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Lavaepetbrain

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

Overview​

This component defines the behavior tree (BT) for the Lavae pet entity, implementing core AI logic for companionship in Don't Starve Together. It orchestrates behavior through a priority-based tree that prioritizes survival (hunger management), followed by following the owner, and finally affection-based interactions when conditions are met.

Key responsibilities include:

  • Triggering panic and starvation response behaviors via BrainCommon.PanicTrigger
  • Eating edible items from inventory or on the ground
  • Producing edible food items by nuzzling eligible entities
  • Following the owner within configurable distance thresholds
  • Performing affectionate "nuzzles" when near the owner and sufficiently fed

The brain depends on several components: follower to identify the owner, hunger to monitor nutritional status, inventory for finding and managing items, eater for food validation, and inventoryitem for pickup eligibility checks.

Dependencies & Tags​

  • Components used:

    • follower (GetLeader)
    • hunger (GetPercent)
    • inventory (FindItem)
    • eater (CanEat)
    • inventoryitem (canbepickedup)

  • Tags:

    • "pocketdimension_container" (checked via HasTag, used to prevent following items inside containers)
    • Behavior-specific tags used for entity filtering:
      • MAKE_FOOD_TAGS: "canlight", "fire", "smolder"
      • NO_MAKE_FOOD_TAGS: "INLIMBO", "_equippable", "outofreach", plus all FUELTYPE values suffixed with "_fueled"
      • FINDFOOD_MUST_TAGS: "edible_BURNT", "_inventoryitem"
      • FINDFOOD_CANT_TAGS: "INLIMBO", "fire", "catchable", "outofreach"

Properties​

PropertyTypeDefault ValueDescription
instEntity—The entity instance this brain controls (owned by the Lavae pet).
btBTnilThe behavior tree instance constructed in OnStart. Initialized internally.
MIN_FOLLOW_DISTnumber0Minimum distance to maintain from the owner before stopping movement.
MAX_FOLLOW_DISTnumber8Distance beyond which the pet begins to move toward the owner.
TARGET_FOLLOW_DISTnumber5Target distance the pet attempts to maintain from the owner.
MAX_WANDER_DISTnumber3Maximum wander radius (not directly used in current behavior tree).
FIND_FOOD_ACTION_DISTnumber12Radius around the pet within which food-finding actions search for entities.

Main Functions​

GetOwner(inst)​

  • Description: Retrieves the pet’s current owner (leader) by querying the follower component, but excludes owners that are items inside a pocket dimension container.
  • Parameters:
    • inst (Entity): The pet entity instance.
  • Returns: Entity? — The owner entity, or nil if no valid leader or if leader is inside a container.

EatFoodAction(inst)​

  • Description: Scans the pet’s inventory for an edible item and returns an ACTIONS.EAT buffered action for it, if possible and not busy.
  • Parameters:
    • inst (Entity): The pet entity instance.
  • Returns: BufferedAction? — Action to eat the first edible item found, or nil if none available or entity is busy.

MakeFoodAction(inst)​

  • Description: Finds an eligible entity in range to "nuzzle" (produce food from), and returns a buffered ACTIONS.NUZZLE action.
  • Parameters:
    • inst (Entity): The pet entity instance.
  • Returns: BufferedAction? — Action to nuzzle a suitable target, or nil if no target found or entity is busy.
  • Notes: Targets must have tags in MAKE_FOOD_TAGS and lack any in NO_MAKE_FOOD_TAGS.

CanPickup(item)​

  • Description: Validates whether an item can be picked up based on inventoryitem.canbepickedup and ground suitability.
  • Parameters:
    • item (Entity): The item entity to validate.
  • Returns: boolean — true if the item can be picked up, false otherwise.

FindFoodAction(inst)​

  • Description: Searches for edible items in range that meet food-finding tags, validates them for pickup, and returns an ACTIONS.PICKUP action if found.
  • Parameters:
    • inst (Entity): The pet entity instance.
  • Returns: BufferedAction? — Action to pickup the first valid food item, or nil if none found or entity is busy.

OwnerIsClose(inst)​

  • Description: Determines whether the owner is within a very short distance (2.5 units), indicating proximity for affection behaviors.
  • Parameters:
    • inst (Entity): The pet entity instance.
  • Returns: boolean — true if owner is within range, false otherwise.

LoveOwner(inst)​

  • Description: Attempts to perform an affectionate nuzzle on the owner if conditions are met (not busy, owner is a player, hunger > 50%, and luck check passes).
  • Parameters:
    • inst (Entity): The pet entity instance.
  • Returns: BufferedAction? — Action to nuzzle the owner, or nil if conditions not met or entity is busy.

LavaePetBrain:OnStart()​

  • Description: Initializes the behavior tree by constructing the root priority node with starvation handling, following logic, and affection behaviors.
  • Parameters: None.
  • Returns: nil.
  • Notes: This method populates self.bt with a BT instance based on a behavior tree rooted in a priority list including panic triggers, starvation response, following, eating, facing, and affection logic.

Events & Listeners​

None identified. The brain uses synchronous actions via the behavior tree and does not register any event listeners directly.