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Last Update: 2024-08-22

Components Overview

Components are the fundamental building blocks of entity behavior in Don't Starve Together. Each component provides specific functionality to entities, and components can be combined to create complex behaviors. This page provides an overview of the component system and links to documentation for specific components.

What are Components?​

In Don't Starve Together, components are modular pieces of functionality that can be attached to entities. Each component is responsible for a specific aspect of an entity's behavior, such as health, hunger, combat, or inventory management.

Components follow these key principles:

  • Modularity: Components can be added or removed from entities independently
  • Reusability: The same component can be used by many different types of entities
  • Encapsulation: Components handle their own internal state and logic
  • Interaction: Components can communicate with each other through events and direct method calls

Using Components​

Adding Components to Entities​

Components are typically added to entities in their prefab definition:

local function fn()
    local inst = CreateEntity()
    
    -- Add components
    inst:AddComponent("health")
    inst:AddComponent("inventory")
    inst:AddComponent("locomotor")
    
    -- Configure components
    inst.components.health:SetMaxHealth(100)
    inst.components.locomotor.walkspeed = 4
    
    return inst
end

Accessing Components​

Components can be accessed through the components field on entity instances:

-- Access a component
local health = inst.components.health

-- Call component methods
health:SetMaxHealth(150)
health:DoDelta(-10)

-- Access component properties
local current_health = health.currenthealth
local max_health = health.maxhealth

Removing Components​

Components can be removed if needed:

inst:RemoveComponent("burnable")

Core Components​

These components are fundamental to many game mechanics:

  • Health - Manages entity health points and death
  • Combat - Handles attacking and being attacked
  • Inventory - Stores and manages items
  • Locomotor - Controls movement speed and pathing

Survival Components​

These components relate to survival mechanics:

Item Components​

These components are typically found on items:

Interaction Components​

These components enable various interactions:

  • Workable - Allows entities to be worked (chopped, mined, etc.)
  • Inspectable - Provides inspection text
  • Container - Stores other items inside
  • Trader - Enables trading with other entities

These components handle food mechanics:

  • Edible - Makes items consumable
  • Cookable - Allows items to be cooked
  • Eater - Allows entities to eat food

Miscellaneous Components​

Other important components:

Other Components​

For a list of less commonly used components, see Other Components.

Creating Custom Components​

For information on creating your own custom components, see the Custom Component example and the Component System documentation.