Question about the spawn locations during temporal storms...

[Broccoli Clock]

I'm feeling salty, I was just merc'ed by a double headed drifter (lvl 4) while in a very small room (4x7) with two light sources situated at either end (levels 18 and 16, respectively) and even a cheeky wee candle on the floor...

Temporal storms are not difficult and if I've no problem with the mobs spawning I'd just like to know how this can happen as to me it shouldn't have spawned because of (a) light level, and (b) the proximity to the player. I can't be sure exactly the square they spawned on, as I wasn't looking. The top of the bed is the farthest point inside the house from where I was standing, at 3 blocks distance. That coupled with not just one but two light sources, one of them almost directly above where the mob could have spawned, has me a little confused.

Any ideas or have I just been really unlucky in terms of how the RNG spawning mechanism works.

 

 

Edit: Here is the room from a better angle..

 

Edited December 16, 2025 by Broccoli Clock

[MKMoose]

The short of it is that you were most likely just unlucky and there probably isn't anything you can really do about it.

Prevailing wisdom suggests that temporal storms allow rotbeasts to spawn practically anywhere they please. According to the wiki, the only condition is that they have to physically fit in the space (and I think that checks out with the source code). I don't think you can fully prevent spawns without just cramming yourself into a space with at least one dimension smaller than the minimum required for spawning. I'm not sure whether the player counts as an obstruction as well.

The required space, I think, is the collision box of the entity that the game is attmepting to spawn plus 0.1 in every direction except down (I can't look up the collision boxes for the rotbeasts at the moment, but if you're feeling adventurous then they should probably be in the JSON definitions, somewhere in %AppData%/VintageStory/assets).

[Broccoli Clock]

1 minute ago, MKMoose said:

The short of it is that you were most likely just unlucky and there probably isn't anything you can really do about it.

Prevailing wisdom suggests that temporal storms allow rotbeasts to spawn practically anywhere they please. According to the wiki, the only condition is that they have to physically fit in the space (and I think that checks out with the source code). I don't think you can fully prevent spawns without just cramming yourself into a space with at least one dimension smaller than the minimum required for spawning. I'm not sure whether the player counts as an obstruction as well.

Sounds about right, just unlucky. I've spoken to others before about the minimum spawn distance and from memory it used to be something like 2 or 3 blocks away. Like you, I never asked if that included the square you are standing on. 

I'll mark your comment as solved, as to be honest it's what I thought too, but just wanted to check... 

[Maelstrom]

10 hours ago, MKMoose said:

Prevailing wisdom suggests that temporal storms allow rotbeasts to spawn practically anywhere they please. According to the wiki, the only condition is that they have to physically fit in the space (and I think that checks out with the source code). I don't think you can fully prevent spawns without just cramming yourself into a space with at least one dimension smaller than the minimum required for spawning. I'm not sure whether the player counts as an obstruction as well.

Not just prevailing wisdom but actual game mechanics.   

At least they don't spawn on the same block as the seraph anymore.  That's really fun to get your first storm and have a nightmare drifter one shot you from behind before you even know it popped into existence.  By the time double headed drifters came about drifters had the courtesy to respect about 2-3 blocks of personal space and take a second or three to orient to their new dimension before bopping your noggin' back to spawn.

[Zane Mordien]

The intention is for their to be no safe place in a storm. 

[Broccoli Clock]

11 hours ago, Zane Mordien said:

The intention is for their to be no safe place in a storm. 

Which is fine, but you need a certain level of balance, for example you shouldn't expect mobs that can one hit you to spawn on the block next to you. If that is intentional then the only solution to that is to nerdpole during a storm, and that would be 100% safe.

There are certain caveats, we know this, in terms of proximity and light levels, and the reason for this post is to ask why, given what I'd experienced before and from the chat on this forum, the mob spawned so close to me.

[Maelstrom]

The other night I was working on the platform that will become my  workshop.  No temporal storm and a drifter popped into existence about 5 blocks away.  Uhhh...  Hello?   Then another 2 or 3 popped into existence.   Checked the sun, yep still an in game hour before sunset.  Check the rift activity...   Holy Hell Batman!   apocalyptic!   And it lasted almost the entire night!   Until recently apocalyptic levels of rift activity have been exceedingly short.

[Broccoli Clock]

40 minutes ago, Maelstrom said:

The other night I was working on the platform that will become my  workshop.  No temporal storm and a drifter popped into existence about 5 blocks away.  Uhhh...  Hello?   Then another 2 or 3 popped into existence.   Checked the sun, yep still an in game hour before sunset.  Check the rift activity...   Holy Hell Batman!   apocalyptic!   And it lasted almost the entire night!   Until recently apocalyptic levels of rift activity have been exceedingly short.

Interestingly I've noticed this more. Now it could be observation bias, the more I play games the more obscure or unlikely things I'll see, but in a similar situation I was walking between two (self built) buildings and literally 3 drifters spawned out of nowhere, about the same number of blocks away.

I can understand that in a temporal storm enemies could "enter our world from the rust world" at any position, so the idea they can spawn in near you seems fair if a little worrisome. However in previous builds (and again there could be no changes made on this, and it's just observation bias) I found that the non temporal storm spawns were out of my line of sight and they would make their way to me rather than spawning closer within my vision.

Edited December 17, 2025 by Broccoli Clock

[Maelstrom]

1.20 changed rift spawn rules.  They can now occur during the day for any rift activity.  I saw a shiver spawn in middle of the day during low rift activity (although faulty memory says it was calm when it popped into existence in front of my eyes).  Tyron has confirmed daytime spawns are now intended.

[Steel General]

I had a game recently, 1.20.x, maybe 1.19.x, in which I nerd-poled on packed dirt, planted a lantern on top, sat down, and shortly had a shiver spawn on top of me. Its legs were off the pole to every side, and it... idled. It couldn't see me. After a while rolled up in a ball for a spasm - hanging in the air off one side of the tower - and I decided that was my best chance to knock it off so I hit it with a falx. It fell off, and it hit me back, but I did not fall for I was sitting.

So no, nerd-poles aren't really safe anymore - they're just very likely to be.

[Zane Mordien]

11 hours ago, Broccoli Clock said:

Which is fine, but you need a certain level of balance, for example you shouldn't expect mobs that can one hit you to spawn on the block next to you. If that is intentional then the only solution to that is to nerdpole during a storm, and that would be 100% safe.

There are certain caveats, we know this, in terms of proximity and light levels, and the reason for this post is to ask why, given what I'd experienced before and from the chat on this forum, the mob spawned so close to me.

Light has no affect during a storm. Proximity is a myth from my experience. They will spawn right in top of you in a storm. Nerd poles will only be safe until nerfed by flying temporal storm mobs. Which will come one day IMO.

Edited December 17, 2025 by Zane Mordien

[Broccoli Clock]

16 hours ago, Zane Mordien said:

Light has no affect during a storm. Proximity is a myth from my experience. They will spawn right in top of you in a storm. Nerd poles will only be safe until nerfed by flying temporal storm mobs. Which will come one day IMO.

Going to need some clarification on that, as I've had conflicting replies (from experienced players).

I am guessing the way you write that, the assumption is that light and proximity does have an effect on non-storm enemy spawn. That would align with not just anecdotal evidence but from personal experience.

As for the storms, 1000s of hours in (no flex, many have more) I have never had it spawn in on me on the same block. With that in mind I think the nerdpole is 100% effective (so long as you are high enough to be out of range of a bowtorn's arrow.

In regard to flying mobs, yes, I think that is something that would change the meta significantly. It has to be done correctly though, and by that I mean the paths it "flies" needs to look realistic. We don't even have bird flight in the game yet!

 

[Zane Mordien]

6 hours ago, Broccoli Clock said:

Going to need some clarification on that, as I've had conflicting replies (from experienced players).

It's been that way since 1.18 when I started. I've had them spawn in small well lighted rooms multiple times over my good knows how many temporal storms. If you are 1000s of hours in and never had it happened you are lucky. All the threads I've ever read say that light has no affect and there is no safe radius. I've read multiple posts debunking the safe radius idea in storms. Shivers and Bowtorns require larger spawning areas so you don't see them in a small room like yours, but drifters very much can spawn in a well lighted area.  Unless that's something that has changed. @LadyWYT@Thorfinn

[LadyWYT]

7 hours ago, Broccoli Clock said:

We don't even have bird flight in the game yet!

Well technically...you could say we do, since:

Spoiler

The Mad Crow looks like a bird and flies.

For an actual flying enemy though, I think I would either make it an enemy unique to a story location, or make it an enemy with limited flight abilities. That is, maybe it utilizes flight to ambush a target, or otherwise chase it down, and then fights on the ground. Likewise, it could also use flight to quickly escape situations it feels it might lose. That way it can have some unique fight characteristics, as well as a definite advantage, but not be implemented in such a way that it's going to be too annoying to deal with, or force the player to rely only on ranged weapons to deal with it.

 

51 minutes ago, Zane Mordien said:

It's been that way since 1.18 when I started. I've had them spawn in small well lighted rooms multiple times over my good knows how many temporal storms. If you are 1000s of hours in and never had it happened you are lucky. All the threads I've ever read say that light has no affect and there is no safe radius. I've read multiple posts debunking the safe radius idea in storms. Shivers and Bowtorns require larger spawning areas so you don't see them in a small room like yours, but drifters very much can spawn in a well lighted area.  Unless that's something that has changed. @LadyWYT@Thorfinn

To my knowledge lighting doesn't affect temporal storm spawns very much, if at all. As for a minimum spawn distance from the player, I think there is supposed to be one, but I'm not entirely sure what it is, or if it functions correctly for every spawn. I've had a monster or two seemingly spawn right on top of me during a storm, however, those were also fairly rare occasions indoors, and when it happened outdoors I think it's more likely that the monster spawned further away and came up behind me without my notice.

Overall, the best strategy to weather a storm safely, is stay indoors in a brightly lit area, preferably a smaller room with lots of decoration. That should minimize the chance of anything spawning close to you, while still giving you enough space to do things and defend yourself if a monster does happen to spawn.

Edit: I will note that if one has to be stuck indoors with a monster, a drifter is the most likely candidate, but a bowtorn is actually the most ideal spawn. The reason for that is drifters have no qualms about playing patty-cake, but bowtorn do not like targets getting too close and will resort to running around in circles if they spawn indoors. Their melee attack is rather easy to dodge and they have a low health pool, so even the high tier bowtorn aren't terribly hard to take down in this circumstance.

Edited December 18, 2025 by LadyWYT

[MKMoose]

6 hours ago, Broccoli Clock said:

Going to need some clarification on that, as I've had conflicting replies (from experienced players).

7 minutes ago, LadyWYT said:

To my knowledge lighting doesn't affect temporal storm spawns very much, if at all. As for a minimum spawn distance from the player, I think there is supposed to be one, but I'm not entirely sure what it is, or if it functions correctly for every spawn.

I've looked through the code more thoroughly today, and I didn't find any spawn conditions (besides a collision check) being used during storms. In fact, it doesn't even test whether the player is in the way, so it could spawn something exactly on top of them. It's very rare simply because the game chooses a position randomly in a 15-block range and there's many more blocks to choose from as distance increases (e.g. a 5x5 area centered on the player is just 25 blocks, so the chance that something spawns within this area and not further away is less than 3%, assuming a completely flat area with no additional obstructions).

Both light level and proximity to the player do impact spawning outside of storms. You can look it up or look into the code, but I can also describe it later if there's demand.

 

22 minutes ago, Zane Mordien said:

Shivers and Bowtorns require larger spawning areas so you don't see them in a small room like yours

Though it's admittedly a bit of a nitpick, I can say based on both personal experience and code that bowtorns can spawn in a room this size easily, almost as easily as drifters. Shivers are less common due to their horizontal hitbox size exceeding 0.8, which as far as I can tell causes the game to check for collisions in a 3x3 area (or at least 2x2, even if I misread something), and not 1x1 like for drifters and bowtorns. For bowtorns height is more of a limiting factor, but they still fit in 2.5 blocks, while the room in question looks like it's at least 4 blocks high not accounting for furniture. Both bowtorns and shivers are also less common on the whole.

[Zane Mordien]

49 minutes ago, MKMoose said:

Though it's admittedly a bit of a nitpick, I can say based on both personal experience and code that bowtorns can spawn in a room this size easily, almost as easily as drifters.

Im deeply insulted !!!

The bowtorn just requires 3 blocks tall? I have yet to get one indoors myself. Pre 1.20 storms spawned alot indoors IMO since the drifters were the only storm spawn and they require only 2 blocks or 1 for the crawler. 

[Professor Dragon]

49 minutes ago, MKMoose said:

I've looked through the code more thoroughly today, and I didn't find any spawn conditions (besides a collision check) being used during storms.
.
.
.

Both light level and proximity to the player do impact spawning outside of storms. You can look it up or look into the code, but I can also describe it later if there's demand.

THANK YOU! ! ! 

I've been looking for the Temporal Spawn code for ages, and never quite found it.

(Now I've realised I don't have the knowledge to read it, so I'm glad you can.)

Professor Dragon.

[Professor Dragon]

9 minutes ago, Zane Mordien said:

Im deeply insulted !!!

The bowtorn just requires 3 blocks tall? I have yet to get one indoors myself. Pre 1.20 storms spawned alot indoors IMO since the drifters were the only storm spawn and they require only 2 blocks or 1 for the crawler. 

I had a Corrupt Bowtorn spawn in a space which was two blocks tall plus the one voxel removed to keep my armour stand centered.
I was sleeping in that bed just to the left at the time, so within four blocks (or less).

 

Edited December 18, 2025 by Professor Dragon

[LadyWYT]

17 minutes ago, Zane Mordien said:

The bowtorn just requires 3 blocks tall?

Not in my experience. Bowtorn require the space to be more than 2 blocks tall, but it can still be less than 3 blocks. I've seen them spawn in rooms that were 2.5 blocks tall due to the ceiling being slabs. Granted, they prefer to spawn in spaces that have at least a 3 block high ceiling, so it's not as common to see them spawn with ceilings slightly lower than that.