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ChatMessage

Vanilla game class at Assets.Scripts.Networking.ChatMessage. The wire-format message carrying in-world chat. Indexed at 80 in the MessageFactory.

Fields and Process logic

Source: F0071.

Namespace: Assets.Scripts.Networking Base class: ProcessedMessage<ChatMessage> (which extends MessageBase<T>) MessageFactory index: 80

Fields: - long HumanId - the sender's Thing.ReferenceId. Set to -1 for server/batch messages (no associated human entity) - string DisplayName - the sender's display name. "Server" for batch mode, player name otherwise - string ChatText - the message body

Serialization order (must match exactly): HumanId, DisplayName, ChatText.

Process() logic: 

PrintToConsole()                    // always: writes "DisplayName: ChatText" to console in cyan
if (NetworkManager.IsServer)
    NetworkServer.SendToClients()   // server broadcasts to all connected clients
Thing.Find<Human>(HumanId)          // look up sender entity
if (human exists && not local player)
    human.SetChatText(ChatText)     // show chat bubble above their head

When HumanId is -1, Thing.Find<Human>(-1) returns null, so no chat bubble appears. The message still shows in every player's console/chat log. This is the correct behavior for a bot: text in chat, no floating bubble.

Client-side Process exemption

Source: F0095b.

ChatCanvas is attached to each Human entity and manages the floating chat bubble UI. ChatWindow handles the typewriter-style text animation. In NetworkBase.DeserializeReceivedData(), most message types log an error if processed on a non-server peer. ChatMessage is explicitly exempted from this check, meaning clients process it normally (print to console + show bubble). This is standard for broadcast messages.

Chat channel: there is none

Source: $(StationeersPath)\rocketstation_Data\Managed\Assembly-CSharp.dll :: Assets.Scripts.Networking.ChatMessage, Util.Commands.SayCommand.

ChatMessage has no channel / scope field. Its only serialized fields are HumanId, DisplayName, ChatText. Vanilla has no notion of a private chat, squad chat, or team channel in this message type.

The string NetworkChannel elsewhere in the codebase (enum Assets.Scripts.Networking.NetworkChannel with values GeneralTraffic = 134, PlayerJoin, StateTick, Unreliable, SteamP2PConnectionRequest, SteamP2PConnectionAccepted, SteamP2PHeartbeat, NumChannels) is the transport-layer channel, not a chat scope. ChatMessage.Process sends over NetworkChannel.GeneralTraffic, the same channel every other gameplay message uses.

There is no ChatChannel enum. The only other chat-related message type is ChatStatusMessage (HumanId + bool IsTyping), which drives the chat-bubble typing indicator.

Consequence for patch code: a Harmony postfix on ChatMessage.Process cannot filter "public chat only"; every chat line that goes through ChatMessage.Process IS the single chat stream. The only filters available are:

  • HumanId == -1 (server batch message, no associated human, no bubble).
  • HumanId == InventoryManager.Parent?.ReferenceId (message authored by the local player) - use this to avoid self-responses.
  • ChatText prefix / content matching for command-style filtering.

Verification history

  • 2026-04-20: page created from the Research migration; verbatim content lifted from F0071, F0095b. No conflicts.
  • 2026-04-21: added "Chat channel: there is none" section documenting the absence of a chat-channel field on ChatMessage and clarifying that NetworkChannel is a transport-layer enum, not a chat scope. Additive only; no existing content changed. Game version 0.2.6228.27061.

Open questions

None.