Updated 25 October 2026. Facts on this page come from minecraft.wiki, community sites named in the text and the live Artemis PvP server; sources are listed at the bottom.
Cannon Intel: Windows, Alarms and Spotting
Intel is knowing what the enemy is doing and where every fighting machine is damaged, so you pick the right cannon and the right hole. The main sources are windows and outlooks, alarms that detect blocks breaking, and spotters: other players who watch and call shots.
What are windows and outlooks?
A window is a gap in your own machine you look through; an outlook is a viewing spot a short walk away. Windows are handy when you fight alone, but they usually mean less armour or a narrow view. Outlooks avoid that, at the cost of seconds spent walking there and back. minecraft.wiki's comparison image shows an outlook two times 3 seconds away from the cannon.
What is a cannon alarm?
A contraption that detects blocks being destroyed and tells you a cannon is damaged. Because cannon holes are wide, one detector per 7 x 7 area is usually enough. Variations eject the player from the loading spot when the cannon is exploding, or count shots to tell the player to change modes. Alarms get messy fast, so they are used mostly where you would not notice damage in time.
What is spotting?
Spotting is the most common and flexible kind of intel: other players, often spectators, watch the fight and relay what they see. Spotters often coordinate the attack too. The weak points are that it depends on people, there is only so much you can say at once, and several people talking over each other gets messy, especially in the first minutes. Teams practise spotting before a fight and plan how to destroy the enemy in advance.
Which tools count as cheating?
Reloading chunks (F3 + A) or shaders can show entities sooner, and F3 + B shows hitboxes. minecraft.wiki also lists X-ray packs, entity tracers and free-cam mods, but says most of these are treated as cheating and punished heavily on servers, so they are rarely used. Stick to what the server's rules allow.
How is intel used in factions raiding?
Raiders scout a base before firing: how many wall layers, where the water is and which layers have slabs. The answers decide between a hybrid, a tunneler or a scatter. Learn the basics on Factions.
Are X-ray and free-cam allowed on ArtemisPvP?
Check the ArtemisPvP rules before using any client mod; the factions systems are on the Factions guide.
Frequently asked questions
What is a spotter in cannoning?
A player, often a spectator, who watches the fight and tells the cannoners where to shoot.
Is X-ray allowed for cannoning?
Usually not. minecraft.wiki notes most such tools are treated as cheating and punished on servers.
Sources
Every fact on this page was checked against these pages; the wording is ours.