Vehicle ownership, access authorization, ignition authorization, physical
locking, possession, and station control are related but separate systems.
Registered owner:
The current registered owner automatically has legitimate vehicle access
and ignition authority.
Delegated authority:
Other characters may be granted access, ignition authority, or both.
Access authority does not automatically grant ignition authority, and
ignition authority does not automatically grant physical access.
Physical lock:
lock <vehicle>
unlock <vehicle>
Examples:
lock my car
unlock groundcar
Who may lock and unlock
From outside:
lock <vehicle> Anyone may lock an unlocked vehicle. No authority is
needed.
unlock <vehicle> Requires legitimate access authority (the
registered owner, or a delegated access grant).
From inside (an occupant of the vehicle's linked cabin):
lock / unlock Normally needs no access authority. Anyone aboard
can work the door lock.
Restricted vehicles (for example police or security vehicles) may require
access authority even from inside. That is set by the vehicle model's access
policy, not by the command.
Ignition authority is not access authority. Access authority, ignition
authority, legal ownership, and station control are all separate. Hotwiring or
bypassing a vehicle's security never grants any of them.
When a vehicle is unlocked, anyone physically present may attempt to enter it.
When a vehicle is locked, the physical vehicle threshold blocks entry for
everyone, including the registered owner.
Access authority lets you operate the lock; it does not let you walk through a
locked vehicle door. An authorized character must unlock the vehicle before
entering normally.
Ignition-only authority cannot unlock or open a locked vehicle.
Locking or unlocking a vehicle never changes its registered owner.
Entering, possessing, controlling, driving, or bypassing a vehicle does not
automatically transfer legal ownership.
The ordinary lock and unlock commands are also used for doors. Give an
explicit vehicle name or alias when operating a vehicle lock.
From inside a linked Vehicle interior, bare lock and unlock operate
the enclosing Vehicle's physical lock. You may also explicitly name or alias
that Vehicle; naming the vehicle you are inside behaves exactly like the bare
form, including any inside-the-vehicle authority requirement.
This interior shorthand does not let you remotely operate other Vehicles
outside.
Outside a Vehicle, bare lock or unlock retains the existing door
behavior.
Current exterior vehicle locking does not trap occupants inside. A valid
exterior-access position may still be exited normally.
Physical Vehicle security defeat is documented separately:
help vehicle security
The ordinary lock/unlock commands remain legitimate-authority operations.
Bypassing and hotwiring never transfer registered ownership or silently grant
authorization.