Wiki
DuckShell NPCs Wiki
NPC systems, patrols, spawners, combat AI, dialogue delivery, and live-server operations for the DuckShell stack.
Getting Started
Start here for first boot, file layout, and the admin surfaces that control the rest of the plugin.
AI and Combat
Separate global AI policy, per-type identity, awareness, cover, and personality presets without turning the roster into guesswork.
World Content
Keep patrol routes and persistent spawners as separate world systems with their own save files and editor workflows.
Presentation and Ecosystem
Handle disguises, skins, bubbles, dialogue delivery, and cross-plugin cooperation without burying those concerns in AI pages.
Runtime and Troubleshooting
Run live-server debug, Spark, corpse-loot checks, and civilian-arming validation without losing track of the real problem.
DuckShell is the encounter and world-content layer inside Block Arsenal. It covers shell types, AI behavior, patrol routes, persistent spawners, dialogue delivery, corpse handling, companion systems, and the combat-facing bridge into Duck Shot.
This wiki mirrors the public DuckShell download page and is meant to help server owners and builders understand the shape of the system before they disappear into the deeper docs.
Start here
If you are brand new to DuckShell, use this order:
1. Install and first boot
Start with install, First Boot, and Admin Surfaces so the generated files and first admin tools already make sense.
2. Learn the file map before editing types
Read global Config, Runtime, and File Map so you know what belongs in config.yml, patrols.yml, spawners.yml, and cached appearance files.
3. Separate global AI from per-type identity
Use shell Types, AI Director, and Combat Behavior before you start changing loadouts, factions, and overrides.
4. Build world content as a separate lane
Read patrols, Spawners, and Persistence and patrol Editor and Spawner Workflows once the first shell loop already works.
5. Add presentation after behavior is trustworthy
Use presentation, Skins, and integration bridges and dialogue Bubbles, Hints, and Companion Delivery once the NPCs already behave the way you want.
What DuckShell actually covers
DuckShell is not just an NPC spawn utility.
It gives you:
- authored shell types and combat behavior
- awareness, investigation, cover, and personality tuning
- patrol routes and persistent spawner systems
- cached appearance, skins, and dialogue delivery
- corpse handling and live-server troubleshooting surfaces
The file map that matters most
DuckShell revolves around a small set of files and admin surfaces that solve very different jobs:
config.ymlfor global runtime defaults, AI Director policy, companion logic, presentation, combat behavior, and shell-type definitionspatrols.ymlfor stored routes, patrol spawn entries, return-to-route behavior, and boundary dataspawners.ymlfor persistent spawner entries, alive-count maintenance, and activation logichead_cache.ymlfor cached appearance data used by skins, heads, and presentation layers/duckshell,/npc, and the GUI surfaces for AI Director, NPC Type Editor, Patrol GUI, and Spawner Browser
The more clearly you separate those lanes, the easier DuckShell becomes to author and support.
Documentation map
Getting Started
AI and Combat
- shell Types, AI Director, and Combat Behavior
- awareness, Investigation, Cover, and Personality Presets
World Content
presentation and integrations
Runtime and Troubleshooting
Recommended order
If you are bringing DuckShell onto a live server
- install, First Boot, and Admin Surfaces
- global Config, Runtime, and File Map
- debug, Performance, Corpses, and Live Ops
If you are building NPC types and combat rosters
- shell Types, AI Director, and Combat Behavior
- awareness, Investigation, Cover, and Personality Presets
- presentation, Skins, and integration bridges
If you are building encounter content in the world
Quick help
If patrols are not resuming, corpses are not behaving the way you expect, or large combat passes start feeling unstable, jump straight to debug, Performance, Corpses, and Live Ops.