Beecommon

Based on game build 714014 | Last updated: 2026-02-27

Overview

The beecommon.lua file defines a shared Lua module containing constants and helper functions used by bee-related AI behaviors in Don't Starve Together. It centralizes logic for combat reaction, target sharing with nearby bees, and hive retreat decisions. It is not a component itself, but a collection of reusable functions and constants intended to be imported and referenced by brain scripts or state machines for bees.

Key responsibilities include:

• Triggering target sharing when attacked or worked on (OnAttacked, OnWorked)
• Determining safe retreat actions to the hive (GoHomeAction)
• Enforcing hive membership and spawning conditions for child bees (childspawner.childreninside, ReleaseAllChildren)

It depends on several core components: combat, health, homeseeker, burnable, and childspawner.

Dependencies & Tags

• Components used:
  • combat (via inst.components.combat)
  • health (via inst.components.health)
  • homeseeker (via inst.components.homeseeker)
  • burnable (via inst.components.burnable)
  • childspawner (via inst.components.childspawner)
• Tags checked:
  • "bee": used to filter valid share targets
  • "companion": used to ensure only bees of the same type (regular vs companion) share targets
  • "epic": used to exclude epic bees from target sharing

Properties

No public properties are defined by this module. It exports only constants and functions.

Main Functions

GoHomeAction(inst)

• Description: Constructs and returns a buffered action that moves the entity (inst) to its assigned hive (homeseeker.home), but only if the hive is valid, exists, and is not currently on fire.
• Parameters:
  • inst (Entity): The entity requesting the home action.
• Returns: BufferedAction or nil — returns an action if conditions are met, otherwise nil.

OnAttacked(inst, data)

• Description: Handles response when the entity is attacked. Sets the attacker as the combat target, spawns child bees (killerbee prefab) from the hive if present, and shares the target with nearby bees belonging to the same hive.
• Parameters:
  • inst (Entity): The entity being attacked.
  • data (Table?): Event data containing at least {attacker = Entity}. May be nil.
• Returns: nil

OnWorked(inst, data)

• Description: Callback triggered when the entity is worked on (e.g., by a player using an item). Internally calls OnAttacked with the worker as the attacker, effectively treating interaction as aggression.
• Parameters:
  • inst (Entity): The entity being worked on.
  • data (Table): Event data containing {worker = Entity}.
• Returns: nil

Constants

Constant	Type	Default Value	Description
RUN_AWAY_DIST	number	10	Maximum distance within which a bee will attempt to flee.
SEE_FLOWER_DIST	number	10	Distance threshold for detecting flowers.
SEE_TARGET_DIST	number	6	Distance threshold for detecting combat targets.
MAX_CHASE_DIST	number	7	Maximum distance a bee will chase a target.
MAX_CHASE_TIME	number	8	Maximum duration (in seconds) a bee will chase a target.
MAX_WANDER_DIST	number	32	Maximum distance from hive a bee may wander.
SHARE_TARGET_DIST	number	30	Radius around the bee within which other bees are considered for target sharing.
MAX_TARGET_SHARES	number	10	Upper limit on the number of bees a target can be shared to, reduced by number of bees inside the hive.

Events & Listeners

This module does not define any event listeners or push events directly. It is intended to be invoked by event handlers defined in external stategraphs or scripts (e.g., SGbee.lua).