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Miniflare

Based on game build 714014 | Last updated: 2026-03-06

Overview​

The miniflare prefab is a throwable inventory item that, when ignited, spawns a short-lived explosive light/fx effect, plays sound, updates the minimap with a temporary icon, triggers a HUD overlay for nearby players, and broadcasts a speech notification to nearby players. It is not persistent and does not save to world data.

The item is implemented as two separate prefabs:

  • miniflare: The held/dropped inventory item.
  • miniflare_minimap: A client-side visual marker for the explosion effect (visible only on the minimap).

Key interactions include integration with the burnable component (to trigger ignition), talker component (to announce detonation), and the minimap/HUD systems.

Usage example​

-- As a modder, to spawn a miniflare item in a player's inventory:
local flare = SpawnPrefab("miniflare")
player:AddItem(flare)

-- To ignite it programmatically (e.g., via an event or action):
flare:PushEvent("onignite", { source = some_source, doer = player })

Dependencies & tags​

Components used: burnable, propagator, talker, inventoryitem, tradable, inspectable, hauntablelaunch
Tags added: donotautopick (to prevent automatic pickup by AI)
Tags checked: None (only checks for tags on other entities in on_ignite via AllPlayers)

Properties​

No public properties are defined or documented in the constructor. Internally used variables include _small_minimap (client-side index) and flare_igniter, but these are not exposed or intended for modder access.

Main functions​

flare_fn()​

  • Description: Constructor for the miniflare inventory item prefab. Initializes visuals, physics, animations, and components required for inventory behavior, ignition, and hauntable properties.
  • Parameters: None.
  • Returns: inst (Entity) — a fully configured entity instance ready for use as an item.
  • Error states: Returns early on clients without TheWorld.ismastersim before adding server-side logic.

flare_minimap()​

  • Description: Constructor for the client-side minimap icon entity that appears during detonation.
  • Parameters: None.
  • Returns: inst (Entity) — a minimap-only entity with a global map icon for visibility across clients.

on_ignite(inst, source, doer)​

  • Description: Callback triggered when the burnable component ignites the item. Plays launch sound, switches animation to fire, and schedules detonation via animover event.
  • Parameters:
    inst (Entity) — the miniflare instance.
    source (Entity) — the igniting source (e.g., a fire, torch, or player).
    doer (Entity) — the actor that ignited the item (may equal source).
  • Returns: Nothing.
  • Error states: Sets inst.persists = false and inst.entity:SetCanSleep(false) to prevent saving; stores flare_igniter for post-detonation event data.

on_ignite_over(inst)​

  • Description: Handles detonation logic: calculates random explosion position, spawns minimap effect entity, notifies nearby players via Talker, and dispatches the miniflare_detonated world event.
  • Parameters: inst (Entity).
  • Returns: Nothing.
  • Error states: Removes the miniflare entity at the end; speech announcement is skipped for players within SPEECH_MIN_DISTANCE_SQ.

show_flare_hud(inst)​

  • Description: Client-side function. Shows or schedules a HUD indicator (avatar icon) based on player proximity, and triggers explosion sound with dynamic volume scaling.
  • Parameters: inst (Entity).
  • Returns: Nothing.
  • Error states: Early return if ThePlayer or ThePlayer.HUD is nil.

show_flare_minimap(inst)​

  • Description: Client-side function. Spawns a globalmapicon and periodically swaps the minimap icon texture (1 of 3 variations) during detonation.
  • Parameters: inst (Entity).
  • Returns: Nothing.

do_flare_minimap_swap(inst)​

  • Description: Periodic task callback. Randomly selects a new minimap icon (ensuring alternation) and updates both inst.MiniMapEntity and inst.icon.MiniMapEntity.
  • Parameters: inst (Entity).
  • Returns: Nothing.

on_dropped(inst)​

  • Description: Animation handler called when the item is dropped. Plays the "place" animation followed by a non-looping "idle" transition.
  • Parameters: inst (Entity).
  • Returns: Nothing.

Events & listeners​

  • Listens to:

    • animover — triggers detonation (on_ignite_over) after fire animation ends.
    • ondropped — plays "place" animation (on_dropped).
    • floater_startfloating / floater_stopfloating — switches between "float" and "idle" animations when floating.
    • onremove — cancels pending HUD indicator removal (RemoveHudIndicator).

  • Pushes:

    • startflareoverlay — client-side event to activate the flare visual overlay (via HUD).
    • miniflare_detonated — world event with { sourcept, pt, igniter } data for world reaction (e.g., lights, FX, triggers).