Health & Combat

Configure whether a citizen can take damage, their health and damage values, attitude toward players, and fine-tuned detection and combat parameters for hostile citizens.

Where to Find These Settings

Health and combat settings are spread across two places in the UI:

Behaviors screen (Edit Citizen → Behaviors) — Controls Takes Damage, Override Health, Override Damage, Respawn on Death, and Attitude.
Advanced Configuration (at the bottom of Behaviors) — The Combat Config and Detection Config buttons open specialized sub-screens for in-depth tuning.

Basic Health Settings (in Behaviors)

Takes Damage

Toggle whether the citizen can receive damage at all. When disabled, the citizen is completely invulnerable. When enabled, the citizen can be attacked and killed by players.

Override Health

Enable this to set a custom maximum health value. The default health depends on the entity model. Override Health lets you make a citizen significantly tankier (or more fragile) than the default.

Override Damage

Enable this to set the exact damage the citizen deals with each attack, overriding the entity model's default.

Attitude

See the Behaviors page for a full explanation of Passive, Neutral, and Aggressive attitudes. Remember: attitude only takes effect when the movement type is set to Wander.

Combat Configuration

Access via Behaviors → Advanced Configuration → Combat Config.

⚠️

Hytale Value Limits

Hytale enforces minimum and maximum values for all combat parameters. If you change a value and the citizen disappears or behaves unexpectedly, check the server console — it will print the valid min/max range for the field that was out of bounds.

Attack Settings

Field	Description	Default
`attackType`	The attack ability name to use	`Root_NPC_Attack_Melee`
`attackDistance`	Distance at which the citizen can land an attack (blocks)	`2.0`
`desiredAttackDistanceMin / Max`	The preferred distance range the citizen tries to maintain while attacking	varies
`attackPauseMin / Max`	Time range (seconds) between attacks	varies
`combatAttackPreDelayMin / Max`	Wind-up time before the attack animation fires	varies
`combatAttackPostDelayMin / Max`	Recovery time after the attack fires	varies

Blocking

Field	Description	Default
`blockAbility`	The block/shield ability to use	`Shield_Block`
`blockProbability`	Chance (0–100) the citizen attempts to block incoming attacks	`50`

Movement in Combat

Field	Description	Default
`chaseSpeed`	Speed multiplier when chasing a target (0–1)	`0.67`
`combatBehaviorDistance`	Distance at which the citizen switches into active combat mode (blocks)	`5.0`
`combatStrafeWeight`	Weight for strafing (side-stepping) movement during combat	`10`
`combatDirectWeight`	Weight for moving directly toward the target during combat	`10`
`combatMovingRelativeSpeed`	Speed while moving toward target in combat (0–1)	`0.6`
`combatBackwardsRelativeSpeed`	Speed while moving backwards in combat (0–1)	`0.3`
`combatFleeIfTooCloseDistance`	If a target gets closer than this distance, the citizen will flee. Set to `0` to disable.	`0` (disabled)
`backOffAfterAttack`	Whether the citizen steps back after attacking	`true`
`backOffDistance`	How far to step back after attacking (blocks)	`4.0`
`backOffDurationMin / Max`	Time range (seconds) spent backing off	varies

Targeting

Field	Description	Default
`targetRange`	Range within which the citizen acquires a new target (blocks)	`4.0`
`targetSwitchTimerMin / Max`	How long before the citizen can switch to a different target	varies

Detection Configuration

Access via Behaviors → Advanced Configuration → Detection Config. Detection controls how and when a citizen notices players.

Detection Ranges

Field	Description	Default
`viewRange`	How far the citizen can see (blocks)	`15`
`viewSector`	Field of view in degrees	`180`
`hearingRange`	How far the citizen can detect player movement (blocks)	`8`
`absoluteDetectionRange`	Always detects players within this range, ignoring line of sight (blocks)	`2`
`alertedRange`	Radius in which nearby citizens are also alerted (blocks)	`45`
`investigateRange`	How far the citizen will travel to investigate a sound or last-known position (blocks)	`40`
`chanceToBeAlertedWhenReceivingCallForHelp`	Probability (0–100) of responding when a nearby citizen calls for help	`70`

Alert & Search Timers

Field	Description	Default
`alertedTimeMin / Max`	Time (seconds) the citizen stays in the alerted state	`1.0 – 2.0`
`confusedTimeMin / Max`	Time (seconds) the citizen appears confused after losing a target	`1.0 – 2.0`
`searchTimeMin / Max`	Time (seconds) the citizen actively searches for a lost target	`10.0 – 14.0`

Tip: For a ranged enemy, increase attackDistance and set combatFleeIfTooCloseDistance to a positive value so the citizen tries to maintain range instead of closing in.

Tip: Set blockProbability to 0 to completely disable blocking, or 100 to make the citizen block every incoming attack.