Mobs Redo API ============= Welcome to the world of mobs in minetest and hopefully an easy guide to defining your own mobs and having them appear in your worlds. Registering Mobs ---------------- To register a mob and have it ready for use requires the following function: mobs:register_mob(name, definition) The 'name' of a mob usually starts with the mod name it's running from followed by it's own name e.g. "mobs_monster:sand_monster" or "mymod:totally_awesome_beast" ... and the 'definition' is a table which holds all of the settings and functions needed for the mob to work properly which contains the following: 'nametag' contains the name which is shown above mob. 'type' holds the type of mob that inhabits your world e.g. "animal" usually docile and walking around. "monster" attacks player or npc on sight. "npc" walk around and will defend themselves if hit first, they kill monsters. 'hp_min' has the minimum health value the mob can spawn with. 'hp_max' has the maximum health value the mob can spawn with. 'armor' holds strength of mob, 100 is normal, lower is more powerful and needs more hits and better weapons to kill. 'passive' when true allows animals to defend themselves when hit, otherwise they amble onwards. 'walk_velocity' is the speed that your mob can walk around. 'run_velocity' is the speed your mob can run with, usually when attacking. 'walk_chance' has a 0-100 chance value your mob will walk from standing, set to 0 for jumping mobs only. 'jump' when true allows your mob to jump updwards. 'jump_height' holds the height your mob can jump, 0 to disable jumping. 'stepheight' height of a block that your mob can easily walk up onto, defaults to 1.1. 'fly' when true allows your mob to fly around instead of walking. 'fly_in' holds the node name that the mob flies (or swims) around in e.g. "air" or "default:water_source". 'runaway' if true causes animals to turn and run away when hit. 'view_range' how many nodes in distance the mob can see a player. 'damage' how many health points the mob does to a player or another mob when melee attacking. 'knock_back' when true has mobs falling backwards when hit, the greater the damage the more they move back. 'fear_height' is how high a cliff or edge has to be before the mob stops walking, 0 to turn off height fear. 'fall_speed' has the maximum speed the mob can fall at, default is -10. 'fall_damage' when true causes falling to inflict damage. 'water_damage' holds the damage per second infliced to mobs when standing in water. 'lava_damage' holds the damage per second inflicted to mobs when standing in lava or fire. 'light_damage' holds the damage per second inflicted to mobs when it's too bright (above 13 light). 'suffocation' when true causes mobs to suffocate inside solid blocks. 'floats' when set to 1 mob will float in water, 0 has them sink. 'follow' mobs follow player when holding any of the items which appear on this table, the same items can be fed to a mob to tame or breed e.g. {"farming:wheat", "default:apple"} 'reach' is how far the mob can attack player when standing nearby, default is 3 nodes. 'docile_by_day' when true has mobs wandering around during daylight hours and only attacking player at night or when provoked. 'attack_monsters' when true mob will attack monsters. 'attack_animals' when true mob will attack animals. 'attack_npcs' when true mob will attack npcs within range. 'attack_players' when true mob will attack players nearby. 'owner_loyal' when true non-docile tamed mobs attack anything player punches when nearby. 'group_attack' when true has same mob type grouping together to attack offender. 'attack_type' tells the api what a mob does when attacking the player or another mob: 'dogfight' is a melee attack when player is within mob reach. 'shoot' has mob shoot pre-defined arrows at player when inside view_range. 'dogshoot' has melee attack when inside reach and shoot attack when inside view_range. 'explode' causes mob to stop and explode when inside reach. 'explosion_radius' the radius of explosion node destruction, defaults to 1 'explosion_damage_radius' the radius of explosion entity & player damage, defaults to explosion_radius * 2 'explosion_timer' number of seconds before mob explodes while its target is still inside reach or explosion_damage_radius, defaults to 3. 'allow_fuse_reset' Allow 'explode' attack_type to reset fuse and resume chasing if target leaves the blast radius or line of sight. Defaults to true. 'stop_to_explode' When set to true (default), mob must stop and wait for explosion_timer in order to explode. If false, mob will continue chasing. 'arrow' holds the pre-defined arrow object to shoot when attacking. 'dogshoot_switch' allows switching between attack types by using timers (1 for shoot, 2 for dogfight) 'dogshoot_count_max' contains how many seconds before switching from dogfight to shoot. 'dogshoot_count2_max' contains how many seconds before switching from shoot to dogfight. 'shoot_interval' has the number of seconds between shots. 'shoot_offset' holds the y position added as to where the arrow/fireball appears on mob. 'specific_attack' has a table of entity names that mob can also attack e.g. {"player", "mobs_animal:chicken"}. 'runaway_from' contains a table with mob names to run away from, add "player" to list to runaway from player also. 'blood_amount' contains the number of blood droplets to appear when mob is hit. 'blood_texture' has the texture name to use for droplets e.g. "mobs_blood.png", or table {"blood1.png", "blood2.png"} 'pathfinding' set to 1 for mobs to use pathfinder feature to locate player, set to 2 so they can build/break also (only works with dogfight attack and when 'mobs_griefing' in minetest.conf is not false). 'immune_to' is a table that holds specific damage when being hit by certain items e.g. {"default:sword_wood", 0} -- causes no damage. {"default:gold_lump", -10} -- heals by 10 health points. {"default:coal_block", 20} -- 20 damage when hit on head with coal blocks. {"all"} -- stops all weapons causing damage apart from those on list. 'makes_footstep_sound' when true you can hear mobs walking. 'sounds' this is a table with sounds of the mob 'distance' maximum distance sounds can be heard, default is 10. 'random' random sound that plays during gameplay. 'war_cry' what you hear when mob starts to attack player. 'attack' what you hear when being attacked. 'shoot_attack' sound played when mob shoots. 'damage' sound heard when mob is hurt. 'death' played when mob is killed. 'jump' played when mob jumps. 'fuse' sound played when mob explode timer starts. 'explode' sound played when mob explodes. 'drops' table of items that are dropped when mob is killed, fields are: 'name' name of item to drop. 'chance' chance of drop, 1 for always, 2 for 1-in-2 chance etc. 'min' minimum number of items dropped, set to 0 for rare drops. 'max' maximum number of items dropped. 'visual' holds the look of the mob you wish to create: 'cube' looks like a normal node 'sprite' sprite which looks same from all angles. 'upright_sprite' flat model standing upright. 'wielditem' how it looks when player holds it in hand. 'mesh' uses separate object file to define mob. 'visual_size' has the size of the mob, defaults to {x = 1, y = 1} 'collisionbox' has the box in which mob can be interacted with the world e.g. {-0.5, -0.5, -0.5, 0.5, 0.5, 0.5} 'selectionbox' has the box in which player can interact with mob 'textures' holds a table list of textures to be used for mob, or you could use multiple lists inside another table for random selection e.g. { {"texture1.png"}, {"texture2.png"} } 'child_texture' holds the texture table for when baby mobs are used. 'gotten_texture' holds the texture table for when self.gotten value is true, used for milking cows or shearing sheep. 'mesh' holds the name of the external object used for mob model e.g. "mobs_cow.b3d" 'gotten_mesh" holds the name of the external object used for when self.gotten is true for mobs. 'rotate' custom model rotation, 0 = front, 90 = side, 180 = back, 270 = other side. 'double_melee_attack' when true has the api choose between 'punch' and 'punch2' animations. [DEPRECATED] 'animation' holds a table containing animation names and settings for use with mesh models: 'stand_start' start frame for when mob stands still. 'stand_end' end frame of stand animation. 'stand_speed' speed of animation in frames per second. 'walk_start' when mob is walking around. 'walk_end' 'walk_speed' 'run_start' when a mob runs or attacks. 'run_end' 'run_speed' 'fly_start' when a mob is flying. 'fly_end' 'fly_speed' 'punch_start' when a mob melee attacks. 'punch_end' 'punch_speed' 'punch2_start' alternative melee attack animation. 'punch2_end' 'punch2_speed' 'shoot_start' shooting animation. 'shoot_end' 'shoot_speed' 'die_start' death animation 'die_end' 'die_speed' 'die_loop' when set to false stops the animation looping. Using '_loop = false' setting will stop any of the above animations from looping. 'speed_normal' is used for animation speed for compatibility with some older mobs. Note: Up to 5 different animations can be used per action e.g. stand_start, stand_end, stand1_start, stand1_end .. up to stand4_start Node Replacement ---------------- Mobs can look around for specific nodes as they walk and replace them to mimic eating. 'replace_what' group of items to replace e.g. {"farming:wheat_8", "farming:carrot_8"} or you can use the specific options of what, with and y offset by using this instead: { {"group:grass", "air", 0}, {"default:dirt_with_grass", "default:dirt", -1} } 'replace_with' replace with what e.g. "air" or in chickens case "mobs:egg" 'replace_rate' how random should the replace rate be (typically 10) 'replace_offset' +/- value to check specific node to replace 'on_replace(self, pos, oldnode, newnode)' is called when mob is about to replace a node. 'self' ObjectRef of mob 'pos' Position of node to replace 'oldnode' Current node 'newnode' What the node will become after replacing If false is returned, the mob will not replace the node. By default, replacing sets self.gotten to true and resets the object properties. Custom Definition Functions --------------------------- Along with the above mob registry settings we can also use custom functions to enhance mob functionality and have them do many interesting things: 'on_die' a function that is called when the mob is killed the parameters are (self, pos) 'on_rightclick' its same as in minetest.register_entity() 'on_blast' is called when an explosion happens near mob when using TNT functions, parameters are (object, damage) and returns (do_damage, do_knockback, drops) 'on_spawn' is a custom function that runs on mob spawn with 'self' as variable, return true at end of function to run only once. 'after_activate' is a custom function that runs once mob has been activated with these paramaters (self, staticdata, def, dtime) 'on_breed' called when two similar mobs breed, paramaters are (parent1, parent2) objects, return false to stop child from being resized and owner/tamed flags and child textures being applied. Function itself must spawn new child mob. 'on_grown' is called when a child mob has grown up, only paramater is (self). 'do_punch' called when mob is punched with paramaters (self, hitter, time_from_last_punch, tool_capabilities, direction), return false to stop punch damage and knockback from taking place. 'custom_attack' when set this function is called instead of the normal mob melee attack, parameters are (self, to_attack). 'on_die' a function that is called when mob is killed (self, pos) 'do_custom' a custom function that is called every tick while mob is active and which has access to all of the self.* variables e.g. (self.health for health or self.standing_in for node status), return with 'false' to skip remainder of mob API. Internal Variables ------------------ The mob api also has some preset variables and functions that it will remember for each mob. 'self.health' contains current health of mob (cannot exceed self.hp_max) 'self.texture_list' contains list of all mob textures 'self.child_texture' contains mob child texture when growing up 'self.base_texture' contains current skin texture which was randomly selected from textures list 'self.gotten' this is used for obtaining milk from cow and wool from sheep 'self.horny' when animal fed enough it is set to true and animal can breed with same animal 'self.hornytimer' background timer that controls breeding functions and mob childhood timings 'self.child' used for when breeding animals have child, will use child_texture and be half size 'self.owner' string used to set owner of npc mobs, typically used for dogs 'self.order' set to "follow" or "stand" so that npc will follow owner or stand it's ground 'self.nametag' contains the name of the mob which it can show above Spawning Mobs in World ---------------------- mobs:register_spawn(name, nodes, max_light, min_light, chance, active_object_count, max_height, day_toggle) mobs:spawn_specfic(name, nodes, neighbors, min_light, max_light, interval, chance, active_object_count, min_height, max_height, day_toggle, on_spawn) These functions register a spawn algorithm for the mob. Without this function the call the mobs won't spawn. 'name' is the name of the animal/monster 'nodes' is a list of nodenames on that the animal/monster can spawn on top of 'neighbors' is a list of nodenames on that the animal/monster will spawn beside (default is {"air"} for mobs:register_spawn) 'max_light' is the maximum of light 'min_light' is the minimum of light 'interval' is same as in register_abm() (default is 30 for mobs:register_spawn) 'chance' is same as in register_abm() 'active_object_count' number of this type of mob to spawn at one time inside map area 'min_height' is the minimum height the mob can spawn 'max_height' is the maximum height the mob can spawn 'day_toggle' true for day spawning, false for night or nil for anytime 'on_spawn' is a custom function which runs after mob has spawned and gives self and pos values. A simpler way to handle mob spawns has been added with the mobs:spawn(def) command which uses above names to make settings clearer: mobs:spawn({name = "mobs_monster:tree_monster", nodes = {"group:leaves"}, max_light = 7, }) For each mob that spawns with this function is a field in mobs.spawning_mobs. It tells if the mob should spawn or not. Default is true. So other mods can only use the API of this mod by disabling the spawning of the default mobs in this mod. mobs:spawn_abm_check(pos, node, name) This global function can be changed to contain additional checks for mobs to spawn e.g. mobs that spawn only in specific areas and the like. By returning true the mob will not spawn. 'pos' holds the position of the spawning mob 'node' contains the node the mob is spawning on top of 'name' is the name of the animal/monster Making Arrows ------------- mobs:register_arrow(name, definition) This function registers a arrow for mobs with the attack type shoot. 'name' is the name of the arrow 'definition' is a table with the following values: 'visual' same is in minetest.register_entity() 'visual_size' same is in minetest.register_entity() 'textures' same is in minetest.register_entity() 'velocity' the velocity of the arrow 'drop' if set to true any arrows hitting a node will drop as item 'hit_player' a function that is called when the arrow hits a player; this function should hurt the player, the parameters are (self, player) 'hit_mob' a function that is called when the arrow hits a mob; this function should hurt the mob, the parameters are (self, player) 'hit_node' a function that is called when the arrow hits a node, the parameters are (self, pos, node) 'tail' when set to 1 adds a trail or tail to mob arrows 'tail_texture' texture string used for above effect 'tail_size' has size for above texture (defaults to between 5 and 10) 'expire' contains float value for how long tail appears for (defaults to 0.25) 'glow' has value for how brightly tail glows 1 to 10 (default is 0 for no glow) 'rotate' integer value in degrees to rotate arrow 'on_step' is a custom function when arrow is active, nil for default. Spawn Eggs ---------- mobs:register_egg(name, description, background, addegg, no_creative) This function registers a spawn egg which can be used by admin to properly spawn in a mob. 'name' this is the name of your new mob to spawn e.g. "mob:sheep" 'description' the name of the new egg you are creating e.g. "Spawn Sheep" 'background' the texture displayed for the egg in inventory 'addegg' would you like an egg image in front of your texture (1 = yes, 0 = no) 'no_creative' when set to true this stops spawn egg appearing in creative mode for destructive mobs like Dungeon Masters. Explosion Function ------------------ mobs:explosion(pos, radius) -- DEPRECATED!!! use mobs:boom() instead mobs:boom(self, pos, radius) 'self' mob entity 'pos' centre position of explosion 'radius' radius of explosion (typically set to 3) This function generates an explosion which removes nodes in a specific radius and damages any entity caught inside the blast radius. Protection will limit node destruction but not entity damage. Capturing Mobs -------------- mobs:capture_mob(self, clicker, chance_hand, chance_net, chance_lasso, force_take, replacewith) This function is generally called inside the on_rightclick section of the mob api code, it provides a chance of capturing the mob by hand, using the net or lasso items, and can also have the player take the mob by force if tamed and replace with another item entirely. 'self' mob information 'clicker' player information 'chance_hand' chance of capturing mob by hand (1 to 100) 0 to disable 'chance_net' chance of capturing mob using net (1 to 100) 0 to disable 'chance_lasso' chance of capturing mob using magic lasso (1 to 100) 0 to disable 'force_take' take mob by force, even if tamed (true or false) 'replacewith' once captured replace mob with this item instead (overrides new mob eggs with saved information) Feeding and Taming/Breeding --------------------------- mobs:feed_tame(self, clicker, feed_count, breed, tame) This function allows the mob to be fed the item inside self.follow be it apple, wheat or whatever a set number of times and be tamed or bred as a result. Will return true when mob is fed with item it likes. 'self' mob information 'clicker' player information 'feed_count' number of times mob must be fed to tame or breed 'breed' true or false stating if mob can be bred and a child created afterwards 'tame' true or false stating if mob can be tamed so player can pick them up Protecting Mobs --------------- mobs:protect(self, clicker) This function can be used to right-click any tamed mob with mobs:protector item, this will protect the mob from harm inside of a protected area from other players. Will return true when mob right-clicked with mobs:protector item. 'self' mob information 'clicker' player information Riding Mobs ----------- Mobs can now be ridden by players and the following shows its functions and usage: mobs:attach(self, player) This function attaches a player to the mob so it can be ridden. 'self' mob information 'player' player information mobs:detach(player, offset) This function will detach the player currently riding a mob to an offset position. 'player' player information 'offset' position table containing offset values mobs:drive(self, move_animation, stand_animation, can_fly, dtime) This function allows an attached player to move the mob around and animate it at same time. 'self' mob information 'move_animation' string containing movement animation e.g. "walk" 'stand_animation' string containing standing animation e.g. "stand" 'can_fly' if true then jump and sneak controls will allow mob to fly up and down 'dtime' tick time used inside drive function mobs:fly(self, dtime, speed, can_shoot, arrow_entity, move_animation, stand_animation) This function allows an attached player to fly the mob around using directional controls. 'self' mob information 'dtime' tick time used inside fly function 'speed' speed of flight 'can_shoot' true if mob can fire arrow (sneak and left mouse button fires) 'arrow_entity' name of arrow entity used for firing 'move_animation' string containing name of pre-defined animation e.g. "walk" or "fly" etc. 'stand_animation' string containing name of pre-defined animation e.g. "stand" or "blink" etc. Note: animation names above are from the pre-defined animation lists inside mob registry without extensions. mobs:set_animation(self, name) This function sets the current animation for mob, defaulting to "stand" if not found. 'self' mob information 'name' name of animation Certain variables need to be set before using the above functions: 'self.v2' toggle switch used to define below values for the first time 'self.max_speed_forward' max speed mob can move forward 'self.max_speed_reverse' max speed mob can move backwards 'self.accel' acceleration speed 'self.terrain_type' integer containing terrain mob can walk on (1 = water, 2 or 3 = land) 'self.driver_attach_at' position offset for attaching player to mob 'self.driver_eye_offset' position offset for attached player view 'self.driver_scale' sets driver scale for mobs larger than {x=1, y=1} mobs:line_of_sight(self, pos1, pos2, stepsize) This function is for use within the mobs definition for special use cases and returns true if a mob can see the player or victim. ...'self' mob information 'pos1' position of mob 'pos2' position of vistim or player 'stepsize' usually set to 1 External Settings for "minetest.conf" ------------------------------------ 'enable_damage' if true monsters will attack players (default is true) 'only_peaceful_mobs' if true only animals will spawn in game (default is false) 'mobs_disable_blood' if false blood effects appear when mob is hit (default is false) 'mobs_spawn_protected' if set to false then mobs will not spawn in protected areas (default is true) 'remove_far_mobs' if true then untamed mobs that are outside players visual range will be removed (default is true) 'mobname' can change specific mob chance rate (0 to disable) and spawn number e.g. mobs_animal:cow = 1000,5 'mob_difficulty' sets difficulty level (health and hit damage multiplied by this number), defaults to 1.0. 'mob_show_health' if false then punching mob will not show health status (true by default) 'mob_chance_multiplier' multiplies chance of all mobs spawning and can be set to 0.5 to have mobs spawn more or 2.0 to spawn less. e.g. 1 in 7000 * 0.5 = 1 in 3500 so better odds of spawning. 'mobs_spawn' if false then mobs no longer spawn without spawner or spawn egg. 'mobs_drop_items' when false mobs no longer drop items when they die. 'mobs_griefing' when false mobs cannot break blocks when using either pathfinding level 2, replace functions or mobs:boom function. Players can override the spawn chance for each mob registered by adding a line to their minetest.conf file with a new value, the lower the value the more each mob will spawn e.g. mobs_animal:sheep_chance 11000 mobs_monster:sand_monster_chance 100 Rideable Horse Example Mob -------------------------- mobs:register_mob("mob_horse:horse", { type = "animal", visual = "mesh", visual_size = {x = 1.20, y = 1.20}, mesh = "mobs_horse.x", collisionbox = {-0.4, -0.01, -0.4, 0.4, 1.25, 0.4}, animation = { speed_normal = 15, speed_run = 30, stand_start = 25, stand_end = 75, walk_start = 75, walk_end = 100, run_start = 75, run_end = 100, }, textures = { {"mobs_horse.png"}, {"mobs_horsepeg.png"}, {"mobs_horseara.png"} }, fear_height = 3, runaway = true, fly = false, walk_chance = 60, view_range = 5, follow = {"farming:wheat"}, passive = true, hp_min = 12, hp_max = 16, armor = 200, lava_damage = 5, fall_damage = 5, water_damage = 1, makes_footstep_sound = true, drops = { {name = "mobs:meat_raw", chance = 1, min = 2, max = 3} }, sounds = { random = "horse_neigh.ogg", damage = "horse_whinney.ogg", }, do_custom = function(self, dtime) -- set needed values if not already present if not self.v2 then self.v2 = 0 self.max_speed_forward = 6 self.max_speed_reverse = 2 self.accel = 6 self.terrain_type = 3 self.driver_attach_at = {x = 0, y = 20, z = -2} self.driver_eye_offset = {x = 0, y = 3, z = 0} self.driver_scale = {x = 1, y = 1} end -- if driver present allow control of horse if self.driver then mobs.drive(self, "walk", "stand", false, dtime) return false -- skip rest of mob functions end return true end, on_die = function(self, pos) -- drop saddle when horse is killed while riding -- also detach from horse properly if self.driver then minetest.add_item(pos, "mobs:saddle") mobs.detach(self.driver, {x = 1, y = 0, z = 1}) end end, on_rightclick = function(self, clicker) -- make sure player is clicking if not clicker or not clicker:is_player() then return end -- feed, tame or heal horse if mobs:feed_tame(self, clicker, 10, true, true) then return end -- make sure tamed horse is being clicked by owner only if self.tamed and self.owner == clicker:get_player_name() then local inv = clicker:get_inventory() -- detatch player already riding horse if self.driver and clicker == self.driver then mobs.detach(clicker, {x = 1, y = 0, z = 1}) -- add saddle back to inventory if inv:room_for_item("main", "mobs:saddle") then inv:add_item("main", "mobs:saddle") else minetest.add_item(clicker.getpos(), "mobs:saddle") end -- attach player to horse elseif not self.driver and clicker:get_wielded_item():get_name() == "mobs:saddle" then self.object:set_properties({stepheight = 1.1}) mobs.attach(self, clicker) -- take saddle from inventory inv:remove_item("main", "mobs:saddle") end end -- used to capture horse with magic lasso mobs:capture_mob(self, clicker, 0, 0, 80, false, nil) end })