MultiplayerMainScreen

Based on game build 714014 | Last updated: 2026-03-09

Overview

MultiplayerMainScreen renders the primary multiplayer menu interface in Don't Starve Together. It handles UI layout for character animating puppets, dynamic Message of the Day (MOTD) display, countdown timers for updates, and navigation to sub-screens (e.g., server creation, skins, options). It inherits from Screen and integrates with profile management, network operations, and event systems to coordinate frontend flow and state transitions.

Usage example

The component is instantiated internally by TheFrontEnd and not created manually by mods. A typical usage flow in the game lifecycle is:

-- Internally invoked when entering multiplayer main menu
TheFrontEnd:PushScreen(MultiplayerMainScreen(prev_screen, profile, offline, session_data))

Dependencies & tags

Components used: None (UI screen, not an ECS component) Tags: None identified.

Properties

Property	Type	Default Value	Description
profile	table	—	Player profile instance, used for saved settings and loadouts.
offline	boolean	false	Whether the session is in offline mode.
session_data	table	nil	Session metadata passed from previous screen.
prev_screen	Screen	nil	The screen navigated from, used for portal ownership transfer.
menu	Menu	nil	Main menu widget (e.g., Browse, Create, Options).
submenu	Menu	nil	Submenu widget (e.g., Credits, Movie, Forums).
debug_menu	Menu	nil	Optional debug menu shown in dev builds.
motd	Widget	nil	Message of the Day display container.
puppets	table	{}	List of SkinsAndEquipmentPuppet instances for animated characters.
countdown	Countdown	—	Countdown widget for update releases.
updatename	Text	—	Text widget displaying the current game version.

Main functions

MultiplayerMainScreen:DoInit()

• Description: Initializes the screen layout, populates UI elements (MOTD, puppets, menus, countdown), and sets up focus navigation. Called during construction.
• Parameters: None.
• Returns: Nothing.
• Error states: None documented.

MultiplayerMainScreen:OnShow()

• Description: Triggered when the screen becomes visible. Starts character puppet animations, snowfall effects, and per-character idle animations (perds). Ensures puppets are updated before display.
• Parameters: None.
• Returns: Nothing.
• Error states: None documented.

MultiplayerMainScreen:OnHide()

• Description: Triggered when the screen is hidden. Stops puppet animations and idle effects, resets fade handling, and cleans up. Required for proper lifecycle.
• Parameters: None.
• Returns: Nothing.
• Error states: None documented.

MultiplayerMainScreen:OnCreateServerButton()

• Description: Initiates server creation flow: saves profile, fades out, and pushes ServerCreationScreen.
• Parameters: None.
• Returns: Nothing.
• Error states: None documented.

MultiplayerMainScreen:OnBrowseServersButton()

• Description: Initiates server listing flow: saves filter settings, fades out, and pushes ServerListingScreen.
• Parameters: None.
• Returns: Nothing.
• Error states: None documented.

MultiplayerMainScreen:OnQuickJoinServersButton()

• Description: Initiates quick join flow by pushing QuickJoinScreen with default or filtered server search.
• Parameters: None.
• Returns: Nothing.
• Error states: Returns early if new-user popup is triggered.

MultiplayerMainScreen:OnHistoryButton()

• Description: Navigates to MorgueScreen to view player history/deaths.
• Parameters: None.
• Returns: Nothing.
• Error states: None documented.

MultiplayerMainScreen:OnSkinsButton()

• Description: Navigates to SkinsScreen for skin management.
• Parameters: None.
• Returns: Nothing.
• Error states: None documented.

MultiplayerMainScreen:OnMovieButton()

• Description: Shows the intro movie (movies/intro.ogv) via MovieDialog and restores music/portal SFX upon completion.
• Parameters: None.
• Returns: Nothing.
• Error states: None documented.

MultiplayerMainScreen:OnCreditsButton()

• Description: Shows the CreditsScreen.
• Parameters: None.
• Returns: Nothing.
• Error states: None documented.

MultiplayerMainScreen:OnModsButton()

• Description: Shows the ModsScreen for managing active mods.
• Parameters: None.
• Returns: Nothing.
• Error states: None documented.

MultiplayerMainScreen:OnHostButton()

• Description: Attempts to start a local server in offline mode, loads the current save slot, and starts the instance.
• Parameters: None.
• Returns: Nothing.
• Error states: None documented.

MultiplayerMainScreen:OnJoinButton()

• Description: Attempts to join the default server (DEFAULT_JOIN_IP) in offline mode.
• Parameters: None.
• Returns: Nothing.
• Error states: None documented.

MultiplayerMainScreen:SetMOTD(motd_str, cache)

• Description: Parses and applies the Message of the Day (MOTD) JSON. Updates title, text, image, and button behavior. Caching handled via cache flag.
• Parameters: motd_str (string) — JSON-encoded MOTD payload; cache (boolean) — whether to persist to disk.
• Returns: Nothing.
• Error states: Does nothing if JSON parsing fails.

MultiplayerMainScreen:UpdateMOTD()

• Description: Loads cached MOTD and refreshes from the server. Calls SetMOTD for display logic.
• Parameters: None.
• Returns: Nothing.
• Error states: None documented.

MultiplayerMainScreen:OnBecomeActive()

• Description: Handles screen activation. Restores focus, re-enables debug menu (if present), and starts workshop query if online.
• Parameters: None.
• Returns: Nothing.
• Error states: None documented.

MultiplayerMainScreen:FinishedFadeIn()

• Description: Executes post-fade-in tasks: shows entitlement thank-you popup, and triggers language mod popup if needed.
• Parameters: None.
• Returns: Nothing.
• Error states: None documented.

MultiplayerMainScreen:CheckNewUser(onnofn, no_button_text)

• Description: Checks if the new-user popup has been shown. If not, pushes a popup and handles navigation choices.
• Parameters: onnofn (function) — callback when "No" is selected; no_button_text (string) — label for "No" button.
• Returns: true if popup was shown, otherwise false.
• Error states: Returns false if popup already shown.

Events & listeners

• Listens to: None (no inst:ListenForEvent calls are present; the class is screen-scoped, not entity-scoped).
• Pushes: None explicitly (Stats.PushMetricsEvent is called internally but is not an inst:PushEvent call).