you fire from outside their night vision radius.

Unlike the players, AI-controlled defenses are unfazed by bushes and will shoot at you even if you are hidden in them.

Smoke doesn't blind garrisoned defense AI but only reduces its maximum range, fire rate, accuracy, and reaction time.

## Anti-Tank Mines

AT Mines have their own visibility mechanic. They are always visible when placed on roads. Mines placed by your faction are also always visible to you. Enemy mines placed off road can only be seen by infantry on foot, they are invisible to vehicle crews even passengers on the back of an APC.

## Tips

* Soldiers still show up on the intel map even if they are concealed by terrain or otherwise hidden. This can be used to pinpoint the location of soldiers who are hiding in bushes, for example.
* There are a few odd bushes that levitate off the ground. In some of these bushes, going prone may cause you to be revealed even though you are hidden while crouched or standing.