Wind Drift, HUD, and Ground Detection

Wind drift is the part of Plane Deploy that makes a drop feel like an insertion instead of a static teleport.

It should feel intentional, not like the server launched the player sideways by accident.

The current wind block

Wind drift currently lives here:

windDrift:
  enabled: true
  tickIntervalTicks: 1
  activeSeconds: 6.0
  speedBlocksPerSecond: 2.6
  ignoreWhenParachuteOpen: false
  direction:
    x: 0.0
    z: -1.0
  oscillation:
    enabled: true
    speedBlocksPerSecond: 0.8

What this system is supposed to do

The intended feel is:

• a stable base directional push
• some side-to-side variation
• a limited active window right after deploy
• no runaway acceleration

That is why the section is built around blocks per second and a timed active window instead of unbounded repeated force.

The most important knobs

activeSeconds

How long wind remains part of the deployment experience.

Shorter values make wind feel like the first shove out of the door. Longer values make it a much larger navigation system.

speedBlocksPerSecond

The main directional push. This is the first number to change when a drop feels too dead or too aggressive.

direction

The base heading for the wind. On many servers, north is -Z, but your map layout matters more than a generic axis rule.

ignoreWhenParachuteOpen

Use this when you want the parachute controller to own the player's movement once the canopy is open.

Leave it false when wind is part of the intended glide feel.

oscillation

This adds short gust segments and sideways wobble.

Use it for:

• making drops feel more alive
• breaking perfectly straight descent lines
• creating lane variance without changing the base direction

HUD interaction

The altitude HUD is configured separately under hud, but players experience it as part of the same descent layer.

The default bossbar uses:

• a title of ALT: {altitude}m
• segmented style
• high, mid, and low color thresholds

That means the HUD and wind tuning should usually be tested together.

Ground detection and landing feel

Ground detection is not only a parachute concern. It affects when:

• the HUD ends
• the player transitions to GROUND
• deploy-only effects stop
• fall suppression windows no longer matter

If the landing phase feels early, late, or inconsistent, do not only stare at the parachute code. Re-check HUD altitude tolerance and the overall deploy-state transition timing too.

Safe tuning approach

When tuning wind, change one lane at a time:

1. set the base direction
2. set the base speed
3. set the active window
4. only then add oscillation

That sequence keeps you from fighting three different motion variables at once.

Common bad outcomes

The main warning signs are:

• players getting pushed far beyond the intended lane
• wind disappearing before the descent feels established
• open parachutes fighting the wind layer
• HUD ending while the player still clearly feels airborne

If any of those happen, compare this page with deploy Flow, Player State, HUD, and Plane Visual so you verify the core state flow before you keep nudging wind numbers.