Uniqueprefabids

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

Overview

UniquePrefabIDs maintains a per-prefab instance counter to assign unique, incrementing numeric IDs to newly spawned entities of the same prefab type. This is critical for disambiguating multiple instances (e.g., multiple "rock" prefabs in a level) where a simple prefab name is insufficient. It integrates with DST’s save/load system via OnSave and OnLoad, ensuring ID continuity across game sessions.

Usage example

local inst = CreateEntity()
inst:AddComponent("uniqueprefabids")

-- Assign a unique ID for "rock" prefabs
local id = inst.components.uniqueprefabids:GetNextID("rock")
-- id == 1 on first call, 2 on next, etc.

-- Save/load support
local savedata = inst.components.uniqueprefabids:OnSave()
inst.components.uniqueprefabids:OnLoad(savedata)

Dependencies & tags

Components used: None identified
Tags: None identified

Properties

Property	Type	Default Value	Description
topprefabids	table	{}	Dictionary mapping prefabname → next unique ID counter value.

Main functions

GetNextID(prefabname)

• Description: Returns the next sequential numeric ID for the given prefabname, incrementing the internal counter.
• Parameters: prefabname (string) — the name of the prefab (e.g., "rock", "spider").
• Returns: (number) — the assigned unique ID for this prefab instance.
• Error states: Returns 1 on the first call for a new prefabname; increments by 1 on subsequent calls.

OnSave()

• Description: Serializes the internal ID counters for saving to disk.
• Parameters: None.
• Returns: (table) — a table with key topprefabids containing the current state of the counter map.

OnLoad(data)

• Description: Restores the internal ID counters from saved data, ensuring continued ID sequencing after a reload.
• Parameters: data (table) — the saved data table, expected to contain data.topprefabids.
• Returns: Nothing.
• Error states: Safely defaults topprefabids to {} if missing in data.

GetDebugString()

• Description: Returns a human-readable string listing all tracked prefab IDs and their current counter values.
• Parameters: None.
• Returns: (string) — formatted as "prefab1: 2 prefab2: 5 ".

Events & listeners

None identified