GameStrings.xml
Client-resident display text - add strings to the game without patching the client
Text the client puts on screen itself. The whole table is sent to every client at login, so any server config can show new text by referencing an id here instead of editing the client's Text.bmd and reshipping the client.
File Location
Data/GameStrings.xmlLoaded at GameServer startup, alongside Message.xml. /reload common (or reload.common in the Server Manager) reloads it on the server, but the copy sent to clients at login is not rebuilt by it - run /reload plugins after it, then players relog to see the new text.
Not the same as Message.xml
The two files look similar and are not interchangeable.
Who resolves the id
GameServer
client
What crosses the wire
the finished, formatted line
the whole table, once at login
Format specifiers (%d, %s)
expected - the server fills them in
not allowed - copied verbatim
Typical use
event notices, siege announcements, system chat
recipe titles, group labels, window text
If the client has to have the string in hand before it can draw a frame, it belongs here. If the server decides when to say something and sends it, it belongs in Message.xml.
Schema
<GameStrings>
<String Id="10500" Text="Manticore Armor Part" />
</GameStrings>Id
Reference id. Must be between 10000 and 65535. Ids outside that range are skipped at load with a red [GameStrings] log line. Referenced by other configs
Text
Display text. Up to 127 characters. No format specifiers
Id Ranges
The client's Text.bmd can never hold an id above 9999, so 10000 is where this table starts and the two ranges cannot collide.
0 - 9999
Client Text.bmd (GlobalText). A config referencing one of these still resolves against the client, exactly as before
10000 - 65535
This file
Anywhere a config takes a text id, either range works. Existing configs that point at Text.bmd ids keep working untouched - nothing needs migrating.
A suggested layout inside the 10000+ range (convention only, nothing enforces it):
10000 - 10099
General / shared labels
10100 - 10399
Chaos mix recipe titles, descriptions, advice
10400 - 10999
Chaos mix source group labels
11000 +
Future systems
Consumers
<Display> NameText1-3, DescText1-3, AdviceText1-3; <Source> NameText
Inscription Recipes.xml (Data/Plugins/Inscription/)
Same <Display> / <Source> attributes as ChaosMix recipes
Some ids are read by the client directly, by fixed number. Editing their text changes what players see; deleting them leaves an empty label.
Shipped ranges:
10000
Lucky Coin window "Register All" button
10001 - 10007
MU Helper "Auto Recovery" page labels (Elite Potion, SD Potion, Elf Recover / SD Support rows, "Off")
10500
Chaos mix source label "Manticore Armor Part"
11000 - 11001
Elemental jewelry tooltip lines
11100 - 11101
Repair refused messages
11200 - 11278
Inscription system: recipe texts, the Inscription tab's reasons, results and window labels
11300 - 11307
Recipe Book categories. A recipe's <Display Category="N"> shows id 11300 + N (11300 = Other)
11310 - 11335
Chaos window and Recipe Book labels, plus recipe names that used to share one text
Keep these ids when you edit the file. Add your own text in free ranges (for example 10100-10499 or 12000+).
Important Behavior
Entries are copied verbatim. A % in the text renders literally as % on screen - the client does no formatting. The GameServer logs a warning at startup for any entry containing %. Use Message.xml for anything that needs values substituted in.
A missing id is an authoring bug, not a crash. If a config references an id that isn't in this file, the GameServer logs references missing string Id <n> at startup naming the config that did it, and the client draws an empty string in its place. Check the startup log after editing.
Ids below 10000 are rejected on load, with a log line, so a typo like 1500 instead of 10500 cannot silently shadow a Text.bmd entry. Ids above 65535 are rejected the same way - that is the highest id the client wire format can carry.
Duplicate ids are rejected, keeping the first entry, with a log line.
Common Issues
Text renders as literal %d
Format specifier in a GameStrings entry - move it to Message.xml
Blank text where a label should be
Referenced id missing from this file - check the GameServer startup log
Entry seems ignored
Id below 10000 or above 65535, or a duplicate of an earlier entry - all are logged at startup
Text cut short
Longer than 127 characters. Consumers with their own tighter limits truncate further; chaos mix source labels clamp to 63
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