Charge Asset Reference

Intermediate40-60 minutesWindowsNotepad++Unity Editor

A charge asset (also called a remote explosive or a placed explosive) is a barricade-type item that a player can deploy into the world and detonate remotely using a compatible detonator tool. The charge asset is defined by the ItemChargeAsset class, which inherits from BarricadeAsset and adds the explosive damage properties, detonation radius, and launch-force mechanics that make placed explosives distinct from thrown grenades or rocket ammunition. Vanilla charge items include the Demolition Charge, the Bounce Charge, and the Precision Charge - each filling a different role in the explosive toolkit.

This article is the 57 Studios™ canonical reference for the charge asset subtype. It covers every .dat field that applies to charge assets, the placement and detonation mechanic, the inherited BarricadeAsset fields that govern placement rules and health, the full damage field set including the Explosion2 visual effect linkage and the Explosion_Launch_Speed launch mechanic, the Offset placement positioning field, and the charge-detonator pairing system. A charge asset uses the same .dat field structure as other barricade-type items but adds a substantial field set unique to explosives; this article documents the complete union of inherited and class-specific fields.

Documentation source: This article references the official Smartly Dressed Games modding documentation for field definitions and game behavior. Community-validated notes are marked where the official documentation is silent on a detail. The vanilla game files cited throughout this article were read from the Unturned™ installation at Bundles/Items/Barricades/.

Who this article is for

This article is written for Unturned™ mod authors who have already completed at least one barricade-type item mod and are familiar with the master bundle pipeline and .dat authoring workflow. If you are new to Unturned™ modding, start with Project Folder Structure and GUIDs, Item Asset Anatomy, and Objects Structures Assets before returning here. Familiarity with the barricade placement system, barricade health mechanics, and the interaction between placed items and the world is assumed.

How the charge system works

The charge system involves four distinct phases: placement, arming, detonation, and resolution. Each phase is governed by different engine systems and involves different configuration fields.

Phase 1: Placement

When a player activates a charge item from their inventory, the engine enters the barricade placement mode. The charge appears as a translucent preview at the player's cursor position, snapping to surfaces (ground, walls, ceilings, vehicles) according to the barricade placement rules defined by the BarricadeAsset parent class. The player confirms the placement with a primary click, and the charge is deployed into the world as a physical object with its own health pool, collision body, and networked state.

Phase 2: Arming

A placed charge is armed when it is activated by a compatible remote detonator tool. The detonator tool defines its own activation radius and behavior. When a player holding a compatible detonator activates it within range of a placed charge, the charge enters the armed state. The arming step is instantaneous in the vanilla system, though some modded detonators implement a delay or channeled arm sequence.

Phase 3: Detonation

When the detonator is triggered (typically through a secondary activation or a dedicated "detonate" interaction), every armed charge within the detonator's effective range detonates simultaneously. The detonation applies the charge's damage fields to every entity within the Range2 radius, plays the Explosion2 visual effect at the charge's position, and applies Explosion_Launch_Speed force to any player or physics-enabled entity within the blast radius.

Phase 4: Resolution

After detonation, the charge object is destroyed and removed from the world. Any entities within the Range2 radius have received damage, been launched by the explosion force, and had visual and audio feedback played. The charge item is a single-use deployment; the player does not recover the charge after detonation.

As shown in the state diagram above, the placed charge can be destroyed by external damage before it is armed. A charge that is destroyed by damage does not detonate and does not produce any explosive effect. The player loses the charge item without the intended explosive payoff.

File and folder structure

A complete charge mod requires the following files:

Workshop/Content/304930/<modID>/
├── Bundles/
│   └── <BundleName>.unity3b              ← master bundle containing the prefab
└── Items/
    └── MyCharge/
        ├── MyCharge.dat                   ← charge asset configuration
        └── English.dat                    ← display name and description

The charge item is a barricade-type item and follows the same folder and naming conventions as other barricade items. The folder name and the .dat filename stem should match the Name field.

Complete .dat field reference

Identity and inherited fields

Charge assets inherit from the BarricadeAsset class. The table below documents the inherited fields that are required or commonly configured on charge assets. The authoritative reference for these shared fields is Objects Structures Assets; the table below documents the specific values and conventions that apply to the charge subtype.

Field	Type	Required	Example	Purpose
GUID	uint128 hex	Yes	2e15a98da9e34774b961d636c0e88cc9	128-bit globally unique identifier. Generate a fresh GUID for every new charge item. Never reuse GUIDs.
ID	uint16	Yes	1241	Numeric item ID. Must be unique across all loaded mods. Use IDs in the 50000+ range to avoid collision with vanilla and established community mods.
Type	enum	Yes	Charge	Must be Charge for charge items.
Useable	enum	Yes	Barricade	Must be Barricade for charge items (they are deployed as barricade-type objects).
Build	enum	Yes	Charge	Must be Charge for charge items. Controls the build menu category.
Rarity	enum	No	Epic	Controls the inventory highlight color. Vanilla charges use Epic rarity.
Size_X	uint8	Yes	1	Width in inventory grid cells.
Size_Y	uint8	Yes	1	Height in inventory grid cells.
Size_Z	float	No	0.325	Unity world-space z-dimension for the dropped item model.
Health	float	Required	1	The hit points of the placed charge object. A charge with Health 1 is destroyed by any damage.
Vulnerable	flag	No	not set	Presence of this flag marks the placed charge as vulnerable to external damage. Vanilla charges include this flag.
Unrepairable	flag	No	not set	Presence of this flag prevents the placed charge from being repaired. Vanilla charges include this flag.
Proof_Explosion	flag	No	not set	Presence of this flag prevents the placed charge from taking explosion damage. Vanilla charges include this flag, meaning they cannot be detonated by chain reaction from nearby explosions.

Placement fields

Field	Type	Required	Default	Example	Purpose
Range	float	No	Engine default	4	The maximum distance from the player at which the charge can be placed. This is the placement reach, not the explosion radius.
Offset	float	No	Engine default	0.05	The offset from the placement surface in world units. Controls how far from the surface the charge preview sits during placement.

Explosion damage fields

The explosion damage fields define how much damage the charge deals to each entity category when it detonates. Each category is independent; tuning one does not affect the others. The damage values on charges are typically much higher than on thrown grenades or weapon-fired explosives because charges are single-use placed items that require setup time and a detonator to activate.

Field	Type	Required	Default	Example	Purpose
Player_Damage	float	No	Engine default	200	Damage dealt to players within the Range2 blast radius on detonation.
Zombie_Damage	float	No	Engine default	200	Damage dealt to zombies within the blast radius.
Animal_Damage	float	No	Engine default	200	Damage dealt to animals within the blast radius.
Barricade_Damage	float	No	Engine default	1000	Damage dealt to player-placed barricades within the blast radius.
Structure_Damage	float	No	Engine default	1000	Damage dealt to player-built structures within the blast radius.
Vehicle_Damage	float	No	Engine default	500	Damage dealt to vehicles within the blast radius.
Resource_Damage	float	No	Engine default	2000	Damage dealt to resource nodes (trees, rocks, ore) within the blast radius.
Object_Damage	float	No	Engine default	1000	Damage dealt to world objects within the blast radius.

The damage values on the vanilla Demolition Charge demonstrate the intended balance: extremely high resource damage (2000) for clearing trees and mining, high structure and barricade damage (1000) for raiding, moderate vehicle damage (500), and player-damage values (200) that are lethal within the blast radius but survivable at the edge. The Bounce Charge, in contrast, uses minimal structural damage (all non-player damage fields are 0 or very low) and emphasizes the launch mechanic, making it an anti-personnel tool rather than a breaching tool.

The Barricade_Damage field on a charge asset is documented in the official SDG source as defaulting to the value of Player_Damage multiplied by a barricade-specific factor. However, the shipped vanilla charge .dat files set Barricade_Damage explicitly to 1000, overriding any default calculation. The cohort recommendation is to set all damage fields explicitly in the .dat file rather than relying on fallback defaults, because the default behavior has changed across Unturned versions and explicit values are forward-compatible.

Explosion radius and visual effect fields

Field	Type	Required	Default	Example	Purpose
Range2	float	Yes	Engine default	8	The radius of the damaging explosion area of effect in meters. Any entity within this radius at detonation time receives damage according to the category-specific damage fields.
Explosion2	uint16 or GUID	No	Engine default	45	The ID or GUID of the visual and audio explosion effect to play upon detonation. This is a reference to the effect's asset configuration, not a direct particle system. The value 45 is the vanilla Demolition Charge explosion effect.
Explosion_Launch_Speed	float	No	Defaults to Player_Damage * 0.1	50	The launch speed in meters per second applied to players caught within the blast radius. Higher values launch affected players further. The Bounce Charge uses Explosion_Launch_Speed 50 with very low damage values to produce a non-lethal (or minimally lethal) knockback effect.

Inherited damage fallback rules

The official SDG documentation for charge assets specifies the following fallback chain for certain damage fields when they are not explicitly set.

Field	Fallback behavior
Object_Damage	Defaults to the value of Resource_Damage if not set explicitly.
Explosion_Launch_Speed	Defaults to the value of Player_Damage * 0.1 if not set explicitly.
All other damage fields	Use engine defaults if not set explicitly.

The 57 Studios™ cohort recommendation is to set every damage field explicitly and to verify the values in-game before publishing. Relying on fallback defaults has produced authoring bugs in community mods where the Object_Damage field inherits an unexpectedly high Resource_Damage value, causing charges to destroy world objects that the mod author intended to leave intact.

Barrier and clip fields

Field	Type	Required	Default	Example	Purpose
Has_Clip_Prefab	bool	No	true	false	Whether the placed charge uses a clip (culling) prefab for rendering optimization. Vanilla charges set this to false.

Repairability and vulnerability flags

Field	Type	Required	Default	Purpose
Vulnerable	flag	No	not set	When present, the placed charge can take damage from external sources (weapons, other explosions). A charge without this flag is immune to external damage and can only be removed by detonation or the pickup interaction.
Unrepairable	flag	No	not set	When present, the placed charge cannot be repaired. This is standard for consumable barricade-type items that are intended to be single-use.
Proof_Explosion	flag	No	not set	When present, the placed charge is immune to explosion damage. This prevents chain detonation where one exploding charge would trigger a nearby charge.

Blueprint fields

Charge items typically include crafting and salvage blueprints. The blueprint block follows the same conventions as other item types.

Field	Type	Required	Purpose
CategoryTag	GUID	Conditional	The crafting category GUID.
InputItems	GUID or GUID array	Conditional	Items consumed by the recipe.
OutputItems	GUID or GUID array	Conditional	Items produced by the recipe. this means the charge item itself.
Skill	enum	Conditional	The skill category required (Craft).
Skill_Level	uint8	Conditional	The minimum skill level required.
RequiresNearbyCraftingTags	GUID array	No	Crafting station tags required nearby.
Effect	GUID	No	Sound or visual effect on recipe completion.
Name	string	No	Display name for the blueprint category.

Charge variants: Demolition Charge versus Bounce Charge versus Precision Charge

The vanilla game ships three charge items, each with a distinct role and field configuration. The comparison table below documents the differences across all class-specific fields.

Property	Demolition Charge	Bounce Charge	Precision Charge
ID	1241	1691	1393
Role	General-purpose breaching	Anti-personnel knockback	Targeted high-damage breaching
Player_Damage	200	4	250
Zombie_Damage	200	4	250
Animal_Damage	200	4	250
Barricade_Damage	1000	0	2000
Structure_Damage	1000	0	2000
Vehicle_Damage	500	0	1000
Resource_Damage	2000	0	4000
Object_Damage	1000	0	2000
Range2 (explosion radius)	8	10	3
Explosion2 (visual effect)	45	168	45
Explosion_Launch_Speed	Not set (default: 20)	50	Not set (default: 25)

The Demolition Charge is the general-purpose breaching tool. It has balanced damage across all categories, an 8-meter explosion radius, and moderate launch speed. The Bounce Charge is a specialized anti-personnel tool with high knockback (Explosion_Launch_Speed 50) and a larger radius (10 meters) but zero structural damage - it cannot destroy barricades or structures at all. The Precision Charge is a focused breaching tool with a small radius (3 meters) but extremely high damage values across all categories, making it effective for destroying specific targeted objects without collateral damage to nearby entities.

The flowchart above shows the recommended charge type selection process. The three vanilla charge types cover the three dominant use cases; mod authors designing custom charge items should choose the role first and set the fields to match.

The charge-detonator pairing system

A charge asset does not contain any field that specifies which detonator tool can activate it. The pairing between charge items and detonator items is handled by the detonator's configuration, not the charge's configuration. The detonator tool defines an effective range and a maximum number of charges it can activate per trigger pull. Any charge within the detonator's range can be activated by any detonator, regardless of the charge's type, ID, or GUID.

This means there is no mechanism within the charge .dat file to restrict which detonator can arm a given charge. If a mod author wants a charge item that can only be detonated by a specific detonator type (a "keyed" explosive that requires a matching detonator frequency), that restriction must be implemented through server-side plugin code rather than through .dat configuration.

The charge-detonator relationship is purely proximity-based at the .dat level. The practical implication for mod authors is that all charge items in a mod pack are universally compatible with all detonator items in the same mod pack unless a server-side plugin enforces a pairing restriction.

Complete .dat example: Demolition Charge

The full Charge.dat from the vanilla game files, annotated with field-level commentary:

GUID 2e15a98da9e34774b961d636c0e88cc9
Type Charge
Rarity Epic
Useable Barricade
Build Charge
ID 1241

Size_X 1
Size_Y 1
Size_Z 0.325

Health 1
Range 4
Offset 0.05

Player_Damage 200
Zombie_Damage 200
Animal_Damage 200
Barricade_Damage 1000
Structure_Damage 1000
Vehicle_Damage 500
Resource_Damage 2000
Object_Damage 1000

Range2 8
Explosion2 45

Explosion 36
Vulnerable
Unrepairable
Proof_Explosion

Blueprints
[
	{
		CategoryTag "ad1804b6945145f3b308738b0b8ea447" // Tools
		InputItems
		[
			"ebb61f2e64f24351a6ab905b5516060b" // Wire
			"8ce5c560166545499432d6e01ce399cc" // Raw Explosives
			"57d8bb26e4d8424bb5679651c9582cca" // Sticky Grenade
		]
		OutputItems this
		Skill Craft
		Skill_Level 2
		RequiresNearbyCraftingTags
		[
			"99896da563a748148460c67b9962874f" // Pharmaceutical
		]
		Effect "7eceb9f7751d4634b572c8e236355104" // Rip
	}
	{
		CategoryTag "ad1804b6945145f3b308738b0b8ea447" // Tools
		InputItems "182e94a79d4b4d3bab9baac0d1d76b23" // Precision Charge
		OutputItems this
		Skill Craft
		Skill_Level 3
		Effect "7eceb9f7751d4634b572c8e236355104" // Rip
	}
	{
		Name Salvage
		CategoryTag "7ed29f9101ae4523a3b2e389414b7bd9" // Salvage
		InputItems this
		OutputItems "8ce5c560166545499432d6e01ce399cc" // Raw Explosives
		Skill Craft
		Skill_Level 2
		Effect "84347b13028340b8976033c08675d458" // Wrench
	}
]

Has_Clip_Prefab false

The companion English.dat:

Name Demolition Charge
Description Remotely detonated imprecise explosive.

Note the presence of the Explosion 36 field alongside the Explosion2 45 field. In the vanilla charge configuration, Explosion is a separate field that references a different explosion effect ID from Explosion2. The Explosion field in this context is inherited from the item's interaction with the explosion system and is distinct from the Explosion2 field that controls the detonation visual effect. The Explosion 36 value references a small explosion effect that plays when the charge takes damage or is destroyed, while Explosion2 45 references the large detonation effect that plays when the charge is deliberately detonated.

Complete .dat example: Bounce Charge

The full Charge_Bounce.dat from the vanilla game files:

GUID bd1f0dabd4ca4b2a9744ce51ab7d5f91
Type Charge
Rarity Epic
Useable Barricade
Build Charge
ID 1691

Size_X 1
Size_Y 1

Health 1
Range 4
Offset 0.05

Player_Damage 4
Zombie_Damage 4
Animal_Damage 4
Barricade_Damage 0
Structure_Damage 0
Vehicle_Damage 0
Resource_Damage 0
Object_Damage 0
Explosion_Launch_Speed 50

Range2 10
Explosion2 168

Explosion 36
Vulnerable
Unrepairable
Proof_Explosion

Blueprints
[
	{
		CategoryTag "ad1804b6945145f3b308738b0b8ea447" // Tools
		InputItems
		[
			"ebb61f2e64f24351a6ab905b5516060b" // Wire
			"8ce5c560166545499432d6e01ce399cc" // Raw Explosives
		]
		OutputItems this
		Skill Craft
		Skill_Level 2
		RequiresNearbyCraftingTags
		[
			"99896da563a748148460c67b9962874f" // Pharmaceutical
		]
		Effect "7eceb9f7751d4634b572c8e236355104" // Rip
	}
	{
		CategoryTag "ad1804b6945145f3b308738b0b8ea447" // Tools
		InputItems "6d5e67b8477c4b16b2b4ad4333e57725" // Bounce Grenade
		OutputItems this
		Effect "7eceb9f7751d4634b572c8e236355104" // Rip
	}
	{
		Name Salvage
		CategoryTag "7ed29f9101ae4523a3b2e389414b7bd9" // Salvage
		InputItems this
		OutputItems "8ce5c560166545499432d6e01ce399cc" // Raw Explosives
		Skill Craft
		Skill_Level 2
		Effect "84347b13028340b8976033c08675d458" // Wrench
	}
]

Has_Clip_Prefab false

The companion English.dat:

Name Bounce Charge
Description Remotely detonated anti-personnel mine.

The Bounce Charge's defining characteristic is the combination of very low damage values and high Explosion_Launch_Speed. With Player_Damage 4, a direct hit is survivable even for an unarmored player. The Explosion_Launch_Speed 50 launches affected players a significant distance, creating a knockback effect that can separate players from their weapons, push them off ledges, or disrupt coordinated assaults. The zero structural damage values mean the Bounce Charge is purely an anti-personnel tool with no base-raiding capability.

Complete .dat example: Precision Charge

The full Charge_Precision.dat from the vanilla game files:

GUID 182e94a79d4b4d3bab9baac0d1d76b23
Type Charge
Rarity Epic
Useable Barricade
Build Charge
ID 1393

Size_X 1
Size_Y 1
Size_Z 0.325

Health 1
Range 4
Offset 0.05

Player_Damage 250
Zombie_Damage 250
Animal_Damage 250
Barricade_Damage 2000
Structure_Damage 2000
Vehicle_Damage 1000
Resource_Damage 4000
Object_Damage 2000

Range2 3
Explosion2 45

Explosion 36
Vulnerable
Unrepairable
Proof_Explosion

Blueprints
[
	{
		CategoryTag "ad1804b6945145f3b308738b0b8ea447" // Tools
		InputItems "2e15a98da9e34774b961d636c0e88cc9" // Demolition Charge
		OutputItems this
		Skill Craft
		Skill_Level 3
		Effect "7eceb9f7751d4634b572c8e236355104" // Rip
	}
	{
		Name Salvage
		CategoryTag "7ed29f9101ae4523a3b2e389414b7bd9" // Salvage
		InputItems this
		OutputItems "8ce5c560166545499432d6e01ce399cc" // Raw Explosives
		Skill Craft
		Skill_Level 2
		Effect "84347b13028340b8976033c08675d458" // Wrench
	}
]

Has_Clip_Prefab false

The companion English.dat:

Name Precision Charge
Description Remotely detonated precision explosive.

The Precision Charge is the highest-damage charge variant with a deliberately small Range2 of 3 meters. The damage values are roughly double those of the Demolition Charge across all categories, and the resource damage reaches 4000 - enough to destroy any vanilla resource node with a single detonation. The small radius means the Precision Charge is used for targeted demolitions where nearby players or structures should remain unaffected.

Field rules and parser behavior

Rule	Detail
Explosion2 versus Explosion	Explosion2 controls the detonation visual effect. Explosion is a separate field controlling a different effect (used when the charge is damaged or destroyed by external force). Both fields accept uint16 or GUID values referencing effect assets.
Explosion_Launch_Speed default	If omitted, defaults to Player_Damage * 0.1. This means a charge with Player_Damage 200 and no explicit Explosion_Launch_Speed has an effective launch speed of 20.
Object_Damage fallback	If omitted, defaults to the value of Resource_Damage. This can produce unexpectedly high object damage if Resource_Damage is set high for breaching purposes.
Health 1 standard	All vanilla charges use Health 1, meaning any external damage destroys the charge before it can be detonated. Mod charges with higher Health values are possible but change the gameplay dynamic significantly.
Vulnerable flag	Without this flag, the placed charge cannot be destroyed by weapon fire or other damage sources. A charge without Vulnerable can only be removed by detonation or server-side cleanup.
Proof_Explosion flag	Without this flag, a placed charge can be chain-detonated by a nearby explosion. The vanilla charges include this flag to prevent chain detonation.
Has_Clip_Prefab false	The vanilla charges all set Has_Clip_Prefab false, meaning no clip/culling prefab is used. The charge model is always fully rendered regardless of camera distance.
Build Charge	The Build field must be set to Charge for the charge to appear in the correct build menu category.

Diagnostic table

Symptom	Most likely cause	Resolution
Charge cannot be placed	Useable Barricade or Build Charge is missing	Add the required fields to the .dat file
Charge placed but has no model	Prefab missing from master bundle or Model field incorrect	Verify the prefab name in the bundle matches the Name or Model field
Charge detonates with no visual effect	Explosion2 field missing or references an invalid effect ID	Set Explosion2 to a valid effect ID (e.g., 45 for the standard explosion effect)
Charge detonation does no damage to players	Player_Damage not set or set to 0	Set Player_Damage to the intended damage value
Charge detonation destroys everything in a huge radius	Range2 is too large	Reduce Range2 to the intended blast radius
Charge detonation destroys only a tiny area	Range2 is too small	Increase Range2 to the intended blast radius
Players not launched by explosion	Explosion_Launch_Speed not set or set to 0	Set Explosion_Launch_Speed to the intended launch force
Charge destroyed by nearby explosion	Proof_Explosion flag missing	Add Proof_Explosion to prevent chain detonation
Charge can be repaired by players	Unrepairable flag missing	Add Unrepairable for single-use consumable charges
Charge impossible to destroy externally	Vulnerable flag missing	Add Vulnerable to allow external destruction
Charge detonates but barricades survive	Barricade_Damage or Structure_Damage too low	Increase the relevant damage field
Crafting recipe does not appear	Skill or Skill_Level requirement not met	Check the crafting skill requirements; adjust the recipe or verify the player's skill level
Charge not compatible with detonator	No compatibility issue - all detonators work with all charges	Verify the detonator tool's range and functionality independently

Best practices

• Generate a fresh GUID for every charge asset. Never reuse GUIDs from other items or other mods.
• Choose IDs in the 50000+ range to avoid collision with vanilla charge IDs (1241 Demolition Charge, 1691 Bounce Charge, 1393 Precision Charge).
• Set every damage field explicitly, even if the value is 0. Relying on fallback defaults creates authoring bugs when the fallback chain produces unexpected values.
• Match the explosion radius (Range2) to the charge's intended role. Wide radii with high damage produce indiscriminate destruction; tight radii with high damage produce precision tools.
• Include the Proof_Explosion flag on all standard charges. Chain detonation is rarely the intended behavior.
• Include the Vulnerable and Unrepairable flags on standard charges. A charge that can be repaired or cannot be destroyed by counter-fire changes the balance significantly.
• Set Health 1 and let the damage fields define the charge's effectiveness. Higher health values on placed charges change the tactical dynamic and should be reserved for special-purpose items.
• Author distinct English.dat descriptions for each charge variant so players can distinguish demolition, anti-personnel, and precision roles.
• Test the charge in single-player before publishing: verify placement, detonation, damage values, explosion radius, and visual effect.
• Document the explosion radius and primary use case in the Workshop description.

Frequently asked questions

What is the difference between Explosion2 and Explosion?

Explosion2 references the visual and audio effect that plays when the charge is deliberately detonated (the primary explosion effect). Explosion references a separate effect that plays when the charge is destroyed by external damage (a smaller "fizzle" or "damage" effect). The two fields are independent and can reference different effect assets. In the vanilla Demolition Charge, Explosion2 45 produces the large breaching explosion, while Explosion 36 produces a smaller effect when the charge takes damage.

Can a charge be picked up after placement?

Whether a placed charge can be picked up depends on the server's barricade pickup configuration. The .dat file does not have a "prevent pickup" field specific to charges. The barricade pickup mechanic is governed by the server's Barricade_Pickup_Allowed configuration and by the plugin rules on roleplay servers. On a vanilla server, a placed charge can be picked up by the player who placed it (or by any player if the server allows universal pickup) before it is detonated.

What happens if Range2 is set to 0?

A charge with Range2 0 detonates but deals damage only at the exact position of the charge object. No entity other than the charge itself (which is destroyed) receives damage. This is not a useful configuration for a standard charge but could be used for a visual-only explosive prop where the explosion effect plays but no damage is applied to the surrounding area.

Can I make a charge that deals different damage to different targets based on distance from the explosion center?

No. The charge damage fields apply uniformly to all entities within the Range2 radius. There is no distance-based damage falloff field in the charge .dat configuration. If you need a charge where entities at the edge of the blast radius take less damage than entities at the center, that behavior must be implemented through server-side plugin code.

How does a charge interact with the barricade shield system?

A charge detonation applies Barricade_Damage to any barricade within the Range2 radius, including shield-type barricades. There is no special-case handling for shield barricades in the charge damage logic. If a charge with Barricade_Damage 1000 detonates within range of a shield barricade with Health 500, the shield is destroyed. The charge does not need to be placed on the shield; proximity to the blast radius is sufficient.

Can a charge be detonated by a non-player event?

In the vanilla engine, only a player holding a detonator tool can trigger a charge detonation. Charges are not detonated by fire, by timer expiration, by proximity sensors, or by other environmental events unless a server-side plugin implements those behaviors. The .dat file defines only the explosive properties; the trigger mechanism is always a player-initiated detonator activation.

What is the maximum value for Range2?

The Range2 field is a float with no hard-coded maximum, but practical values above approximately 30 meters begin to cause performance issues because the engine must check every entity within the radius for damage application. Values above 50 meters are not recommended for standard gameplay. The vanilla charges use values between 3 and 10 meters.

How does Explosion_Launch_Speed interact with gravity and physics?

Explosion_Launch_Speed applies an initial velocity to the affected player's rigidbody in the direction away from the explosion center. After the initial velocity is applied, standard physics (gravity, drag, collision with world geometry) governs the player's trajectory. A player launched with Explosion_Launch_Speed 50 travels further and faster than one launched with Explosion_Launch_Speed 20, but both are subject to the same physics simulation after the initial impulse.

Can a charge have multiple explosion effects?

No. The Explosion2 field accepts a single value (uint16 or GUID) referencing one explosion effect asset. There is no array field for multiple detonation effects. If you want a charge that produces both a visual explosion and a separate audio cue, those are typically combined into a single effect asset.

What is the crafting recipe structure for a charge?

The charge crafting recipe typically requires explosive materials (Raw Explosives), a triggering mechanism (Wire), and optionally a containment or focusing component (Sticky Grenade for the Demolition Charge, the Demolition Charge itself for the Precision Charge). The Skill field is set to Craft and the Skill_Level field determines the minimum crafting skill required. Some charge recipes require a nearby crafting station with specific tags (RequiresNearbyCraftingTags).

Can I make a charge that heals instead of dealing damage?

No. The charge damage fields are additive damage values. There is no field that converts explosion damage into healing. A healing explosive would require server-side plugin code that intercepts the detonation event and applies healing instead of damage.

Does the charge need a separate prefab for the placed state versus the inventory state?

Yes. The charge prefab in the master bundle must contain both the inventory model (shown when the item is in the player's inventory or dropped on the ground) and the placed model (shown when the charge is deployed into the world as a barricade). The two states are typically the same model at the same scale, but the prefab must be set up correctly for both the item rendering context and the barricade rendering context.

How does the barricade health system interact with the charge?

The placed charge has its own Health pool defined by the Health field. When the charge is placed, it exists in the world as a barricade-type object with the specified hit points. If the Vulnerable flag is present, any damage source can reduce the charge's health to zero, destroying it without detonation. The charge's health is independent of the explosion damage fields; a charge with Health 1 and Player_Damage 200 is fragile (destroyed by a single bullet) but deadly when detonated.

Can I make a charge with a delayed detonation?

The vanilla charge system does not support delayed detonation at the .dat level. When the detonator is triggered, all armed charges within range detonate instantly and simultaneously. A delayed detonation (a timed charge that detonates X seconds after arming) requires server-side plugin code that intercepts the detonation event and applies a timer.

Appendix A: Charge asset .dat field quick reference

Field	Type	Required	Default	Notes
GUID	uint128	Yes	,	32 hex digits, no hyphens
ID	uint16	Yes	,	50000+ range for mods
Type	enum	Yes	,	Must be Charge
Useable	enum	Yes	,	Must be Barricade
Build	enum	Yes	,	Must be Charge
Rarity	enum	No	Common	Vanilla charges use Epic
Size_X	uint8	Yes	,	Inventory grid width
Size_Y	uint8	Yes	,	Inventory grid height
Size_Z	float	No	Engine default	World-space collider height
Health	float	Yes	,	Placed charge hit points
Range	float	No	Engine default	Placement reach
Offset	float	No	Engine default	Surface offset during placement
Player_Damage	float	No	Engine default	Damage to players
Zombie_Damage	float	No	Engine default	Damage to zombies
Animal_Damage	float	No	Engine default	Damage to animals
Barricade_Damage	float	No	Engine default	Damage to barricades
Structure_Damage	float	No	Engine default	Damage to structures
Vehicle_Damage	float	No	Engine default	Damage to vehicles
Resource_Damage	float	No	Engine default	Damage to resources
Object_Damage	float	No	Defaults to Resource_Damage	Damage to world objects
Range2	float	Yes	,	Explosion blast radius
Explosion2	uint16/GUID	No	Engine default	Detonation visual effect
Explosion	uint16/GUID	No	Engine default	External damage effect
Explosion_Launch_Speed	float	No	Player_Damage * 0.1	Launch velocity on detonation
Vulnerable	flag	No	not set	Allows external damage
Unrepairable	flag	No	not set	Prevents repair
Proof_Explosion	flag	No	not set	Prevents chain detonation
Has_Clip_Prefab	bool	No	true	Clip prefab optimization

Appendix B: Vanilla charge asset values reference

Asset	ID	Range2	Player_Damage	Structure_Damage	Explosion_Launch_Speed	Primary role
Demolition Charge	1241	8	200	1000	20 (default)	General breaching
Bounce Charge	1691	10	4	0	50	Anti-personnel knockback
Precision Charge	1393	3	250	2000	25 (default)	Precision high-damage breaching

Appendix C: Charge asset template

Copy this template for a new charge item. Replace the bracketed values with the intended configuration.

GUID <32-hex-digit-guid>
ID <50000+>
Type Charge
Rarity Epic
Useable Barricade
Build Charge
Name <InternalName>

Size_X 1
Size_Y 1

Health 1
Range 4
Offset 0.05

Player_Damage <damage>
Zombie_Damage <damage>
Animal_Damage <damage>
Barricade_Damage <damage>
Structure_Damage <damage>
Vehicle_Damage <damage>
Resource_Damage <damage>
Object_Damage <damage>

Range2 <radius>
Explosion2 <effect-id>

Vulnerable
Unrepairable
Proof_Explosion

Has_Clip_Prefab false

Companion English.dat:

Name <Display Name>
Description <Tooltip description text describing the charge's role.>

Appendix D: External references

• Smartly Dressed Games official modding documentation - Item assets - the authoritative field reference for all item types including charges.
• Unturned on Steam - the Unturned™ store page and community hub.
• Objects Structures Assets - the barricade and structure asset reference; documents the inherited BarricadeAsset fields.
• Item Asset Anatomy - the shared field reference; documents the ID, GUID, Rarity, Slot, and Size fields.
• Blueprint Asset Reference - the full blueprint system reference for crafting recipes.
• Detonator Asset Reference - the next article; documents the detonator tool that activates charges.
• Throwable Asset - the throwable explosive reference; comparison with placed charge mechanics.
• Project Folder Structure and GUIDs - folder layout and GUID generation workflow.
• Data File Format Reference - the .dat syntax reference.
• Master Bundle Export - the Unity bundling workflow.
• Steam Workshop Submission - the publishing workflow for finished mods.

Advanced considerations

Charge balance for PvP versus PvE servers

The damage values that are appropriate for a PvE server (where players do not need to balance charge damage against each other) are often too high or too low for a PvP server. On a PvE server, a charge with Player_Damage 200 is used primarily for clearing zombies and opening loot containers. On a PvP server, the same charge in the hands of a raiding party can kill multiple defending players with a single detonation. The 57 Studios™ cohort recommendation is to design charge values for the minimum viable use case (PvE) and to provide a server-side configuration file or plugin hook that allows server administrators to adjust damage values for PvP balance.

Charge placement on vehicles

Charges can be placed on vehicle surfaces, including the hood, roof, trunk, and side panels. A charge placed on a vehicle detonates and applies Vehicle_Damage to that vehicle plus all other damage fields to entities within the Range2 radius. Placing a charge on a vehicle and detonating it while the vehicle is occupied is a viable PvP tactic. The vehicle does not need to be moving for the charge to detonate; the charge triggers based on the detonator activation, not on vehicle motion.

Charges in the barricade damage-over-time system

The Proof_Explosion flag prevents a charge from being damaged by other explosions. However, a charge without Proof_Explosion can be chain-detonated by a nearby explosion. This creates a potential chain-reaction mechanic where one detonation triggers a cascade of nearby charges. Chain detonation is disabled on vanilla charges by the Proof_Explosion flag, but mod authors who want a chain-reaction explosive system can omit the flag and design charges that detonate each other.

Authoring a charge that is visible only to the placer

There is no per-player visibility field in the charge .dat file. A placed charge is visible to all players on the server (subject to rendering distance and line-of-sight checks). If a mod scenario requires a charge that is visible only to the player who placed it (a stealth explosive), that behavior must be implemented through server-side plugin code that manages per-player barricade visibility.

Charges in the context of the building decay system

A placed charge, like any barricade-type object, is subject to the server's barricade decay system if configured. If the decay system destroys the charge before it is detonated, the charge item is lost without producing an explosion. The Unrepairable flag means that even if the decay system reduces the charge's health, no player can repair it. Mod authors who place charges in persistent map scenarios should account for the decay timer.

Authoring checklist

Before publishing a charge mod to the Steam Workshop, confirm the following:

• [ ] GUID is unique - generated fresh, not copied from another asset
• [ ] ID is in the 50000+ range
• [ ] Type Charge is present
• [ ] Useable Barricade is present
• [ ] Build Charge is present
• [ ] Health is set (typically 1)
• [ ] All eight damage fields are set explicitly (Player, Zombie, Animal, Barricade, Structure, Vehicle, Resource, Object)
• [ ] Range2 is set to the intended explosion radius
• [ ] Explosion2 references a valid visual effect ID
• [ ] Vulnerable, Unrepairable, and Proof_Explosion flags are all present for standard charges
• [ ] English.dat is authored with Name and Description fields
• [ ] The master bundle contains the item prefab at the correct name
• [ ] Crafting blueprints are configured
• [ ] Tested in single-player: placement, detonation, damage application, visual effect
• [ ] Tested damage values against each target category
• [ ] Tested explosion radius with a ruler or coordinate-distance measurement
• [ ] Workshop description documents the charge's role (demolition, anti-personnel, precision)

Document history

Version	Date	Author	Notes
1.0	2026-07-26	57 Studios	Initial publication. Complete charge asset field reference, vanilla example files, charge variant comparison, damage field documentation, placement and detonation mechanics, FAQ, diagnostic tables, appendices.

Cross-references

• Arrest End Asset Reference - the previous article in this section.
• Detonator Asset Reference - the next article; documents the detonator tool that activates charges.
• Objects Structures Assets - the barricade asset reference; documents the inherited fields.
• Item Asset Anatomy - shared field reference for all item types.
• Blueprint Asset Reference - full blueprint system documentation.
• Throwable Asset - throwable explosive item type; comparison with placed charges.
• Project Folder Structure and GUIDs - GUID authoring workflow.
• Data File Format Reference - .dat file format syntax.
• Master Bundle Export - Unity bundling pipeline.
• Melee Asset - melee weapon item type reference.
• Smartly Dressed Games modding documentation - official field reference.
• Unturned on Steam - game page and community.