XIV Docs - Chat Log (.log)

Chat Log (.log)

Note

This documentation is incomplete.

A binary store of recent chat logs. These are usually found in the character folder, e.g. “FFXIV_CHR/log/00000000.log”

Reading #

At the beginning of the file is a header with this content:

struct ChatLogHeader {
    uint32_t contentSize;
    uint32_t fileSize;

    uint32_t offsets[fileSize - contentSize];
};

The content of the log begins at (8 + fileSize * 4). The number of elements in offsets is also the number of messages in this log.

To read the messages, start reading at the offset described above. After seeking, read this short header:

enum EventFilter : uint8_t {
    SystemMessages = 3,
    Unknown = 20,
    ProgressionMessage = 64,
    NPCBattle = 41,
    Unknown2 = 57,
    Unknown7 = 29,
    Unknown3 = 59,
    EnemyBattle = 170,
}

enum EventChannel : uint8_t {
    System = 0,
    ServerAnnouncement = 3,
    Unknown1 = 50,
    Unknown7 = 29,
    Others = 32,
    Unknown5 = 41,
    NPCEnemy = 51,
    NPCFriendly = 59,
    Unknown4 = 64,
    Unknown6 = 170,
}

struct ChatLogEntry {
    uint32_t timestamp;
    EventFilter filter;
    EventChannel channel;
    uint32_t _garbage;
};

Then the string is ASCII(?) from the end of header to the element in offsets. The loop might look something like this:

uint32_t contentOffset = (8 + fileSize * 4);
seek(contentOffset);
for (uint32_t offset : offsets) {
    readChatLogEntry();
    message = read(cursorPos + offset);
    seek(contentOffset + offset); // ensure we always end up at the right place.
}

Alternative Implementations #

Physis (Rust)