Entity Methods - Content Creation Docs

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Scripting

Entity Methods

Entity objects are returned by entity searches, player functions, traces, events, and item-giving functions. They cannot be constructed directly.

Wrappers are stable for the lifetime of a Source entity handle. Repeating a search for the same live entity returns the same JavaScript object, so strict equality and script-defined properties remain consistent. See the Entity value class for how handles and validity work.

The methods below are available on every Entity. Players are entities too, so they also support everything on this page, plus the Player Methods.

Identity and state

Function	Returns	Description
`entity.IsValid()`	boolean	Whether the retained entity handle still resolves. This is the only Entity function safe to call after deletion.
`entity.IsAlive()`	boolean	Source alive state.
`entity.IsWorld()`	boolean	Whether the entity is worldspawn.
`entity.IsPlayer()`	boolean	Whether the entity is a player.
`entity.GetClassName()`	string	Source classname, or `""` when unavailable.
`entity.GetEntityName()`	string	Source target name, or `""` when unavailable.
`entity.SetEntityName(name)`	undefined	Sets the target name. The name is limited to 128 bytes.
`entity.GetTeamNumber()`	number	Player team index or the entity's numeric team keyvalue.

Transform

Function	Returns	Description
`entity.GetAbsOrigin()`	Vector	Collision origin.
`entity.GetAbsAngles()`	QAngle	Collision angles.
`entity.GetAbsVelocity()`	Vector or undefined	Parsed `velocity` keyvalue.
`entity.GetEyePosition()`	Vector	Source eye position.
`entity.GetEyeAngles()`	QAngle	Source eye angles.
`entity.Teleport(options)`	undefined	Teleports using any supplied combination of `position`, `angles`, and `velocity`. At least one must be supplied.

entity.Teleport({
	position: { x: 0, y: 0, z: 128 },
	angles: { pitch: 0, yaw: 90, roll: 0 },
	velocity: { x: 0, y: 0, z: 0 },
});

Health, ownership, and lifetime

Function	Returns	Description
`entity.GetHealth()`	number	Current health, falling back to `0`.
`entity.SetHealth(health)`	undefined	Sets integer health.
`entity.GetMaxHealth()`	number	Maximum health.
`entity.SetMaxHealth(health)`	undefined	Sets integer maximum health.
`entity.SetOwner(owner)`	undefined	Sets an Entity owner. Pass `undefined` or `null` to clear it.
`entity.SetParent(parent)`	undefined	Sets an Entity parent. Pass `undefined` or `null` to clear it.
`entity.Kill()`	undefined	Kills a player through Garry's Mod, or fires the Source `Kill` input for another entity. Worldspawn is rejected.
`entity.Remove()`	undefined	Removes the entity immediately. Players and worldspawn are rejected.

Model and appearance

Function	Returns	Description
`entity.GetModelName()`	string	Current model path, or `""`.
`entity.SetModel(modelName)`	undefined	Precaches and applies a model path of at most 260 bytes.
`entity.GetModelScale()`	number	Current native model scale. The entity must be an animating entity.
`entity.SetModelScale(scale)`	undefined	Applies a native model scale greater than 0 and no greater than 100. The entity must be an animating entity.
`entity.GetColor()`	Color	Current render color and alpha.
`entity.SetColor(color)`	undefined	Sets render color and alpha.
`entity.Glow(color?)`	undefined	Enables the entity's glow effect. The color defaults to opaque white.
`entity.Unglow()`	undefined	Disables the entity's glow effect.
`entity.IsGlowing()`	boolean	Whether glow is currently enabled for the entity.

const objective = Instance.FindEntityByName("mission_objective");

objective?.Glow({ r: 255, g: 180, b: 0, a: 255 });

if (objective?.IsGlowing()) {
	Instance.Msg("Objective glow enabled");
}

Glow state is networked and persists across script reloads. It is cleared by Unglow() or when the entity is removed. Rendering is supplied by the server's client halo integration.

Point templates

Import PointTemplate to identify map-authored Source point_template entities and spawn their configured templates:

import { Instance, PointTemplate } from "lambda_script/point_script";

const spawner = Instance.FindEntityByName("chess.template.pawn.white");
if (spawner instanceof PointTemplate) {
	const spawned = spawner.ForceSpawn();
	const piece = spawned?.[0];
}

ForceSpawn() invokes the native Source ForceSpawn input synchronously and returns the entities created during that input. It returns undefined if the input is rejected, and may return an empty array when the template creates no detectable entity. For predictable spawned[0] behavior, configure the Hammer point_template with one template entity. The referenced template entities must exist and be valid when Source builds the template during map initialization.

Project-specific extensions

A server or gamemode may add extra methods to Entity or player values beyond those documented here. These behave like ordinary entity methods but are server-specific; see project-specific extensions.