Mushgnome Spawner

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

Overview

mushgnome_spawner is a non-networked entity that periodically spawns mushgnome minions when players are present inside the "MushGnomeSpawnArea" zone. It leverages the childspawner component to handle child management (e.g., spawn rate, regeneration, max count) and integrates with areaaware to detect nearby players. The spawner activates only when the world entity is awake and stops periodic checks when the entity sleeps or spawning conditions are unmet.

Usage example

This prefab is instantiated internally by the game world and is not typically added manually by modders. However, a typical usage pattern involving its underlying mechanisms appears as follows:

local inst = CreateEntity()
inst.entity:AddTransform()
inst:AddTag("CLASSIFIED")
inst:AddComponent("childspawner")
inst.components.childspawner:SetSpawnPeriod(10)
inst.components.childspawner:SetRegenPeriod(30)
inst.components.childspawner:SetMaxChildren(3)
inst.components.childspawner.childname = "mushgnome"
inst.components.childspawner:StartRegen()

Dependencies & tags

Components used: childspawner, areaaware (checked via player components), health (indirectly, via childspawner:CanSpawn()), transform
Tags: Adds "CLASSIFIED" to the spawner instance. Checks players for "MushGnomeSpawnArea" tag via areaaware:CurrentlyInTag.

Properties

Property	Type	Default Value	Description
_PeriodicSpawnTesting	Task or nil	nil	Handles periodic testing for spawn conditions; cancels when inactive.
OnEntityWake	function	on_entity_wake	Callback triggered when the world entity wakes; starts periodic spawn testing.
OnEntitySleep	function	on_entity_sleep	Callback triggered when the world entity sleeps; cancels spawn testing.
OnPreLoad	function	OnPreLoad	Callback during world load; applies world-settings overrides to spawn/regen periods.

Main functions

do_spawn_test(inst)

• Description: Evaluates whether a mushgnome should be spawned by scanning for players within the "MushGnomeSpawnArea" zone and within TUNING.MUSHGNOME_SPAWN_RADIUSSQ distance. If conditions are met, it spawns a child near a randomly selected player.
• Parameters: inst (Entity) — the spawner instance.
• Returns: Nothing.
• Error states: Returns early if childspawner:CanSpawn() fails, no players are found in range, or FindWalkableOffset cannot locate a valid position.

StartTesting(inst)

• Description: Initiates a periodic task (TEST_FREQUENCY = 10 seconds) to call do_spawn_test.
• Parameters: inst (Entity) — the spawner instance.
• Returns: Nothing.

on_gnome_spawned(inst, gnome)

• Description: Event handler fired after a mushgnome is successfully spawned; dispatches the "spawn" event on the newly created gnome.
• Parameters:

• inst (Entity) — the spawner instance.
• gnome (Entity) — the spawned mushgnome instance.

• Returns: Nothing.

on_entity_wake(inst)

• Description: Starts spawn-condition testing when the spawner’s entity wakes.
• Parameters: inst (Entity) — the spawner instance.
• Returns: Nothing.

on_entity_sleep(inst)

• Description: Cancels the periodic spawn-testing task when the spawner’s entity goes to sleep.
• Parameters: inst (Entity) — the spawner instance.
• Returns: Nothing.

OnPreLoad(inst, data)

• Description: Applies world-settings overrides to the spawner’s spawn and regen periods during world load.
• Parameters:

• inst (Entity) — the spawner instance.
• data (table) — the loaded world data (unused directly, but passed to WorldSettings_ChildSpawner_* functions).

• Returns: Nothing.

Events & listeners

• Listens to: None (the prefab itself does not register events directly; it relies on callbacks on inst such as OnEntityWake, OnEntitySleep, and OnPreLoad).
• Pushes: None (the spawner entity does not push events, but calls gnome:PushEvent("spawn") on spawned children).

External Integration

• Uses WorldSettings_ChildSpawner_PreLoad, WorldSettings_ChildSpawner_SpawnPeriod, and WorldSettings_ChildSpawner_RegenPeriod from worldsettingsutil.lua to support dynamic world settings. These functions adjust spawner behavior based on world configuration flags like TUNING.MUSHGNOME_ENABLED.