Ruinsrespawner

Based on game build 714014 | Last updated: 2026-03-07

Overview

ruinsrespawner.lua provides utility functions (MakeFn, MakeRuinsRespawnerInst, MakeRuinsRespawnerWorldGen) to create specialized respawner entities for ruins in the game world. These entities monitor the destruction of ruins (e.g., via workable:Destroy) and automatically respawn the original ruin prefab after a randomized delay once all spawned objects have been removed. The respawner is a non-networked, non-physical helper entity used in world generation and runtime logic—not an in-game object players interact with directly.

It relies on the objectspawner component to manage spawned instances and uses onremove event listeners to track object lifecycle. It integrates with the save/load system via OnSave, OnLoad, and OnLoadPostPass callbacks.

Usage example

-- Respawn a "ruin_wall" after it is destroyed, with custom callback on respawn
local inst = MakeRuinsRespawnerWorldGen("ruin_wall", function(ruin_obj, respawner)
    ruin_obj.Transform:SetScale(1.2, 1.2, 1.2)
end, { listenforprefabsawp = true })

-- Add the spawner to the world (typically done in worldgen)
TheWorld:PushEvent("spawn", inst)

Dependencies & tags

Components used: objectspawner Tags: Adds CLASSIFIED to the respawner entity.

Properties

Property	Type	Default Value	Description
spawnprefab	string	nil	Name of the prefab to respawn (e.g., "ruin_wall"). Set in the closure by MakeFn.
onrespawnfn	function | nil	nil	Optional callback invoked when a new object is spawned. Signature: (respawned_obj, respawner_inst).
resetruins	boolean | nil	nil	Internal flag indicating a respawn is pending; set via "resetruins" event or save data.
listenforprefabsawp	boolean | nil	nil	Flag indicating whether to listen for "onprefabswaped" events. Populated from data.listenforprefabsawp.

Main functions

MakeFn(obj, onrespawnfn, data)

• Description: Returns a factory function that creates and configures a new respawner entity instance. This is the core internal helper used by both MakeRuinsRespawnerInst and MakeRuinsRespawnerWorldGen.
• Parameters:
  • obj (string) — Name of the prefab to spawn and respawn.
  • onrespawnfn (function | nil) — Optional callback invoked after spawning.
  • data (table | nil) — Additional options; if data.listenforprefabsawp is truthy, "onprefabswaped" is monitored.
• Returns: A function () → Entity that constructs and returns the respawner entity.
• Error states: None.

MakeRuinsRespawnerInst(obj, onrespawnfn, data)

• Description: Convenience wrapper to create a respawnable inst prefab (e.g., ruin_wall_ruiinsrespawner_inst) for direct use in code or as a nested inst. The instance is not automatically added to the world.
• Parameters: Same as MakeFn.
• Returns: A Prefab definition string (e.g., "ruin_wall_ruiinsrespawner_inst").
• Error states: None.

MakeRuinsRespawnerWorldGen(obj, onrespawnfn, data)

• Description: Creates a world-generation spawner prefab (e.g., ruin_wall_spawner) that spawns and immediately triggers tryspawn on world load. Intended for use in worldgen tasksets or static layouts.
• Parameters: Same as MakeFn.
• Returns: A Prefab definition string (e.g., "ruin_wall_spawner").
• Error states: None.

tryspawn(inst)

• Description: Internal function to spawn the configured spawnprefab. Clears nearby structures (e.g., workable entities that aren't ACTIONS.NET) before spawning. Only runs if resetruins is true and no objects remain managed by objectspawner.
• Parameters:
  • inst (Entity) — The respawner entity.
• Returns: Nothing.
• Error states: Skips spawning if resetruins is nil or if objectspawner.objects is non-empty.

onnewobjectfn(inst, obj)

• Description: Callback attached to objectspawner.onnewobjectfn. Sets up an onremove listener on each spawned object to automatically remove it from objectspawner.objects. Optionally listens for "onprefabswaped" if listenforprefabsawp is enabled.
• Parameters:
  • inst (Entity) — The respawner entity.
  • obj (Entity) — The spawned object.
• Returns: Nothing.

onsave(inst, data)

• Description: Save callback that stores the resetruins flag.
• Parameters:
  • inst (Entity) — The respawner entity.
  • data (table) — Save data table.
• Returns: Nothing.

onload(inst, data)

• Description: Load callback that restores the resetruins flag from saved data.
• Parameters:
  • inst (Entity) — The respawner entity.
  • data (table) — Loaded save data (may be nil).
• Returns: Nothing.

OnLoadPostPass(inst)

• Description: Post-load callback that triggers tryspawn if resetruins was set (e.g., a previous spawn was in progress when the world was saved).
• Parameters:
  • inst (Entity) — The respawner entity.
• Returns: Nothing.

Events & listeners

• Listens to:
  • "onremove" (on spawned object) — Removes the object from inst.components.objectspawner.objects.
  • "onprefabswaped" (if listenforprefabsawp) — Takes ownership of the new object.
  • "resetruins" (on TheWorld) — Sets resetruins = true and schedules tryspawn with a random 0–0.75 second delay.
• Pushes: None (the respawner entity is non-networked and passive).