Groundshadowhandler

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

Overview

GroundShadowHandler is a client-side component that creates and maintains a dynamic ground shadow entity beneath its host. The shadow scales and repositions in real time based on the host entity’s vertical position (Y-axis), giving a sense of depth and height variation relative to the ground plane. It is typically attached to prefabs that require visually grounded shadowing without complex physics or server-side replication.

Usage example

local inst = CreateEntity()
inst:AddComponent("groundshadowhandler")
inst.components.groundshadowhandler:SetSize(2.0, 1.5)

Dependencies & tags

Components used: None identified
Tags: Creates and manages a shadow entity with tags: FX, CLASSIFIED, NOCLICK, NOBLOCK. Does not modify host entity tags.

Properties

Property	Type	Default Value	Description
inst	Entity	(passed to constructor)	The entity to which this component is attached.
ground_shadow	Entity or nil	nil	The shadow entity instance, created via groundshadowprefabfn.
original_width	number	0	Stored width of the shadow before dynamic scaling.
original_height	number	0	Stored height of the shadow before dynamic scaling.

Main functions

SetSize(width, height)

• Description: Sets the base dimensions of the shadow and configures the underlying DynamicShadow component.
• Parameters:
  width (number) — base horizontal width of the shadow.
  height (number) — base vertical height of the shadow.
• Returns: Nothing.
• Error states: If the shadow entity has been removed (ground_shadow == nil), calling this function has no effect.

OnUpdate(dt)

• Description: Called each frame to update the shadow’s position and scale. Moves the shadow directly under the host entity (at Y = 0) and scales it inversely with the host’s height above ground.
• Parameters:
  dt (number) — delta time in seconds since last frame (unused directly, but passed for consistency).
• Returns: Nothing.
• Error states: Exits early if ground_shadow is nil or the host entity is no longer valid.

Events & listeners

• Listens to: None identified
• Pushes: None identified