Players

The player functions of the World table that exist on both sides: all players and a random player. For what you can do with the handles these functions return, see Player, which also explains the difference between a PlayerHandle (the connection) and a PlayerObjectHandle (the character).

Available on: Server, Client

See also: Players (client)

Functions

World.GetPlayers()

Returns a list of the PlayerHandles of every player who has joined the server. Players who are still connecting (authenticating or downloading resources) are not included.

The result is a plain Lua array, so use ipairs and # on it. It is a snapshot: players who join or leave afterwards don't change it.

Server

Every joined player is in the list.

Client

Every joined player is in the list too, including the local player and players who are far away. Being in the list doesn't mean the player's character is streamed in: client:GetPlayer() returns nil for players too far from the local player.

Parameters: none

Returns

Type	Description
table	an array of PlayerHandle

Example

-- server: print the player list
local players = World.GetPlayers()

print(#players .. " players online")

for i, client in ipairs(players) do
	print(i, client:GetName(), client:GetUserId())
end

World.GetRandomClient()

Returns the PlayerHandle of a random player, or nil if there is none.

Server

The player is picked among every connected player, which can include a player who hasn't finished joining yet. Methods that need a joined player (see Player) treat such a player as invalid, so check client:GetPlayer() if you need a player who is in the game.

Client

The player is picked among every player this client knows about, the local player included.

Parameters: none

Returns

Type	Description
PlayerHandle or nil	a random player

Example

-- server: pick a random player as the first target
local client = World.GetRandomClient()

if client and client:GetPlayer() then
	Chat.Broadcast(client:GetName() .. " is the target!")
end

World.GetRandomPlayer()

Returns the character of a random player as a plain ObjectHandle, or nil if there is none. Call :AsPlayer() on it to use the PlayerObjectHandle methods.

Server

The player is picked among every connected player; if the picked one hasn't joined yet (it has no character), the result is nil even if other players are in the game.

Client

The player is picked among the players whose character is streamed in on this client (the local player and nearby players).

Parameters: none

Returns

Type	Description
ObjectHandle or nil	a random player's character

Example

-- server: a random player becomes the "it" of a game of tag
local obj = World.GetRandomPlayer()

if obj then
	local player = obj:AsPlayer()

	player:SetData("tag.it", true, true)
	Chat.Broadcast(player:GetClient():GetName() .. " is it!")
end