Playercontroller

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

Overview

The PlayerController component provides unified input handling and action coordination for the player entity in DST. It processes keyboard, mouse, and controller inputs on both client and server, manages state prediction for movement and actions, handles placement of structures/items via reticules and placers, supports targeting systems (including lock-on and cycling), orchestrates attack sequences and AOE charging/targeting, and synchronizes remote control state across networked clients. It acts as the central hub for player interaction by routing inputs to appropriate action buffers, coordinating with locomotor for movement prediction, and interfacing with inventory, combat, and builder subsystems.

Usage example

local player = ThePlayer
if not player:AddComponent("playercontroller") then
    return
end

-- Activate input handling
player.components.playercontroller:Activate()

-- Manually trigger an action
player.components.playercontroller.DoActionButton(player.components.playercontroller)

-- Enable map controls
player.components.playercontroller:EnableMapControls(true)

-- Toggle target locking (controller only)
if player.components.playercontroller:CanLockTargets() then
    player.components.playercontroller:ControllerTargetLockToggle()
end

Dependencies & tags

Components used:

inventory, combat, builder, equippable, health, rider, revivablecorpse, playeravatardata, aoetargeting, steeringwheeluser, embarker, spellbook, highlight, walkableplatform, predictwalkable, playeractionpicker, player_classified
locomotor (via self.locomotor)
Global systems: TheInput, TheSim, TheWorld, TheFrontEnd, TheCamera, Profile, TheScrapbookPartitions, RPC

Tags:
"pausepredict", "canrepeatcast", "busy", "playerghost", "weregoose", "turfhat", "action_pulls_up_map", "hostile", "stealth", "heavy", "fire", "lighter", "catchable", "spider", "INLIMBO", "NOCLICK", "DECOR", "pickable", "harvestable", "readyforharvest", "minesprung", "inactive", "wall", "inventoryitemholder_take", "unsaddler", "saddled", "brush", "brushable", "revivablecorpse", "corpse", "gestaltcapturable", "moonstormstaticcapturable", "pinned", "tapped_harvestable", "tendable_farmplant", "dried", "donecooking", "LunarBuildup", "smolder", "inspectable", "usingmagiciantool", "fueldepleted", "client_forward_action_target", "buoyant", "mermthrone", "merm", "crabking_claw", "bundle", "hasfurnituredecoritem", "portal", "fishable", "cancatch", "warpdoor", "pocketdimension_container", "magiciantool", "mapaction_works_on_unexplored", "locomotor"

Properties

Property	Type	Default Value	Description
`inst`	`Entity`	—	The entity that owns this component (typically `ThePlayer`).
`map`	`World`	—	Reference to the current world map (cached at init).
`ismastersim`	`boolean`	—	True if this node is authoritative for simulation (server or local player).
`locomotor`	`locomotor`	—	Reference to the player's locomotor component for movement/action buffering.
`_hasitemslots`	`boolean`	—	Cached inventory slot presence (updated by `CacheHasItemSlots`).
`handler`	`handler` or `nil`	`nil`	Active handler (e.g., UI overlay) that blocks default input.
`controller_target`	`Entity` or `nil`	`nil`	Current interaction target for controller (non-combat).
`controller_attack_target`	`Entity` or `nil`	`nil`	Current attack target for controller.
`controller_attack_target_ally_cd`	`number`	`0`	Ally attack cooldown timer.
`controller_targeting_lock_available`	`boolean`	—	Whether locking is available (state dependant).
`controller_targeting_lock_target`	`boolean`	—	Whether target lock is enabled.
`controller_targeting_targets`	`table`	—	List of valid entities for lock cycling.
`controller_targeting_target_index`	`number`	`0`	Current index in cycling list.
`remote_vector`	`Vector3`	`{x=0,y=0,z=0}`	Encodes remote walking mode (`y` flag) and target direction/position.
`remote_predict_dir`	`Vector3` or `nil`	`nil`	Direction for prediction override.
`remote_predict_stop_tick`	`number` or `nil`	`nil`	Tick at which prediction walking should stop.
`client_last_predict_walk`	`number` or `nil`	`nil`	Last predict walk tick on client.
`remote_controls`	`table`	`{}`	Map of active control IDs to remaining cooldowns.
`remote_predicting`	`boolean`	—	Whether prediction is in effect.
`remote_authority`	`boolean`	—	True if remote input has authority (e.g., console client).
`mousetimeout`	`number`	`0`	Time until mouse input can be processed.
`placer`, `deployplacer`	`Entity` or `nil`	`nil`	Active placement preview entity.
`placer_recipe`, `placer_recipe_skin`	`string`	—	Recipe/skin used for current placement.
`reticule`	`Entity` or `nil`	—	Reticule entity for targeting/placement visuals.
`terraformer`	`Entity` or `nil`	—	Terraformer preview entity.
`deploy_mode`, `deploy_mode`	`boolean`	—	True if deploy mode is active.
`classified`	`player_classified` or `nil`	`nil`	Client-side state classification for UI/networking.
`is_map_enabled`	`boolean`	—	Whether map controls are enabled (server only).
`can_use_map`	`boolean`	—	Whether map can be used (client/server sync).
`_clearinteractiontarget`	`function` or `nil`	—	Client-side cleanup function for interaction target.
`LMBaction`, `RMBaction`	`action` or `nil`	—	Cached LMB and RMB actions (used for map UI).

Main functions