Incinerator

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

Overview

The Incinerator component enables an entity to incinerate (destroy) items in its associated container component when invoked. It supports custom filtering of which items to destroy, custom sound playback (prioritizing item-specific sounds over health.murdersound or murderable.murdersound), and firing game events—including onincinerated on the item and murdered/killed on the doer for living items. This component is typically attached to entities like firepits, fireplaces, or trash cans.

Usage example

local inst = CreateEntity()
inst:AddComponent("container")
inst:AddComponent("incinerator")

inst.components.incinerator:SetShouldIncinerateItemFn(function(_, item)
    return item:HasTag("organic") or item:HasTag("trash")
end)

inst.components.incinerator:SetOnIncinerateFn(function(inst)
    inst.SoundEmitter:PlaySound("dontstarve/common/sounds/fire_small")
    -- Visual FX or other logic here
end)

-- Later, when incineration is triggered:
inst.components.incinerator:Incinerate(player)

Dependencies & tags

Components used: container, health, murderable, stackable, combat
Tags: None added or removed directly.

Properties

Property	Type	Default Value	Description
onincineratefn	function	nil	Optional callback invoked once per incineration operation after container contents are destroyed.
shouldincinerateitemfn	function	nil	Optional predicate function (inst, item) → boolean to determine whether a given item should be destroyed. Defaults to true if unset.
incinerate_doer	Entity instance	nil (temporary)	Internal reference to the entity performing the incineration during the Incinerate() call. Set only for the duration of the operation.

Main functions

SetOnIncinerateFn(fn)

• Description: Sets a callback function to run after all qualifying items have been destroyed. Typically used for FX, sounds, or state changes on the incinerator entity itself.
• Parameters: fn (function) — receives the incinerator entity (inst) as its only argument.
• Returns: Nothing.

SetShouldIncinerateItemFn(fn)

• Description: Sets a predicate function used to decide whether a given item should be incinerated. If nil, all items in the container are incinerated.
• Parameters: fn (function) — function with signature (entity_inst, item_inst) → boolean.
• Returns: Nothing.

Incinerate(doer)

• Description: Destroys all items in the container that pass the shouldincinerateitemfn filter. Plays associated sounds and fires relevant events for each item. Reports success/failure depending on presence of a container component.
• Parameters: doer (Entity instance) — the entity performing the incineration; used for murdered/killed event data.
• Returns: true if the container existed and destruction began; false if no container component was present.
• Error states: Returns false if the entity lacks a container component; otherwise proceeds silently even if no items were destroyed.

ShouldIncinerateItem(item)

• Description: Evaluates whether a specific item should be incinerated, using the configured predicate or defaulting to true.
• Parameters: item (Entity instance) — the item to evaluate.
• Returns: true if the item should be incinerated; false otherwise.

Events & listeners

• Listens to: None (does not register event listeners).
• Pushes:
  • onincinerated — fired on each destroyed item; payload: {incinerator = inst, doer = doer}.
  • murdered — fired on the doer when incinerating an item with health or murderable components; payload: {victim = item, stackmult = stacksize, incinerated = true}.
  • killed — fired on the doer if the victim also has a combat component; payload: {victim = item, stackmult = stacksize, incinerated = true}.