Add a function to retrieve the total player count of a server

[FredyH]

Currently the only (non hacky) way to get the player count is using #player.GetAll(). This way only returns the number of players who are already visible to lua. Unfortunately this excludes all players that are still loading in, such as downloading content or loading the gamemode. I suggest adding a (serverside only?) function like game.PlayerCount() that returns the real player count of a server (the same one that is reported by stats or status)

[Remixful]

Something like gmsv_gatekeeper would be nice.

local clients = gatekeeper.GetNumClients() print(clients.active) -- prints the number of clients currently active (have spawned) in the server print(clients.spawning) -- prints the number of clients in the connection process print(clients.total) -- prints the total number of clients in the server (connecting AND in game)

[fruitwasp]

player.GetCount() has been added

[robotboy655]

@fruitwasp It doesn't do what this request wants.

[neico]

But that function could be easily expanded to do that, similarly to what GetClientCount does in SourceMod

[MrLewis]

I cannot believe such a function doesn't already exist, ridiculous.

[Kefta]

This is just a simple binding lol, 4 years for nothing.

[GlorifiedPig]

Frustrating that this still doesn't exist, not even a boolean to check if the server is full at the very least

[xCynDev]

Bump - this is still an issue in 2025. player_connect or NetworkIDValidated don't fire on level changes either so we can't it that way when we need to access connecting players on a map change.

I get that they're technically already validated and connected, but the lack of ability to retrieve them is a bit of a bummer.

Just give us a function with some data (name, steamid, ownerid, stuff we'd already know). Even just for players that are already authenticated would be nice.

[DarthTealc]

This seems like it could be useful even if it's just a count rather than their Steam IDs.

player.GetCount() returns the number of players (including bots) currently on the server, but it excludes connecting players, as it's the same as counting the length of the player.GetAll() table.

I'd suggest a game.CountPlayers() which returns the number of players, including connecting players, and bots. This would match game.MaxPlayers() which returns the maximum number of players (including bots) the server can have.

Ready players = player.GetCount() eg 5 Connecting players = game.CountPlayers() - player.GetCount() eg 7 - 5 = 2 Available slots: = game.MaxPlayers() - game.CountPlayers() eg 10 - 7 = 3

[RaphaelIT7]

This would probably require https://github.com/Facepunch/garrysmod-requests/issues/2417 as IServer::GetNumClients would return the accurate player count.

[wrefgtzweve]

local playerCount = 0
hook.Add( "ClientSignOnStateChanged", "playerCountTracker", function( _, oldstate )
    if oldstate ~= 7 then return end
    playerCount= playerCount+ 1
end )

gameevent.Listen "player_connect"
hook.Add( "player_connect", "playerCountTracker", function()
    playerCount= playerCount+ 1
end )

gameevent.Listen "player_disconnect"
hook.Add( "player_disconnect", "playerCountTracker", function()
    playerCount= playerCount- 1
end )

A way to do it in lua right now using hooks

[robotboy655]

Added player.GetCountConnecting - returns only a count of players who are connecting, but not yet spawned in.