Common Entity Parameters

Overview

This is a reference document describing the general properties and parameters of Entities. Many objects inside Sandbox will share properties that are applicable to the object so this will expand beyond the scope of just Entities.

This article also contains links to pages that describe the properties of specific entities and groups of entities included with the CryENGINE SDK.

Standard Parameters

The Standard Parameters pane is where you can adjust standard parameters like the name of your object or the currently selected layer.

The text box at the top of the pane allows you to enter a new name for your object, the default name given is "ObjectTypeX". In the screen shot below, "Rifle1" is displayed, as this is the first Rifle entity to be placed in the world.

Some entities have color schemes applied by default, depending on their type. The colored box next to the text box opens the color editor window (this is the same color picker tool that is available in the Material Editor).

This can be used to give particular entities a color scheme of your choosing, if you'd wish to customize this.

Clicking the layer button opens the layer window, allowing you to place your object in the appropriate layer. The text to the right of the layer button tells you which layer is currently selected.

In the layer drop down window you can also toggle the ability to see and select your objects by clicking the eye and pointer buttons respectively.

For more information on this, see the Using Layers article.

Parameters	Description
Area	Changing the value of Area increases or decreases the radius of the on screen object placement helper.
Mtl button	When you select an object that uses a material, clicking the Mtl (material) button opens the material window and allows you to pick your desired material. When you have assigned a custom material to be applied to the object, it's path will be displayed in the Mtl button.
MinSpec	When set, the selected object only appears in game detail settings of the desired value and above. (i.e. when set to medium spec, the object will not appear in low spec, but will appear in medium spec, high spec and above). The default minimal spec is All.

Entity Params

Modifying the Entity Params enables effects such as wind and shadow to be added to an object and also toggle options such as hiding the object in-game.

Parameter	Description
Outdoor Only	When set, the object will not be render when inside a visarea.
Cast Shadow MinSpec	When set, this object will cast a shadow on the selected quality setting and above.
LodRatio	Defines how far from the current camera position that different Level Of Detail models for the object are used.
ViewDistRatio	Defines how far from the current camera position that the object will be rendered.
HiddenInGame	When set, this object will not be shown in pure game mode. Useful for debugging or prototyping in Sandbox.
Receive Wind	When set, this object will be influenced by any wind setup in your level.
RenderNearest	Used to eliminate z-buffer artifacts when rendering in first person view.
NoStaticDecals	If this is set to true, decals will not be rendered on this object.
Created Through Pool	This is mostly used on AI entities for memory optimization.

Shared Entity Params

There are many cases where parameters will be inherited from higher level scripts such as EntityUtils.lua. Below are some common parameters which you may find in various entities.

Parameter	Description
CanBreakOthers	If true entity can apply damage to other breakable objects.
Faction	Entity faction (see Factions).
HeavyObject	Deprecated
InteractLargeObject	If true, players can trigger large object interactions (such as grab and kick) with the entity.
Pickable	If true, players can "grab" or pick the object up (see Pickable Objects).
Resting	If true the object will not spawn in a physically 'awake' state. Instead it will wait until being physically interacted with first. This parameter would be used in the case where you have a floating object you wish to fall (or not) when entering the game.
Serialize	If true entity will load/save it’s state.
SmartObjectClass	Specifies the smart object type of the object (see Smart Objects).
Usable	If true entity is usable by players (see Adding Usable Support on an Entity).
UseMessage	If useable is true this message will be displayed when players are in range. Can be a localized string such as @use_object.
Health
Invulnerable	Object does not receive damage, but will register "Hit" output when applicable.
MaxHealth	Health of the entity, how much damage can it take before being considered "Dead" and triggering the output.
OnlyEnemyFire	Will only take damage from enemy (Faction-based) fire, only if a faction is set.
RenderProxyOptions
AnimateOffScreenShadow	If true, animate the shadow of off-screen objects. By default, objects in the shadow pass do not get added to the active list. This flag changes that behavior. If an object with this flag is rendered in shadow pass, it is kept active for another 8 frames. This allows the shadows of off-screen objects to continue to move along with animations which would otherwise freeze still.
MultiplayerOptions
Networked	If true physics will be simulated on the server and serialized over the network, otherwise they will be simulated on the client.

Material Layers

DEPRECATED - Please see Using the Material Editor for more information.

Entity Properties

The Entity Properties pane is different for each entity as each entity offers different parameters. Please reference individual entity pages for more information.

Miscellaneous Entity Parameters

This pane contains parameters related to entity scripting and other useful entity functions.

Parameters	Description
Edit Script	Clicking the Edit Script button opens the script file in your associated program and allows you to modify the script for the selected entity. The script file location is shown above this and the Reload Script button. Clicking the '>' button will give you more options related to this file.
Reload Script	Click the Reload Script to implement any changes made to the script. This is particularly useful for reviewing Particle Effects as reloading it activates it again.
Entity Archetype	If the entity is an Entity Archetype, the name of this Entity Archetype will appear on the button and clicking will open the archetype in the Database View.
Create	Create a new Flow Graph. For more information on flow graphs, please see the Flow Graph tutorials.
List	List Flow Graphs that the selected entity is associated with.
Remove	If a Flow Graph was created on this entity, you can remove/delete that Flow Graph via this button.
Sequence	If the entity is being used in a Track View sequence the name of the sequence will be displayed here. Clicking on the button will also open up the sequence in the Track View Window.
Save State	This saves the physical state of a selected entity (when AI/Physics in turned on). This can be useful for placing physical props realistically around the world without having to manually rotate and align their positions.
Clear State	Clears any saved physical state.

Entity Links

The Entity Links pane displays entities linked to the main entity. Creating an entity link is essentially making a dynamic link which can be referenced in LUA script.

So, for example, if you have a Mission Objective entity you can create a link that can be easily referenced in LUA that tracks a given number of entities on the map.

Or, maybe you have an Explosion Trigger that is linked to multiple entities that when activated will kill all these linked entities.

To pick a target, click the Pick Target button and then select the desired entity to create a link. You can select multiple entities one at a time while the button is still active.

The Pick Target button will glow while it's active. Once you're done with selection, press ESC or click the button again to deactivate it.

Double-click a linked entity in the list to select it. Right-click will open a menu with additional commands.

Button	Action
Change Target Entity	This will change the Entity associated with a link.
Rename Link	Renames the selected link. When you first create a link it's a good idea to rename it appropriately.
Delete Link	Deletes the selected link.
Pick New Target	Same functionality as Pick Target button, click Pick New Target and then the desired entity to create a link.

Entity Events

This pane visually represents the script behind certain objects and allows you to edit and run the script. When AI/Physics is enabled you can test the effect of any changes you have made to the Entity script.

Option	Description
Input/Output	Displays a list of executable script commands.
Pick New	DEPRECATED
Mission Handler	DEPRECATED
Remove	DEPRECATED
Send	Once you have chosen an Input/Output event click Send to test and see the effect. For example, an Input event called OnKill might kill an entity and OnSpawn might spawn them back to life.
Methods	Displays a list of executable methods.
Run	Displays a list of executable methods.
Goto	DEPRECATED
Add	DEPRECATED

AI/Physics should be enabled to test events.

Entity Property Panes

The following property panes are only visible for certain entities, however, they are standard panes that function the same regardless of which entity they are modifying.

Attached Entities

The Attached Entities pane enables you to create links to other objects in the perspective viewport.

This pane sometimes appears combined with the Shape Parameters pane but it's functionality remains the same.

Option	Description
Pick	Links two objects, click an object that you would like to link with another object and click the Pick button and finally your desired object. You will visually see the link in the perspective viewport and see the object name in the target window.
Remove	Removes a link between two objects, click the desired object in the Target window and click Remove.
Select	Selects an object from the Target window. Double-clicking the object name in the Target window will also select the object.

Shape Parameters

The Shape Parameters pane allows you to edit the area of effect for a shape and create links to other objects in the perspective viewport.

Parameters	Description
Num Points	Num Points relates to the number of points the shape contains in the perspective viewpoint.
Edit Shape	Clicking the Edit Shape button turns on the shape editing mode and allows you to edit the selected shape.
Use Transform Gizmo	When in editing mode, checking the Use Transform Gizmo check box will turn on the Transform Gizmo helper.
Reverse Path	The Reverse Path button is used with objects like AIPath and when clicked will reverse the AI path. The arrow on screen will point in the opposite direction to show the new path direction.
Split	Press the Split button and click two parts of your shape to split your shape and create a new independent shape.
Reset Height	This button will flatten the shape and all other points to the height of the selected point.
Pick	Links a shape to an object, click a shape that you would like to link another object and click the Pick button and finally your desired object. You will visually see the link in the perspective viewport and see the object name in the target window.
Remove	Removes a link between the selected shape and an object, click the desired object in the Target window and click Remove.
Select	Selects an object from the Target window. Double-clicking the object name in the Target Window will also select the object.

If you right mouse click on an Entity in the perspective viewport, you'll open a context menu which gives you a few options, highlighted below:

Option	Description
Create Flow Graph	Shortcut to Create a FG container from this object. See Creating and Managing Flow Graphs for more information.
Events	Quick access to Flow Graph inputs. Options here depend on what is exposed for the selected entity. For example, clicking on Events -> Hide would make the object invisible, the same as it would if you triggered the "Hide" input via FG.
Reload Script	This is the same function as mentioned earlier in the "Miscellaneous Entity Parameters" section. This will fully reload/reset the script state of a single entity object.
Reload All Scripts	Similar to Reload Script, but this will fully reload/reset the script state of all entity objects sharing the same entity class.
Properties	Additional method of getting select object properties to appear in the RollupBar.
Edit Tags	Quick-Edit Tags for this asset, for use in the Asset Browser.