Waitingforplayers

Based on game build 714014 | Last updated: 2026-03-08

Overview

Waitingforplayers is a UI widget that displays player avatars and readiness indicators in the lobby screen. It renders a grid of player puppets representing connected clients, updates their readiness states, and provides a checkbox for the local player to signal readiness or vote to force-start the game. It reacts to network events (player_ready_to_start_dirty, lobbyplayerspawndelay) and integrates with WorldCharacterSelectLobby to query readiness status.

Usage example

local waiting_screen = CreateWidget("WaitingForPlayers", owner, TheNet:GetServerMaxPlayers())
waiting_screen:Refresh(true) -- force refresh of all player listings
-- The widget automatically updates on network events and input actions

Dependencies & tags

Components used: worldcharacterselectlobby (via TheWorld.net.components.worldcharacterselectlobby:IsPlayerReadyToStart(...)) Tags: None identified.

Properties

Property	Type	Default Value	Description
owner	userdata (Entity)	—	The entity instance that owns this widget.
players	table	[]	Current list of connected players (as returned by TheNet:GetClientTable()), filtered to exclude dedicated server hosts.
player_listing	table of PlayerAvatarPortrait widgets	nil	Array of avatar widgets representing player slots.
proot	Widget	—	Root container widget for layout.
list_root	Grid	—	Grid layout container for player avatars.
playerready_checkbox	LabelCheckbox widget	—	Checkbox for local player to mark readiness or vote to start.
spawn_countdown_active	boolean	false	Flag indicating if a spawn delay countdown is active.

Main functions

IsServerFull()

• Description: Determines whether the server has reached its maximum player capacity.
• Parameters: None.
• Returns: boolean — true if the number of connected players equals TheNet:GetServerMaxPlayers(), otherwise false.

GetPlayerTable()

• Description: Retrieves the filtered list of connected players suitable for display in the lobby UI. Removes dedicated server host entries (when not client-hosted) and optionally prioritizes the local player.
• Parameters: None.
• Returns: table — Array of player data objects (each with userid, name, colour, lobbycharacter, performance, etc.).

Refresh(force)

• Description: Updates the avatar grid and player data. Rebuilds player listings only when necessary unless force is true.
• Parameters: force (boolean) — If true, forces refresh of all player slots regardless of whether data changed.
• Returns: Nothing.

RefreshPlayersReady()

• Description: Updates readiness indicators for each player avatar and manages visibility/state of the local player checkbox. Adjusts text based on server fullness and active spawn countdown.
• Parameters: None.
• Returns: Nothing.

OnControl(control, down)

• Description: Handles input events. Specifically triggers the player-ready checkbox when CONTROL_PAUSE is released and the checkbox is enabled.
• Parameters:
  • control (number) — The control code (e.g., CONTROL_PAUSE).
  • down (boolean) — Whether the control is pressed (true) or released (false).
• Returns: boolean — true if the event was handled, otherwise false.

GetHelpText()

• Description: Returns localized help text instructions for the local player's available controls (e.g., how to toggle readiness).
• Parameters: None.
• Returns: string — Concatenated help string, potentially including control key + action text.

Events & listeners

• Listens to: player_ready_to_start_dirty (from TheWorld.net) — Triggers RefreshPlayersReady() to update readiness states, and manages checkbox timeout task cancellation.
• Listens to: lobbyplayerspawndelay (from TheWorld) — Activates or deactivates the spawn countdown display and adjusts checkbox state when countdown is active.