Mod request: solution to offline food perishing in multiplayer

[Tabulius]

I had this idea in another thread but I would like to mention it here because I really think something like this could solve the issue of food perishing when you're logged off on multiplayer.

 Here's how it would work. Whenever you place a storage object a system would tag it as yours. Whenever you log off, item aging would pause on all storage objects tagged as yours until someone else uses them or you log back on. If someone other than you uses one of your storage units while you're offline that player gets a temporary tag that lasts as long as their session. And the storage unit they used becomes unpaused until that player also logs off. And of course, if someone breaks the object it loses its tag and if they place it down it will be tagged as theirs.

This method doesn't seem to be easily exploitable, though you will possibly also have to account for hoppers in some way. It doesn't seem that complicated to me but i'm ignorant to how difficult coding something like this in would be. If anyones interested in the idea or shedding light on it's feasibility it'd be appreciated. I might look into making it myself if it's not all that difficult

Edited October 22, 2025 by Tabulius

[Echo Weaver]

Perhaps it could be deliberate rather than automatic. Like, you craft a lock that locks the storage unit to you. Other players cannot use it at all, but spoilage only occurs while you're online. You are then free to also use and contribute to communal food stores that are not affected.

 

[LadyWYT]

There is this mod: https://mods.vintagestory.at/offlinefoodnospoil

It doesn't solve the issue of stored food spoiling, but it will stop any food in a player's inventory from spoiling while they're offline.

13 hours ago, Tabulius said:

This method doesn't seem to be easily exploitable, though you will possibly also have to account for hoppers in some way. It doesn't seem that complicated to me but i'm ignorant to how difficult coding something like this in would be. If anyones interested in the idea or shedding light on it's feasibility it'd be appreciated. I might look into making it myself if it's not all that difficult

It seems like it should be feasible, but then again I'm just making my best guess on that since coding is not my strong point. You might be able to tie it to player land claims somehow. I've not played with land claims in multiplayer, but the potential drawback that I see for "exploits" is abandoning claims or otherwise remaining logged out for a long time. Granted, that's not just a food problem though.

[Echo Weaver]

1 hour ago, LadyWYT said:

There is this mod: https://mods.vintagestory.at/offlinefoodnospoil

I think the issue with that mod is that if you're playing long-term on a server, you can only preserve what you can stuff in your inventory, and you have to stuff it in your inventory before you log out. Ideally, you'd want to be able to be able to store your food in proper vessels in your cellar.

I do think that food should not default to being owned and spoilage-paused. There's just too much food floating around on a multiplayer server. Some of it players are deliberately sharing with each other. 

This is specifically about a server with a lot of players that is going to have time running continuously because it's never empty. Our target user can't log in every day, and when they can log in, they find that the food they stockpiled the last time they played has spoiled. That also means a LOT of time is passing between play sessions, which makes seasons and years whiz past. Players on this server are also not organized into creating a central pantry for players to contribute to and eat what they need; I understand a lot of multiplayer servers do that. 

This is actually a major reason why I've never logged in to a big multiplayer server. I'm quite sure I can't commit to logging in regularly, and then the world and players will have passed me by.

[Draconikard]

On 10/21/2025 at 10:19 PM, Tabulius said:

I had this idea in another thread but I would like to mention it here because I really think something like this could solve the issue of food perishing when you're logged off on multiplayer.

 Here's how it would work. Whenever you place a storage object a system would tag it as yours. Whenever you log off, item aging would pause on all storage objects tagged as yours until someone else uses them or you log back on. If someone other than you uses one of your storage units while you're offline that player gets a temporary tag that lasts as long as their session. And the storage unit they used becomes unpaused until that player also logs off. And of course, if someone breaks the object it loses its tag and if they place it down it will be tagged as theirs.

This method doesn't seem to be easily exploitable, though you will possibly also have to account for hoppers in some way. It doesn't seem that complicated to me but i'm ignorant to how difficult coding something like this in would be. If anyones interested in the idea or shedding light on it's feasibility it'd be appreciated. I might look into making it myself if it's not all that difficult

Hey! I made this mod. Here is a link:

https://mods.vintagestory.at/noofflinecontainerfoodspoil

If possible, I would love some assistance with testing on your own test server/hardware if you have the ability to. I thought the idea was actually a fantastic solution so much that I decided to make it. Hopefully it works well.

[Tabulius]

On 1/10/2026 at 1:10 AM, Draconikard said:

Hey! I made this mod. Here is a link:

https://mods.vintagestory.at/noofflinecontainerfoodspoil

If possible, I would love some assistance with testing on your own test server/hardware if you have the ability to. I thought the idea was actually a fantastic solution so much that I decided to make it. Hopefully it works well.

No way dude! That's sick, I'll be adding it to my future servers and I'll let you know if there's problems. Thanks for putting in the effort where I've been slacking off