Eater

Based on game build 722832 | Last updated: 2026-04-21

Overview

Eater defines what an entity can consume, tracks eating history, and applies health, hunger, and sanity effects from food items. It works alongside edible, health, hunger, and sanity components to process food consumption. The component manages diet restrictions, spoilage handling, and absorption modifiers for different character types.

Usage example

local inst = CreateEntity()
inst:AddComponent("eater")
inst.components.eater:SetDiet({ FOODGROUP.MEAT }, { FOODGROUP.MEAT })
inst.components.eater:SetAbsorptionModifiers(1.5, 1.0, 0.5)
inst.components.eater:SetStrongStomach(true)

-- Check if entity can eat a food item
if inst.components.eater:CanEat(food) then
    inst.components.eater:Eat(food)
end

Dependencies & tags

Components used:

• edible -- reads food stats via GetHealth, GetHunger, GetSanity, GetStackMultiplier, HandleEatRemove, OnEaten
• health -- applies health delta via DoDelta
• hunger -- applies hunger delta via DoDelta
• sanity -- applies sanity delta via DoDelta
• foodmemory -- tracks eaten foods via GetFoodMultiplier, RememberFood
• foodaffinity -- checks food preferences via HasPrefabAffinity
• perishable -- checks spoilage state via IsSpoiled
• inventoryitem -- gets grand owner via GetGrandOwner
• container -- checks if opened by feeder via IsOpenedBy
• rideable -- gets rider via GetRider
• playercontroller -- gets remote interaction via GetRemoteInteraction

Tags:

• {foodtype}_eater -- added/removed based on caneat diet (e.g., omni_eater, meat_eater)
• strongstomach -- added when strong stomach enabled
• eatsrawmeat -- added when raw meat eating enabled
• ignoresspoilage -- added when spoilage ignoring enabled
• nospoiledfood -- added when spoiled food refusal enabled
• spoiledprocessor -- added when entity can process spoiled items
• allspoiledprocessor -- added when entity processes all spoiled perishables

Properties

Property	Type	Default Value	Description
inst	entity	nil	The entity instance that owns this component.
eater	boolean	false	Whether this entity is an eater (legacy flag).
strongstomach	boolean	false	Whether the entity has a strong stomach for monster meat.
preferseating	table	{ FOODGROUP.OMNI }	List of food groups the entity prefers to eat.
caneat	table	{ FOODGROUP.OMNI }	List of food groups the entity can eat.
oneatfn	function	nil	Callback function called when entity eats food.
lasteattime	number	nil	Timestamp of the last time the entity ate.
ignoresspoilage	boolean	false	Whether the entity ignores food spoilage penalties.
eatwholestack	boolean	false	Whether the entity consumes entire food stacks at once.
healthabsorption	number	1	Multiplier for health gained from food.
hungerabsorption	number	1	Multiplier for hunger gained from food.
sanityabsorption	number	1	Multiplier for sanity gained from food.
spoiledprocessor	boolean	nil	Whether the entity can process spoiled food items.
allspoiledprocessor	boolean	nil	Whether the entity processes all spoiled perishables, not just rot.
eatsrawmeat	boolean	nil	Whether the entity can eat raw meat without penalties.
nospoiledfood	boolean	nil	Whether the entity refuses spoiled food.
preferseatingtags	table	nil	List of tags that food must have to be preferred.
cacheedibletags	table/boolean	nil	Cached edible tags, or false to disable caching.

Main functions

OnRemoveFromEntity()

• Description: Cleans up eater tags when the component is removed from the entity. Called automatically by the engine.
• Parameters: None
• Returns: None
• Error states: None

SetDiet(caneat, preferseating)

• Description: Sets the diet for the entity, defining what food groups can be eaten and which are preferred.
• Parameters:
  • caneat -- table of food groups the entity can eat
  • preferseating -- table of preferred food groups (defaults to caneat if nil)
• Returns: None
• Error states: None

SetAbsorptionModifiers(health, hunger, sanity)

• Description: Sets absorption rate multipliers for health, hunger, and sanity gained from food.
• Parameters:
  • health -- number multiplier for health absorption
  • hunger -- number multiplier for hunger absorption
  • sanity -- number multiplier for sanity absorption
• Returns: None
• Error states: None

TimeSinceLastEating()

• Description: Returns the time elapsed since the entity last ate food.
• Parameters: None
• Returns: Number representing seconds since last eating, or nil if never ate.
• Error states: None

HasBeen(time)

• Description: Checks if enough time has passed since the entity last ate.
• Parameters: time -- number of seconds to check against
• Returns: true if entity never ate or time since eating >= time, otherwise false.
• Error states: None

OnSave()

• Description: Serializes the eater state for save data.
• Parameters: None
• Returns: Table with time_since_eat if lasteattime is set, otherwise nil.
• Error states: None

OnLoad(data)

• Description: Deserializes the eater state from save data.
• Parameters: data -- table containing time_since_eat from save
• Returns: None
• Error states: None

SetCanEatHorrible()

• Description: Enables the entity to eat horrible food type (e.g., monster meat for certain characters).
• Parameters: None
• Returns: None
• Error states: None

SetCanEatGears()

• Description: Enables the entity to eat gears (e.g., WX-78 character).
• Parameters: None
• Returns: None
• Error states: None

SetCanEatNitre(can_eat)

• Description: Enables or disables the entity's ability to eat nitre.
• Parameters: can_eat -- boolean to enable or disable nitre eating
• Returns: None
• Error states: None

SetCanEatRaw()

• Description: Enables the entity to eat raw food type.
• Parameters: None
• Returns: None
• Error states: None

SetPrefersEatingTag(tag)

• Description: Adds a tag that food must have to be preferred by this entity.
• Parameters: tag -- string tag that preferred food must have
• Returns: None
• Error states: None

SetStrongStomach(is_strong)

• Description: Enables or disables strong stomach, allowing consumption of monster meat without penalties.
• Parameters: is_strong -- boolean to enable or disable strong stomach
• Returns: None
• Error states: None

SetCanEatRawMeat(can_eat)

• Description: Enables or disables the entity's ability to eat raw meat without negative effects.
• Parameters: can_eat -- boolean to enable or disable raw meat eating
• Returns: None
• Error states: None

SetIgnoresSpoilage(ignores)

• Description: Enables or disables ignoring food spoilage penalties.
• Parameters: ignores -- boolean to enable or disable spoilage ignoring
• Returns: None
• Error states: None

SetRefusesSpoiledFood(refuses)

• Description: Enables or disables refusal of spoiled food items.
• Parameters: refuses -- boolean to enable or disable spoiled food refusal
• Returns: None
• Error states: None

SetSpoiledProcessor(processor, allspoiled)

• Description: Sets the entity as a processor of spoiled food items (e.g., pigs eating rot).
• Parameters:
  • processor -- boolean to enable or disable spoiled processing
  • allspoiled -- boolean to process all spoiled perishables, not just rot
• Returns: None
• Error states: None

IsSpoiledProcessor()

• Description: Checks if the entity is a spoiled food processor.
• Parameters: None
• Returns: true if entity is a spoiled processor, otherwise false.
• Error states: None

CanProcessSpoiledItem(food)

• Description: Checks if the entity can process a specific spoiled food item.
• Parameters: food -- entity instance of the food item
• Returns: true if entity is a spoiled processor and food is spoiled, otherwise false.
• Error states: Errors if food has no edible component (nil dereference on food.components.edible — no guard present).

SetOnEatFn(fn)

• Description: Sets a callback function to be called when the entity eats food.
• Parameters: fn -- function with signature fn(inst, food, feeder)
• Returns: None
• Error states: None

DoFoodEffects(food)

• Description: Determines if food effects (health/hunger/sanity) should apply based on entity's diet restrictions.
• Parameters: food -- entity instance of the food item
• Returns: true if effects should apply, false if entity has immunity (strong stomach, raw meat eater, or food affinity).
• Error states: None

GetEdibleTags()

• Description: Returns a list of edible tags based on the entity's diet for targeting purposes.
• Parameters: None
• Returns: Table of tag strings (e.g., edible_omni, edible_meat).
• Error states: None

Eat(food, feeder)

• Description: Consumes a food item, applying health, hunger, and sanity effects based on the entity's diet and absorption modifiers.
• Parameters:
  • food -- entity instance of the food item to eat
  • feeder -- entity instance feeding this entity (defaults to self.inst)
• Returns: true if food was eaten successfully, false if entity does not prefer to eat the food.
• Error states: Errors if food has no edible component (nil dereference on food.components.edible — no guard present).

TestFood(food, testvalues)

• Description: Tests if a food item matches a list of food groups or types.
• Parameters:
  • food -- entity instance of the food item
  • testvalues -- table of food groups or types to test against
• Returns: true if food matches any test value, otherwise false.
• Error states: None

PrefersToEat(food)

• Description: Checks if the entity prefers to eat a specific food item based on diet, spoilage, and tag preferences.
• Parameters: food -- entity instance of the food item
• Returns: true if entity prefers to eat the food, otherwise false.
• Error states: Errors if food has no perishable component when nospoiledfood is enabled (nil dereference on food.components.perishable — no guard present).

CanEat(food)

• Description: Checks if the entity can eat a specific food item based on its diet.
• Parameters: food -- entity instance of the food item
• Returns: true if entity can eat the food, otherwise false.
• Error states: None

IsTryingToFeedMe(inst)

• Description: Checks if another entity is attempting to feed this entity via buffered action or remote interaction.
• Parameters: inst -- entity instance to check for feeding action
• Returns: true if inst is trying to feed this entity, otherwise false.
• Error states: None

Events & listeners

• Pushes: oneat - fired when entity eats food (data: { food, feeder })
• Pushes: feedincontainer - fired when feeding occurs through a container
• Pushes: feedmount - fired when feeding a mount (data: { food, eater })