ClientEntity (Client-side Networked Entity)

ClientEntity enables efficient creation and management of networked entities visible only to specific clients. These entities exist solely on the client-side, making them ideal for visual effects and client-specific interactions without server overhead.

Note

This is an internal utility of Carbon (not a plugin) for creating client-visible entities. Always available within Carbon.

Overview

• Purpose: Spawn, update, and destroy entities per client with custom behavior
• Net usage: Efficient per-client entity transmission using ProtoBuf
• Source: Carbon.Common/ClientEntity.cs

Core API Reference

Creating a ClientEntity

// Basic creation with prefab and transform
var entity = ClientEntity.Create(
    "assets/prefabs/deployable/chair/chair.deployed.prefab",
    position,
    rotation
);

Optional parameters allow you to pass a custom ProtoBuf.Entity, a netId, and a group.

Setting Properties

entity.Position = new Vector3(0, 2, 0);
entity.Rotation = new Vector3(0, 90, 0);
entity.Flags = BaseEntity.Flags.OnFire;

You can also assign ParentID and modify the Prefab after creation.

Spawning

// Single client
entity.SpawnFor(clientConnection);

// Multiple clients
entity.SpawnAll(clientList);

Destruction

// Targeted removal
entity.KillFor(clientConnection);

// Global removal
entity.KillAll();

Network Updates

entity.SendNetworkUpdate();           // Full update
entity.SendNetworkUpdate_Flags();     // Just flag update
entity.SendNetworkUpdate_Position();  // Just position/rotation

Flags

// Set flags
entity.SetFlag(BaseEntity.Flags.OnFire, true);

// Check state
if (entity.HasFlag(BaseEntity.Flags.OnFire))
{
    // Handle
}

RPC Handling

Override this method to implement custom RPC behavior:

public override void OnRpc(string rpc, Message message)
{
    // Handle client-side interaction
}

Disposal

entity.Dispose();

Disposes all associated network data and removes the entity from tracking.

Summary

ClientEntity is perfect for implementing visual-only effects, custom client HUD objects, or interactive client-only actors without the performance cost of full entities.