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Realm basics

This page serves to explain the basics about what the meaning of SH / CL / SV is.

What is a realm?

In gLUA there exist 2 main sides for running code:

  • Serverside
  • Clientside

Any code you run always runs on either client or server. There is no code that is - willingly and at the same exact time - ran by both server and client simultaneously.

In the gmod wiki there is a color scheme for differentiating between server, client or shared functions:
If the color of the square on the left of the function name is

  • blue , then it is server-only
  • orange, then it is client-only
  • blue and orange , then it can be used on both

Serverside

The server starts loading lua files when it starts.
Basically speaking: It loads all sv_ and sh_ files.

This means that the code in the sv file can be expected to only run on the server and can thus contain only serverside functions.
If you have a function like render.X or draw.X in a server file then it will create errors because the server doesn't know these functions.

In the gmod wiki the, for example, chat.AddText function has an orange square beside it, which means you can only use it in clientside files and NOT in serverside files.

To quickly know if a function is server-only: If you think you could cheat / hack / exploit with it by running it on the client then it is server-only.

Clientside

The client starts loading lua files when it joins a server and finished downloading all required assets like workshop and fastdl.
Basically speaking: It loads all cl_ and sh_ files.

Code in clientside files is expected to only run on the client. The client doesn't know functions like PrintMessage because it is server only, which can also be seen by the blue square in the gmod wiki beside the function.

To quickly know if a function is client-only: If it has something to do with the HUD or other frame-drawing logic then it is client only.

Shared

The shared (sh_) files are loaded by both server and client.
This means that the code inside those files has to be programmed while expecting this. This means that, for example, a function call that has to be made in a CLIENT only codeblock could look like this:

if CLIENT then
    print("I am the client!")
end
if SERVER then
    print("I am the server!")
end

If a client loads this file then it prints the first message in the game console, if the server starts up the second print will be printed to the server console.

Warning: The client and the server do NOT share the same variables!

Take a look at the following example:

mySharedVar = 0
function PrintMyVar()
    print("My var is: "..mySharedVar)
end
function SetMyVar(num)
    mySharedVar = num
end

Now if we run this and set the value only on the serverside the clientside value doesn't change:

] lua_run_cl PrintMyVar()
My var is: 0
] lua_run PrintMyVar()
> PrintMyVar()...
My var is: 0
] lua_run SetMyVar(3)
> SetMyVar(3)...
] lua_run_cl PrintMyVar()
My var is: 0
] lua_run PrintMyVar()
> PrintMyVar()...
My var is: 3

The shared file is loaded by both realms but does not share anything between server and client except the text that the file contains.