Set Block

Editing the map on the fly: a block appears instantly, with no construction, no resources and no queue

mediumYou need: What is on a tile, Content constants

steptick 0

Set Block0

layerfloorblockxyteamrotation

Set Block1

layeroreblockxyteamrotation

Set Block2

layerblockblockxyteamrotation

Set Block3

layerblockblockxyteamrotation

Get Block4

layerfloorresultxy

Get Block5

layeroreresultxy

Get Block6

layerblockresultxy

Get Block7

layerblockresultxy

Stop8

@counter0number

floornullnull

orenullnull

wallnullnull

removednullnull

setblock floor @metal-floor 6 4 @sharded 0
setblock ore @ore-titanium 6 4 @sharded 0
setblock block @copper-wall 8 4 @sharded 0
setblock block @air 12 4 @sharded 0

Four lines change the map: the floor turns metal, titanium ore appears on top of it, a copper wall grows beside it — and the router on tile 12 4 disappears.

Field	What is in it
first	the layer: floor, ore or block
second	what to place: a block constant or @air
third and fourth	the tile’s coordinates
fifth	the team — only for the block layer
sixth	rotation, 0 to 3 — for conveyors and drills

Removal is @air

There is no separate “remove” instruction: you put air into a layer and whatever was there disappears. No rubble, no refund, no animation.

Ore is cleared the same way: setblock ore @air 6 4 clears the overlay, leaving the floor.

Silent failure

The floor cannot be removed this way. A tile always has some floor, and setblock floor @air simply does nothing. To “remove” a floor you put another one in its place.

The layer and the content have to match

setblock floor @router will not put a router on the floor and will not make a router-floor. It simply does nothing — silently, like almost everything in mlog.

Layer	What it accepts
floor	floors only: @sand-floor, @metal-floor, @water
ore	ores and overlays only: @ore-copper, @air
block	anything buildable, plus natural walls and @air

setblock has no building layer at all: a structure cannot be placed that way, only a block — and its structure appears by itself.

Coordinates are truncated here and rounded next door

steptick 0

Set Block0

layerblockblockxyteamrotation

Get Block1

layerblockresultxy

Get Block2

layerblockresultxy

Stop3

@counter0number

wherePlacednullnull

sameNumbersnullnull

Here is the non-obvious part, and it is not a liberty of ours but the game’s behaviour:

setblock block @copper-wall 7.9 4.9 @sharded 0
getblock block sameNumbers 7.9 4.9

The wall goes onto tile 7 4 — the fractional part is dropped. And getblock, given the very same numbers, looks at tile 8 5, because it rounds. The result: the program does not find the wall it has just placed.

Silent failure

Make coordinates whole before passing them on. If the coordinates come from a calculation — from a unit, from the centre of the map, from a division — put them through op floor and work with the whole number from then on. Then both instructions talk about the same tile.

These two instructions parted ways in version 160.2: setblock’s rounding was replaced with truncation, while getblock was left as it was.

Note

The team in the fifth field decides whose block appears: @sharded is yours, @crux the enemy’s, @derelict nobody’s. That is how enemy defences are laid out on a scripted map.

Remember

• setblock layer what x y team rotation changes a map tile instantly.
• Removal is @air in the right layer; a floor cannot be removed, only replaced.
• The layer and the content have to match, or the line silently does nothing.
• setblock’s coordinates are truncated while getblock’s are rounded.
• The team in the fifth field decides whose the building will be.

Task

In the first example change @copper-wall to @router: a router appears instead of a wall — the block layer takes anything buildable.

Then write setblock floor @copper-wall 6 4 @sharded 0: the floor does not change and there is no error. The layer and the content did not match.