Dryer

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

Overview

Dryer manages the transformation of a "dryable" ingredient into a preserved product (e.g., jerky from meat), simulating drying time and environmental sensitivity to rain. It interacts with dryable, perishable, edible, inventory, inventoryitem, and rainimmunity components to control drying progression, spoilage upon interruption, and item inheritance of moisture. The component is typically attached to entities like the Drying Rack or dehydrator devices that serve as drying stations.

Usage example

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

-- Attach to an entity that holds dryable ingredients (e.g., a rack)
local dryable_item = GetDryableIngredient() -- Assume this returns an entity with dryable component
inst.components.dryer:SetStartDryingFn(function(entity) print("Drying started!") end)
inst.components.dryer:SetDoneDryingFn(function(entity, product) print("Drying finished!") end)
inst.components.dryer:StartDrying(dryable_item)

Dependencies & tags

Components used: dryable, perishable, edible, inventory, inventoryitem, rainimmunity
Tags: Adds/Removes dried, drying, candry based on state.

Properties

Property	Type	Default Value	Description
ingredient	string or nil	nil	Prefab name of the current drying ingredient.
product	string or nil	nil	Prefab name of the resulting dried product.
buildfile	string or nil	nil	Networked build filename of the ingredient.
dried_buildfile	string or nil	nil	Networked build filename of the product.
foodtype	FOODTYPE enum or nil	nil	Food type of the product, inherited from the ingredient.
remainingtime	number or nil	nil	Time remaining for current phase (drying or spoilage).
tasktotime	number or nil	nil	Absolute world time when the current phase ends.
task	Task or nil	nil	Task handle for timer events.
onstartdrying	function or nil	nil	Callback invoked when drying starts.
ondonedrying	function or nil	nil	Callback invoked when drying completes.
onharvest	function or nil	nil	Callback invoked when item is harvested.
protectedfromrain	boolean or nil	nil	If true, disables rain sensitivity.
watchingrain	boolean or nil	nil	Whether the component listens to rain state.
ingredientperish	number	100 (default override)	Perish percentage of ingredient at start.

Main functions

CanDry(dryable)

• Description: Checks whether this dryer can accept a dryable item for processing. Requires no active product and a valid dryable component.
• Parameters: dryable (Entity or nil) – Entity to be dried.
• Returns: true if drying can begin, otherwise false.

StartDrying(dryable)

• Description: Begins the drying process for a valid dryable item. Removes the ingredient from the world, initializes state, and starts the drying timer. Handles rain exposure.
• Parameters: dryable (Entity) – Entity with a dryable component to process.
• Returns: true if drying started successfully, otherwise false.
• Error states: Returns false and clears state if ingredient/product/remaining time is nil after read.

StopDrying(reason)

• Description: Interrupts drying and spawns a result based on reason. If "fire", spawns the product. Otherwise, either finalizes drying (if ingredient still present) or triggers spoilage.
• Parameters: reason (string) – One of "fire" or other (e.g., "manual").
• Returns: Nothing.

Harvest(harvester)

• Description: Transfers the dried product into the harvester’s inventory and finalizes the drying cycle.
• Parameters: harvester (Entity or nil) – Entity with inventory component to receive item.
• Returns: true if harvest succeeded, otherwise false.
• Error states: Returns false if not IsDone(), or harvester is nil / lacks inventory.

DropItem()

• Description: Spawns a loose item (ingredient or product, depending on state) into the world at the dryer’s position, preserving partial progress (perish percentage).
• Parameters: None.
• Returns: true.

Pause()

• Description: Pauses the current phase (drying or spoilage) by canceling active tasks and saving remaining time as remainingtime.
• Parameters: None.
• Returns: Nothing.

Resume()

• Description: Restarts a paused phase by rescheduling a task to complete in remainingtime seconds.
• Parameters: None.
• Returns: Nothing.

GetTimeToDry()

• Description: Returns time remaining until drying completes (only meaningful while drying).
• Parameters: None.
• Returns: number – Time in seconds; 0 if not drying.

GetTimeToSpoil()

• Description: Returns time remaining until spoilage (only meaningful when dried/paused).
• Parameters: None.
• Returns: number – Time in seconds; 0 if no spoilage pending.

GetDebugString()

• Description: Returns a human-readable debug string describing current state and timing.
• Parameters: None.
• Returns: string – e.g., "DRYING beef_jerky generic PAUSED drytime: 10.50 spoiltime: 0.00".

OnSave()

• Description: Returns a serializable table of persistent state for saving. Only includes data if drying or product exists.
• Parameters: None.
• Returns: table or nil.

OnLoad(data)

• Description: Restores state from save data, resumes timer, and invokes appropriate callbacks.
• Parameters: data (table) – Save data payload.
• Returns: Nothing.

LongUpdate(dt)

• Description: Called during world updates; handles long-duration timers when paused (e.g., server-side updates). Not used for precise client timing.
• Parameters: dt (number) – Delta time in seconds.
• Returns: Nothing.

Events & listeners

• Listens to:
  • "israining" (world state) – triggers Pause/Resume based on rain state.
  • "gainrainimmunity" – resumes drying if rain immunity is gained.
  • "loserainimmunity" – pauses if vulnerable to rain and it is raining.
• Pushes: None directly (callbacks like onstartdrying, ondonedrying, onharvest are invoked inline, not as events).