Worldcharacterselectlobby

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

Overview

Worldcharacterselectlobby is a server-side and client-side component responsible for coordinating the character selection lobby and countdown before players spawn. On the master simulation (server), it tracks which players have selected their characters and are ready to start, initiates the countdown, manages match-starting state, and reports analytics events via lavaarenaanalytics or quagmireanalytics. On the client, it listens for countdown updates and broadcasts them to the UI. It integrates with TheNet to set match-starting flags and control new player connections.

Usage example

local inst = TheWorld
if inst.components.worldcharacterselectlobby then
    local delay = inst.components.worldcharacterselectlobby:GetSpawnDelay()
    print("Spawn delay:", delay)
    if inst.components.worldcharacterselectlobby:IsServerLockedForShutdown() then
        print("Server locked for shutdown")
    end
end

Dependencies & tags

Components used: lavaarenaanalytics, quagmireanalytics Tags: None identified.

Properties

Property	Type	Default Value	Description
inst	Entity reference	nil	The entity (typically TheWorld) this component is attached to.
_countdowni	net_byte	COUNTDOWN_INACTIVE (255)	Network variable representing the current countdown value (seconds).
_lockedforshutdown	net_bool	false	Network variable indicating if the lobby is locked due to a pending server shutdown.
_players_ready_to_start	Array of net_string	Empty strings	Array of network strings, each holding a userid of a player who is ready to start; empty string means not ready.
_lobby_up_time	number	0	Timestamp (real seconds) when the lobby was first activated (on first client connect after server start).
_client_wait_time	Table<string, number>	{}	Maps userid to connection time (seconds) used for analytics.

Main functions

GetSpawnDelay()

• Description: Returns the current countdown delay in seconds, or -1 if the lobby is inactive (not counting down).
• Parameters: None.
• Returns: number — countdown value if active (>= 0), otherwise -1.
• Error states: None.

IsServerLockedForShutdown()

• Description: Checks whether the lobby is locked due to a pending server shutdown.
• Parameters: None.
• Returns: boolean — true if locked for shutdown, false otherwise.

IsPlayerReadyToStart(userid)

• Description: Checks whether a given player (by userid) has marked themselves as ready to start.
• Parameters: userid (string) — Unique identifier of the player.
• Returns: boolean — true if the player is ready, false otherwise.

OnPostInit()

• Description: (Master simulation only) Called after the component is initialized. If a deferred server shutdown has been requested, it immediately locks the lobby.
• Parameters: None.
• Returns: Nothing.

Dump()

• Description: Logs the current contents of _players_ready_to_start to the console for debugging.
• Parameters: None.
• Returns: Nothing.

CanPlayersSpawn()

• Description: Checks whether the countdown has completed and players may spawn.
• Parameters: None.
• Returns: boolean — true if countdown finished (_countdownf == 0), false otherwise.

IsAllowingCharacterSelect()

• Description: (Master simulation only) Determines if players are still allowed to select and set their lobby characters.
• Parameters: None.
• Returns: boolean — true if the countdown is inactive and lobby is not locked.

OnWallUpdate(dt)

• Description: Called during wall updates while counting down. Decrements the internal countdown (_countdownf) and syncs the network variable (_countdowni) if changed.
• Parameters: dt (number) — delta time in seconds.
• Returns: Nothing.

OnUpdate(dt)

• Description: Called after the countdown finishes. Monitors player connections; if all players have disconnected or someone has spawned, resets the match-starting state and stops updating.
• Parameters: dt (number) — delta time in seconds.
• Returns: Nothing.

Events & listeners

• Listens to:

  • spawncharacterdelaydirty (on all) — triggers OnCountdownDirty to sync countdown state to the client.
  • ms_requestedlobbycharacter (master only) — handles player character selection via OnRequestLobbyCharacter.
  • player_ready_to_start_dirty (master only) — triggers TryStartCountdown when a player toggles readiness.
  • ms_clientauthenticationcomplete (master only) — handles new client connections via OnLobbyClientConnected.
  • ms_clientdisconnected (master only) — handles client disconnects via OnLobbyClientDisconnected.

• Pushes:

  • lobbyplayerspawndelay (client) — broadcast whenever _countdowni changes, containing time (seconds) and active (bool). Used to drive UI countdown displays.