Ash

Based on game build 714014 | Last updated: 2026-03-04

Overview

ash is a lightweight, stackable item prefab representing leftover burnt remains (e.g., from cooking or fire damage). It appears on the ground and automatically begins disappearing after a short delay. It can be used as bait for moles, eaten for modest nutritional value (as burnt food), traded, or interacted with as a hauntable object (haunting the player who interacts with it). Its behavior is coordinated through multiple components including disappears, edible, hauntable, bait, and named.

Usage example

-- Spawn an ash item at position (x, y, z)
local ash = SpawnPrefab("ash")
ash.Transform:SetPosition(x, y, z)

-- Customize stack size (note: named state is reset for stacks > 1)
ash.components.stackable:SetSize(5)

-- Manually trigger hauntable behavior (e.g., via player interaction)
ash.components.hauntable:TriggerHaunt(someplayer)

Dependencies & tags

Components used: disappears, stackable, inspectable, inventoryitem, named, bait, edible, tradable, hauntable, snowmandecor
Tags added: molebait, ashes
Tags removed (in master simulation only): _named (temporary optimization tag)

Properties

Property	Type	Default Value	Description
anim (via disappears)	string	"disappear"	Animation played when disappearing.
sound (via disappears)	string	"dontstarve/common/dust_blowaway"	Sound played during disappearance.
maxsize (via stackable)	number	TUNING.STACK_SIZE_SMALLITEM	Maximum stack size.
foodtype (via edible)	FOODTYPE enum	FOODTYPE.BURNT	Food classification, affects spoilage and effects.
healthvalue (via edible)	number	20	Health restored on consumption.
hungervalue (via edible)	number	20	Hunger restored on consumption.
nameformat (via named)	string	STRINGS.NAMES.ASH_REMAINS	Format string used for naming (typically a lookup key).
cooldown_on_successful_haunt (via hauntable)	boolean	false	Whether haunter goes on cooldown after successful haunt.
usefx (via hauntable)	boolean	false	Whether to show visual effects on haunt.
hauntvalue (via hauntable)	number	TUNING.HAUNT_TINY	Base haunt value (determines haunt difficulty).

Main functions

GetStatus(inst)

• Description: Returns a localization key string if the ash has a custom name (i.e., inst.components.named.name is non-nil), otherwise nil. Used by the inspectable component to display special status text.
• Parameters: inst (Entity) — the ash entity instance.
• Returns: string? — localization key (e.g., "REMAINS_MOLE"), or nil.
• Error states: Uses string.gsub safely; no known failure modes.

OnPickup(inst)

• Description: Cancels the scheduled disappearance of the ash when it is picked up by a player.
• Parameters: inst (Entity) — the ash entity instance.
• Returns: Nothing.

OnStackSizeChange(inst, data)

• Description: Resets any custom name when the stack size increases above 1 (since names only apply to single items).
• Parameters:
  • inst (Entity) — the ash entity instance.
  • data (table) — event data, expected to contain data.stacksize (number).
• Returns: Nothing.

OnDropped(inst)

• Description: Initiates disappearance timer when the ash is dropped.
• Parameters: inst (Entity) — the ash entity instance.
• Returns: Nothing.

OnHaunt(inst)

• Description: Handles haunt interaction: triggers immediate disappearance and signals successful haunt to the haunter.
• Parameters: inst (Entity) — the ash entity instance.
• Returns: true — indicates successful haunt (triggers haunter effects).
• Error states: None.

Events & listeners

• Listens to:
  • stacksizechange — calls OnStackSizeChange to reset name when stack size exceeds 1.
  • ondropped — calls OnDropped to start the disappearance timer.
• Pushes:
  • None directly. Relies on disappears and hauntable to fire their own events (e.g., animover for removal, haunt completion events).