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Eater

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

Overview​

The Eater component governs how an entity consumes food, including which foods it can eat, dietary preferences, and the magnitude of nutritional benefits or penalties. It is typically added to characters, creatures, and entities capable of eating. The component integrates with edible, health, hunger, sanity, perishable, foodaffinity, and foodmemory components to compute precise stat changes during consumption. Tag management is used internally to indicate compatibility with specific food types (e.g., rawmeat_eater, spoiled_eater).

Usage example​

local inst = CreateEntity()
inst:AddComponent("eater")
inst.components.eater:SetDiet({ FOODGROUP.OMNI }, { FOODGROUP.OMNI })
inst.components.eater:SetStrongStomach(true)
inst.components.eater:SetIgnoresSpoilage(true)
inst.components.eater:SetCanEatRaw()

Dependencies & tags​

Components used: edible, health, hunger, sanity, perishable, foodaffinity, foodmemory, inventoryitem, container, rideable
Tags: Adds/removes food-type tags dynamically (e.g., "edible_"..v, "strongstomach", "eatsrawmeat", "ignoresspoilage", "nospoiledfood", "<type>_eater"); checks "spoiled", "monstermeat", "rawmeat" on food items.

Properties​

PropertyTypeDefault ValueDescription
eaterbooleanfalseFlag indicating the entity is capable of eating.
strongstomachbooleanfalseWhether the entity can safely consume Monster Meat without sanity loss.
preferseatingtable{ FOODGROUP.OMNI }List of preferred food groups/Types the entity likes to eat.
caneattable{ FOODGROUP.OMNI }List of food groups/Types the entity is physically capable of eating.
ignoresspoilagebooleanfalseWhether spoilage effects are ignored on food (perishable only).
eatwholestackbooleanfalseWhether the entire stack is consumed at once.
eatsrawmeatbooleanfalseWhether the entity can eat raw meat without penalty.
nospoiledfoodbooleanfalseWhether the entity refuses to eat spoiled food.
healthabsorptionnumber1Multiplier applied to health values gained from food.
hungerabsorptionnumber1Multiplier applied to hunger values gained from food.
sanityabsorptionnumber1Multiplier applied to sanity values gained from food.
lasteattimenumber?nilTimestamp of the last time the entity ate.

Main functions​

SetDiet(caneat, preferseating)​

  • Description: Configures what food types the entity can eat (caneat) and prefers to eat (preferseating). Calls oncaneat to manage associated tags.
  • Parameters: caneat (table) - list of edible food groups/Types; preferseating (table?) - list of preferred food groups/Types, defaults to caneat if nil.
  • Returns: Nothing.

SetAbsorptionModifiers(health, hunger, sanity)​

  • Description: Sets absorption multipliers for stat gains from consumed food.
  • Parameters: health (number), hunger (number), sanity (number) - multipliers (e.g., 0.5 for half effect, 2 for double).
  • Returns: Nothing.

TimeSinceLastEating()​

  • Description: Returns how many seconds have passed since the entity last ate.
  • Parameters: None.
  • Returns: number - seconds elapsed, or nil if never eaten.

HasBeen(time)​

  • Description: Checks if enough time has elapsed since the last eating event.
  • Parameters: time (number) - threshold in seconds.
  • Returns: boolean - true if lasteattime is nil or elapsed time ≥ time.

OnSave()​

  • Description: Serialization helper for saving state.
  • Parameters: None.
  • Returns: table? - { time_since_eat = <seconds> } if lasteattime exists, else nil.

OnLoad(data)​

  • Description: Deserialization helper for restoring state after loading.
  • Parameters: data (table) - must contain time_since_eat (number) to restore lasteattime.
  • Returns: Nothing.

SetCanEatHorrible()​

  • Description: Grants the entity the ability to eat HORRIBLE-type food and updates related tags.
  • Parameters: None.
  • Returns: Nothing.

SetCanEatGears()​

  • Description: Grants the entity the ability to eat GEARS-type food and updates related tags.
  • Parameters: None.
  • Returns: Nothing.

SetCanEatNitre(can_eat)​

  • Description: Enables or disables ability to eat NITRE-type food.
  • Parameters: can_eat (boolean) - whether the entity can now eat Nitre.
  • Returns: Nothing.

SetCanEatRaw()​

  • Description: Grants the entity the ability to eat raw food items.
  • Parameters: None.
  • Returns: Nothing.

SetStrongStomach(is_strong)​

  • Description: Enables/disables strong stomach status, allowing consumption of Monster Meat without sanity loss.
  • Parameters: is_strong (boolean).
  • Returns: Nothing.

SetCanEatRawMeat(can_eat)​

  • Description: Enables/disables eating raw meat without associated penalties.
  • Parameters: can_eat (boolean).
  • Returns: Nothing.

SetIgnoresSpoilage(ignores)​

  • Description: Enables/disables ignoring of spoilage effects on food.
  • Parameters: ignores (boolean).
  • Returns: Nothing.

SetRefusesSpoiledFood(refuses)​

  • Description: Enables/disables refusal to eat spoiled food (overrides default behavior).
  • Parameters: refuses (boolean).
  • Returns: Nothing.

SetOnEatFn(fn)​

  • Description: Sets a custom callback function triggered immediately after food consumption logic completes.
  • Parameters: fn (function) - signature: fn(eater_entity, food, feeder_entity).
  • Returns: Nothing.

DoFoodEffects(food)​

  • Description: Determines whether food-specific exceptions apply (e.g., Monster Meat is safe if strongstomach, raw meat safe if eatsrawmeat, or food affinity matches).
  • Parameters: food (Entity) - the food item being evaluated.
  • Returns: boolean - true if the food’s “bad” effects should still be applied, false otherwise.

GetEdibleTags()​

  • Description: Returns a list of tags indicating which food categories the entity can eat (e.g., {"edible_OMNI", "edible_RAWMEAT"}).
  • Parameters: None.
  • Returns: table - list of string tags.

Eat(food, feeder)​

  • Description: Consumes the given food item, applying health, hunger, and sanity changes. Handles stack consumption, food memory, and custom callbacks.
  • Parameters: food (Entity) - the food to eat; feeder (Entity?) - the entity feeding or acting on behalf of the eater (defaults to self.inst).
  • Returns: boolean - true if food was eaten (i.e., PrefersToEat(food) passed), else nil.
  • Error states: Returns nil if PrefersToEat returns false; early exits if no consumable stat changes are possible.

TestFood(food, testvalues)​

  • Description: Internal helper to check if a food item matches any of the specified edible food types or groups.
  • Parameters: food (Entity?) - food item to test; testvalues (table) - list of food types/groups (e.g., self.preferseating).
  • Returns: boolean - true if food contains a matching "edible_<type>" tag.

PrefersToEat(food)​

  • Description: Checks if the entity prefers to eat the food (includes tag, spoilage, and diet checks).
  • Parameters: food (Entity) - food item.
  • Returns: boolean - true if the entity prefers to eat the food.
  • Error states: Returns false for "winter_food4" (fruitcake) on players; returns false if food is spoiled and nospoiledfood is set; returns false if preferseatingtags are defined and food lacks them.

CanEat(food)​

  • Description: Checks if the entity is physically capable of eating the food, ignoring preference or spoilage.
  • Parameters: food (Entity) - food item.
  • Returns: boolean - true if food is within the caneat list.

Events & listeners​

  • Listens to: None (no event registration via inst:ListenForEvent in this component).
  • Pushes: "oneat" (after consumption succeeds) with { food = food, feeder = feeder }; "feedincontainer" (to feeder if eating from a container); "feedmount" (to feeder if eating as a mount).
  • Listeners on food: Not directly registered, but calls food.components.edible:OnEaten() and food.components.edible:HandleEatRemove().