01 Dec 2021 5:21 PM +00:00 UTC

Battlefield 2042: How To Use The Portal Rules Editor

Battlefield 2042 is up and running! While the game has a plethora of game modes, one that sticks out is the Portal feature. For more information on the mode, you can check out our complete Portal breakdown.

While the model itself is pretty simple to navigate, there seems to be a lot of confusion surrounding the Rules Editor section of Portal. The editor is a beast in itself and has the potential to create some of the best Battlefield experiences in 2042.

We're here to clarify what the Rules Editor is and how to use the feature.

Read More: Best Hazard Zone Specialist Squads for Battlefield 2042

Getting Started

Now the game's out, you can start playing the creations you've made. To start creating, you can head over to the Battlefield Portal Website.

After pressing 'SIGN IN TO CONTINUE', you will be asked to log in to your account. This can be through PSN, Xbox Live, Steam, Apple, or through a general email and password.

After logging in, you'll come to the main Portal hub page. From here, you can press 'CREATE SOMETHING NEW' to start making your own content. Alternatively, you can select the game you want to create your experience from.

At the moment, you can choose from Battlefield 1942, Battlefield Bad Company 2, and Battlefield 3. More titles in the DICE franchise will be added to this selection further on.

You can also view your custom-made experiences in the tab below it. After creating or accessing a previous experience, head to 'Rules Editor'. It's important to remember that only Team Deathmatch and Free-For-All modes can be amended through the Rules Editor section at the moment.

Basic Overview Of Icons

The Rules Editor further extends your experience, providing a deep and personal way to adjust your games.

Here's a look at what some of the icons mean:

Portal Editor key showing variable, element, message, player, number, team, inventory, any, and expression.

You can set what rules you'd like to occur based on what event occurs. You can insert a rule by dragging the purple frame from the 'RULES' section. After doing so, you also have the freedom to change the name of the rule box to ease organisation.

Rule box showing conditions and actions.

The Rule Box

There are two important elements of a rule:

Conditions = aspects that need to be met for the rule to activate.
Actions = what occurs when the rule happens.

At the neighbouring box, you can choose when and how this rule will occur. Ongoing is one of these elements, whereby which the rule occurs throughout the entire game. Others like OnPlayerDeployed and OnRevived are self-explanatory.

From there onwards, you can select who is impacted by these rules. Selecting 'Global' will affect everyone in the lobby, whereas 'Team' impacts the user's squad, while 'Player' influences only you.

Rule box of the event showing who is impacted: global, team, or player.

Conditions

After selecting these options, you'll need to select the conditions for your rule. To start implementing a condition, head to 'RULES' and drag the 'CONDITION' segment to your rule box. When dragging, the section will easily slot in like a jigsaw.

It can be a little complicated creating the conditions due to the multitude of features to choose from. A good starting point we'd recommend is the 'GetPlayerState' segment, which can be found in the 'PLAYER' segment and under 'SOLDIER'.

This part impacts the central player if they perform certain actions. For example, in the element below, we're trying to set a condition where the player will automatically die if they zoom in. This would make for some crazy gameplay as kills can only be made from a hip-fire range.

Condition assortment with event player and player state if zooming.

The box used for the condition needs to match either Player, Team, or Global in the Rule Box depending on the rule being asserted. For example, in the image below, the box near Ongoing is set to Global and comes up with an error symbol. This is because the condition being implemented refers to the Player but the Rule is set to impact the world of the game.

Eventplayer has been shown with an error warning sign.

To resolve the issue, change Global to Player and the error should be removed. This same problem will occur if Team and Global-based rules and conditions differ, so make sure these elements are compatible before continuing.

Actions

The actions implemented need to be compatible with the conditions. For example, if we continue creating the game mode depicted above where users die if zooming in, the DealDamage box will need to be inserted.

DealDamage box showing damage of 999 inflicted for action.

You'll also need to insert the damage inflicted in numerals. To access the numbers, go to 'LITERALS' and drag the 'NUMBER' box into the ACTION box.

Literals option showing the Numbers tab which can be dragged.

The Rules Editor also gives you the choice of creating your own Variables. These are flexible elements that can store a range of values, numbers, arrays for later use. Creating these Variables will allow you to use them when generating more Rules in the future.

To create a Variable, head to 'VARIABLES' and press 'Manage Variables'. After, click 'New Variable' to start making. From here, you'll be able to name your Variable and choose whether you want the impact to be Global, for the Player, or only impacting the Team in question.

Create Variable name and choose impacts.

You can combine Variables with the in-system commands to further extend your rules.

Combination of variables with a standard action command.

What to Consider

When connecting assortments of conditions, certain ones are only compatible if they connect. To find if this is the case, you'll see a connecting line to signify this. This shows that you're on the right track.

Connecting commands through yellow line.

The Rules Editor can be a little difficult to navigate. So, if you're unsure of a particular element, whether that be for Conditions or Actions, you can right-click the item and press 'Help'. This will give a more detailed explanation of how to use the aspect in question while showing examples of the item.

Right-click for 'Help' option for help on commands.

It can be very difficult to use the Rules Editor at first. But through a little fiddling and experimenting, you'll get the hang of the nifty tool. If you're wondering what PC settings are preferred to maximise your Battlefield 2042 experience, check out our recommendations for the best keyboard and mouse settings.

For more articles like this, take a look at our Battlefield 2042 , Battlefield , and Guides pages.