Strafer

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

Overview

Strafer is a client-side component responsible for handling strafing input (left/right/diagonal movement with camera-relative aiming) and synchronizing the entity’s facing direction accordingly. It integrates with playercontroller to detect input state and with locomotor to update rotation and motor velocity when strafing begins or ends. This component is specifically designed for player entities and activates when strafing input is detected via controller or mouse.

Usage example

local inst = ThePlayer
inst:AddComponent("strafer")
-- Strafing is automatically handled via events:
inst:PushEvent("startstrafing")
-- ... (while moving and aiming) ...
inst:PushEvent("stopstrafing")

Dependencies & tags

Components used: playercontroller, locomotor Tags: Checks inst.player_classified.isstrafing on initialization.

Properties

Property	Type	Default Value	Description
inst	Entity	—	The entity instance the component is attached to.
ismastersim	boolean	TheWorld.ismastersim	Indicates whether this instance is running on the master simulation (server).
playercontroller	PlayerController	inst.components.playercontroller	Reference to the player controller component.
aiming	boolean	false	Whether strafing (aiming) is currently active.
lastdir	number or nil	nil	Cached last strafing direction (used to avoid redundant RPCs on non-master clients).

Main functions

IsAiming()

• Description: Returns whether the entity is currently in a strafing (aiming) state.
• Parameters: None.
• Returns: boolean — true if strafing is active, false otherwise.

OnUpdate(dt)

• Description: Per-frame update function that reads input (analog strafe controls for controllers or mouse world position for keyboard), computes the desired facing direction, and informs locomotor to update facing and velocity. On non-master clients, it sends the direction to the server via RPC.
• Parameters: dt (number) — Delta time in seconds.
• Returns: Nothing.
• Error states: Exits early without updating direction if:
  • Player controller is disabled and not HUD-blocking, or
  • The entity’s stategraph has the "busy" state tag.

OnRemoveFromEntity()

• Description: Cleanup function called when the component is removed from its entity. Ensures event listeners are unregistered and strafing is disabled in locomotor.
• Parameters: None.
• Returns: Nothing.

Events & listeners

• Listens to:
  • "startstrafing" — Triggered externally to begin strafing (e.g., by holding right stick or Ctrl+arrow keys).
  • "stopstrafing" — Triggered externally to stop strafing (e.g., input released).
• Pushes: None.

<!-- Note: RPC call RPC.StrafeFacing is sent to server but is not an event handled by this component directly. -->