stimers

stimers is a server-side timer/cooldown wrapper for Luanti mods.

It stores expiry timestamps as Unix seconds in mod storage, so timers persist across reconnects and server restarts.

Features

• Server-side cooldown/timer state
• Unix expiry storage
• Shared API for any mod

API

All functions are on the global table stimers.

Core helpers

• stimers.now() -> integer
• stimers.make_key(scope, key) -> string|nil

Expiry operations

• stimers.get_expires_at(player_or_name, key) -> integer
• stimers.set_expires_at(player_or_name, key, unix_ts) -> boolean
• stimers.clear(player_or_name, key) -> boolean

Cooldown operations

• stimers.start(player_or_name, key, duration_seconds) -> ok, expires_at
• stimers.remaining(player_or_name, key[, now_ts]) -> remaining_seconds, expires_at
• stimers.is_ready(player_or_name, key[, now_ts]) -> ready, remaining_seconds, expires_at
• stimers.check_and_start(player_or_name, key, duration_seconds) -> allowed, remaining_seconds, expires_at

check_and_start is the most useful wrapper:

• If timer is active, returns allowed=false and current remaining seconds.
• If timer is ready, starts it and returns allowed=true.

Cleanup

• stimers.clear_player(player_or_name[, key_prefix]) -> removed_count

Integration Example

local ST = rawget(_G, "stimers")
local KEY = ST and ST.make_key("my_mod", "ability_x") or "my_mod:ability_x"

local function use_ability(player)
    if not ST or not KEY then
        return false, "Timer API unavailable."
    end

    local allowed, remaining = ST.check_and_start(player, KEY, 30)
    if not allowed then
        return false, string.format("Ability cooldown: wait %ds.", math.max(1, math.ceil(remaining or 0)))
    end

    -- ability logic here
    return true, "Ability activated."
end

Hooking Into Your Mod

1. Add stimers to your mod depends in mod.conf.
2. Build a namespaced key per cooldown.
3. Gate action handlers with check_and_start.