# How do I add officer rank themes? **URL:** \ **Category:** Player Questions\ **Created:** [April 21, 2026, 10:10am UTC](https://aurora4x.com/t/how-do-i-add-officer-rank-themes/419 "2026-04-21T10:10:28Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Walter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/85e7bf/32.png) [@Walter](https://aurora4x.com/u/Walter)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2026, 10:10am UTC](https://aurora4x.com/t/how-do-i-add-officer-rank-themes/419/1 "2026-04-21T10:10:28Z")
Both at home and for use in future iterations of the game. As an example I have the ranks of the swiss army in romansh language listed from top to bottom: ```auto General Cumandant da corp Divisiunari Brigadier Colonel Litinent colonel Maior ``` Since Switzerland does not have a navy I would use Italian navy ranks for starship command. Now I could just load the “Italia” theme and modify ground forces ranks to taste, but that would get old right quick and help me none when I next play with Egyptian ranks. Also what do I do with the shorthands? A separate file? If the instructions already exist on this forum (patch notes, most likely) I do apologize for not finding them myself and would be thankful for a link. ---
**Author:** ![nuclearslurpee](https://yyz1.discourse-cdn.com/flex011/user_avatar/aurora4x.com/nuclearslurpee/32/368_2.png) [@nuclearslurpee](https://aurora4x.com/u/nuclearslurpee)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2026, 12:03pm UTC](https://aurora4x.com/t/how-do-i-add-officer-rank-themes/419/2 "2026-04-21T12:03:05Z")
I believe the only way to do this currently is to edit the DB by hand. ---
**Author:** ![AuroraSteve](https://yyz1.discourse-cdn.com/flex011/user_avatar/aurora4x.com/aurorasteve/32/96_2.png) [@AuroraSteve](https://aurora4x.com/u/AuroraSteve)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2026, 1:24pm UTC](https://aurora4x.com/t/how-do-i-add-officer-rank-themes/419/3 "2026-04-21T13:24:52Z")
Yes, you would need to edit the DIM\_RankThemes and DIM\_RankThemeTypes tables in the AuroraDB file. One line in the second table with the name and a unique ID, then one line per rank in the first table. Each line needs a priority, with 1 as highest rank and no gaps, plus the names and abbreviations for the equivalent naval and ground ranks. Set civilian rank to true for the lowest rank. There are plenty of examples in the table about how that works. However, if you are not used to relational databases, I strongly advise against trying as you could cause errors in your game. ---
**Author:** ![Walter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/85e7bf/32.png) [@Walter](https://aurora4x.com/u/Walter)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2026, 1:43pm UTC](https://aurora4x.com/t/how-do-i-add-officer-rank-themes/419/4 "2026-04-21T13:43:09Z")
Thank you for the quick replies. I will do that then - keep my paws off the AuroraDB. 🙂 Since you take suggestions for name themes it might be worth the occasional suggestion for an extra rank theme, no? I would guess that should come as separate files \*title\_\*officer naval rank theme.txt and \*title\_\*officer naval shorthand.txt with one item per line like in the name themes. Of course that will have to wait until I can upload to this forum and until I actually have something worthwhile to share. ---
**Author:** ![AuroraSteve](https://yyz1.discourse-cdn.com/flex011/user_avatar/aurora4x.com/aurorasteve/32/96_2.png) [@AuroraSteve](https://aurora4x.com/u/AuroraSteve)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2026, 3:29pm UTC](https://aurora4x.com/t/how-do-i-add-officer-rank-themes/419/5 "2026-04-21T15:29:55Z")
Just list the ranks - no special format required as I would type them in manually anyway. I don’t have any automated import code for ranks. ---
**Author:** ![Walter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/85e7bf/32.png) [@Walter](https://aurora4x.com/u/Walter)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2026, 12:43pm UTC](https://aurora4x.com/t/how-do-i-add-officer-rank-themes/419/6 "2026-04-24T12:43:48Z")
Here we go: Egyptian Military Ranks `OF-10 O-M Mushir` `OF-9 O-9 Fariq’awal` `OF-8 O-8 Fariq` `OF-7 O-7 Liwa` `OF-6 O-6 Amid` `OF-5 O-5 Aqid` `OF-4 O-4 Muqaddam` `OF-3 O-3 Ra’id` `Junior officers if you want them:` `OF-2 O-2 Naqib` `OF-1 O-1 Mulazim awwal` ` O-0 Mulazim` Wet and dry forces use the same ranks, which means OF-2 (Naqib) is an army captain and OF-5 (Aqid) is a full naval captain. I started each line with the equivalent NATO codes for abbreviations to give some orientation to other players. The actual in-game abbreviation is just my recommendation based on Aurora only allowing three characters for each. Have fun. 🙂 > SJW: Added for v2.8 ---
**Author:** ![nuclearslurpee](https://yyz1.discourse-cdn.com/flex011/user_avatar/aurora4x.com/nuclearslurpee/32/368_2.png) [@nuclearslurpee](https://aurora4x.com/u/nuclearslurpee)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2026, 12:59pm UTC](https://aurora4x.com/t/how-do-i-add-officer-rank-themes/419/7 "2026-04-24T12:59:19Z")
> [@Walter](#): > > The actual in-game abbreviation is just my recommendation based on Aurora only allowing three characters for each. You can use as many characters as you like, they just don’t show up well on all screens. I think for ground commanders only 3 characters render on some screens, but for naval officers 4 or more characters usually works fine. ---
**Author:** ![Walter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/85e7bf/32.png) [@Walter](https://aurora4x.com/u/Walter)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2026, 4:38pm UTC](https://aurora4x.com/t/how-do-i-add-officer-rank-themes/419/8 "2026-04-24T16:38:45Z")
Thanks for clarifying that. I still think my solution for 3 characters is fine and I’d be happy with it, but if NATO codes can display that would clarify things for other players. Steve will decide. ---
**Author:** ![Walter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/85e7bf/32.png) [@Walter](https://aurora4x.com/u/Walter)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2026, 10:09am UTC](https://aurora4x.com/t/how-do-i-add-officer-rank-themes/419/9 "2026-06-17T10:09:10Z")
Hoping to take advantage of Steve’s generosity, I’d like to add Estonian military ranks as well. Given that Estonia is a small country, they don’t use the OF-10 rank of bigger NATO partners. I added “ülem” (“superior” in Estonian) and checked with DeepL, which spits out “Commander-in-Chief” or “Commanding General” when I test “Kindral ülem”. Good enough. So please keep in mind, that while the “Admiral ülem” and “Kindral ülem” don’t actually exist in the real world those will be needed when 3.0 rolls around and the Baltic League - headquartered on the planet of Uus Tallinn - takes to the stars. Estonian Naval Ranks: `OF-10 Admiral ülem` `OF-9 Admiral` `OF-8 Viitseadmiral` `OF-7 Kontradmiral` `OF-6 Kommodoor` `OF-5 Mereväekapten` `OF-4 Kaptenleitnant` `OF-3 Kaptenmajor` Junior Naval Ranks: `OF-2 Vanemleitnant` `OF-1 Leitnant` ` Nooremleitnant` ` Lipnik` Estonian Land Forces Ranks: `O-K Kindral ülem` `O-9 Kindral` `O-8 Kindralleitnant` `O-7 Kindralmajor` `O-6 Brigaadikindral` `O-5 Kolonel` `O-4 Kolonelleitnant` `O-3 Major` Land Forces Junior Ranks: `O-2 Kapten` `O-1 Leitnant` ` Nooremleitnant` ` Lipnik` The shorthand is based on Nuclearslurpee’s advice (Thank you) and uses the actual NATO-codes for the Navy and my abbreviated versions for the ground forces.