Table of Contents

Entity-Component-System

SampSharp is built on the Entity-Component-System (ECS) architecture. Every gamemode you write organizes its logic into three concepts:

  • Entities — unique identifiers for things in the game world (a player, a vehicle, a custom item).
  • Components — data attached to entities (a Player's Position, a BankAccount you defined).
  • Systems — logic that operates on entities by reading their components and responding to events.

Rather than deep class inheritance, ECS uses composition: you build complex entities by attaching whichever components they need.

How the pieces fit together

graph LR
    E[Entity] -->|has| C[Components]
    C -->|read / mutated by| S[System]
    Ev[Event] -->|triggers| S

When events arrive, the dispatcher passes the relevant components from the involved entities into your system methods — you do not query for components directly.

Example: a player picks up an item

  1. open.mp fires a pickup event.
  2. A system receives the Player and Pickup components.
  3. The system updates the player's inventory based on the pickup data.
  4. The system removes the pickup entity.

Example: a player exits a vehicle

  1. open.mp fires a vehicle exit event.
  2. A system receives the Player and Vehicle components.
  3. The system calculates a fare based on distance traveled and gives money to the player.
  4. The system logs the ride for statistics.
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