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Abysspillargroup

Based on game build 714014 | Last updated: 2026-03-03

Overview​

AbyssPillarGroup is a component that coordinates a dynamic set of abyss pillars within the game world. It handles tracking active pillars, recording spawn points, and managing deferred respawning. It supports event-driven callback hooks for adding/removing or collapsing pillars, and implements save/load logic to persist spawn point state and pillar references across sessions. This component is typically attached to environment entities (e.g., boss arena anchors) and used during high-stakes encounters like the Dragonfly or Shadow contests.

Usage example​

local inst = CreateEntity()
inst:AddComponent("abysspillargroup")

inst.components.abysspillargroup:SetSpawnAtXZFn(function(parent, x, z, instant)
    return SpawnPrefab("abysspillar")(x, 0, z)
end)

inst.components.abysspillargroup:AddPillarSpawnPointXZ(10, 0)
inst.components.abysspillargroup:RespawnAllPillars()

Dependencies & tags​

Components used: None identified
Tags: Checks onremove event on tracked pillar entities; does not add or remove tags.

Properties​

PropertyTypeDefault ValueDescription
spawnfnfunctionnilCallback that creates and returns a new pillar entity at (x, z); called by SpawnPillarAtXZ.
collapsefnfunctionnilCallback invoked when CollapseAllPillars is called, passing (parent, pillar).
onaddpillarfnfunctionnilOptional callback fired after a pillar is added, (parent, pillar).
onremovepillarfnfunctionnilOptional callback fired after a pillar is removed, (parent, pillar).
pillarstable{}Dictionary mapping pillar instances to true, representing active pillars.
spawnptstable{}Flat array of x,z coordinate pairs representing recorded spawn points.

Main functions​

SetSpawnAtXZFn(fn)​

  • Description: Assigns the function used to instantiate new pillars when SpawnPillarAtXZ is called.
  • Parameters: fn (function) — a callback with signature (parent: Entity, x: number, z: number, instant: boolean?): Entity?.
  • Returns: Nothing.

SetCollapseFn(fn)​

  • Description: Sets the callback executed for each pillar during CollapseAllPillars.
  • Parameters: fn (function) — signature (parent: Entity, pillar: Entity).
  • Returns: Nothing.

StartTrackingPillar(pillar)​

  • Description: Begins tracking a pillar instance, registers a death listener, and invokes onaddpillarfn if set.
  • Parameters: pillar (Entity) — the pillar entity to track.
  • Returns: Nothing.
  • Error states: Asserts if pillar._abysspillargroup is already assigned to another group.

StopTrackingPillar(pillar)​

  • Description: Stops tracking a pillar, removes the death listener, clears its internal reference, and invokes onremovepillarfn if set.
  • Parameters: pillar (Entity) — the pillar entity to stop tracking.
  • Returns: Nothing.
  • Error states: Asserts if pillar._abysspillargroup is not self.

SpawnPillarAtXZ(x, z, instant)​

  • Description: Invokes the configured spawnfn at the given world coordinates and begins tracking the resulting pillar.
  • Parameters:
    • x (number) — X coordinate for spawn.
    • z (number) — Z coordinate for spawn.
    • instant (boolean?, optional) — passed to spawnfn to indicate immediate vs deferred creation.
  • Returns: Nothing.
  • Error states: Does nothing if spawnfn is nil.

AddPillarSpawnPointXZ(x, z)​

  • Description: Appends a spawn point (x, z) to the internal list; used to record where pillars should be respawned later.
  • Parameters:
    • x (number) — X coordinate.
    • z (number) — Z coordinate.
  • Returns: Nothing.

RespawnAllPillars()​

  • Description: Iterates over all recorded spawn points and spawns pillars at each, in FIFO order.
  • Parameters: None.
  • Returns: Nothing.

CollapseAllPillars()​

  • Description: Invokes the configured collapsefn for each tracked pillar, without removing it from tracking.
  • Parameters: None.
  • Returns: Nothing.

Clear()​

  • Description: Removes all tracked pillars (including calling Remove on them) and clears spawn points.
  • Parameters: None.
  • Returns: Nothing.

HasPillars()​

  • Description: Reports whether any pillars are currently tracked.
  • Parameters: None.
  • Returns: boolean — true if pillars is non-empty, otherwise false.

HasSpawnPoints()​

  • Description: Reports whether any spawn points have been recorded.
  • Parameters: None.
  • Returns: boolean — true if spawnpts is non-empty, otherwise false.

OnSave()​

  • Description: Serializes the group state for world saving. Returns a table containing saved spawn points and a list of pillar GUIDs.
  • Parameters: None.
  • Returns:
    • data (table|nil) — contains { pts = shallowcopy(spawnpts) } and optionally { ents = { guid1, guid2, ... } }.
    • refs (table|nil) — identical to data.ents if present, otherwise nil. (This appears to be a duplicate return for convenience in DST’s save system.)

OnLoad(data)​

  • Description: Restores the recorded spawn points during world load.
  • Parameters: data (table) — containing { pts = {...} }.
  • Returns: Nothing.

LoadPostPass(ents, data)​

  • Description: Re-establishes pillar tracking after world entities are resolved during load. Retrieves each pillar by GUID and calls StartTrackingPillar.
  • Parameters:
    • ents (table) — GUID → entity map provided by DST’s loader.
    • data (table) — the deserialized save data, expected to contain data.ents.
  • Returns: Nothing.

Events & listeners​

  • Listens to: onremove — registered per-tracked pillar to detect when a pillar is destroyed, which triggers removal from pillars, respawning of its spawn point, and optional callbacks.
  • Pushes: No events directly; relies on external callbacks and DST’s entity lifecycle.