Annoying bug with my player distance script [SOLVED]

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#1

This script keeps erroring when it runs if not PlayerDistanceTable[1][1] then return nil end

local NPCHumanoidRootPart = NPC:WaitForChild("HumanoidRootPart")
function returnClosestPlayer()
	local PlayerDistanceTable = {}
	for i,v in pairs(Players:GetPlayers()) do
			table.insert(PlayerDistanceTable,{v.Name,v:DistanceFromCharacter(NPCHumanoidRootPart.Position)})	
		end	
	table.sort(PlayerDistanceTable,function(a,b)
		return a[2] < b[2]
	end)
	print(PlayerDistanceTable)
	if not PlayerDistanceTable[1][1] then return nil end -- apparentley, after this check it stops and still errors, still runs even though it doesnt exist.
	return PlayerDistanceTable[1][1]
end
while true do
	wait(1)
	local TargetPlayer = returnClosestPlayer()
	if TargetPlayer ~= nil then -- checks if it isnt nil 
	print(TargetPlayer)
	end
end

“Attempt to index nil with number” this line: if not PlayerDistanceTable[1][1] then return nil end

2 Likes
#2

you could replace that with if not PlayerDistanceTable[1] and PlayerDistanceTable[1][1] then return nil end
Issue here is that if PlayerDistanceTable[1] doesn’t exist then you’re indexing it with nil.

1 Like
#3

I defined it in a varible right above, but for some reason I guess the script wont recognize it… im kinda confused as to what is going on here.

#4

If there are no players then the table would be empty/no indicies.

#5

It’s returning nil because there are no players when the server has just started…
Add a condition to check if there is more than 0 items in the distances table.

local NPCHumanoidRootPart = NPC:WaitForChild("HumanoidRootPart")
function returnClosestPlayer()
	local PlayerDistanceTable = {}
	for i,v in pairs(Players:GetPlayers()) do
		table.insert(PlayerDistanceTable,{v.Name,v:DistanceFromCharacter(NPCHumanoidRootPart.Position)})	
	end	
	table.sort(PlayerDistanceTable,function(a,b)
		return a[2] < b[2]
	end)
	if #PlayerDistanceTable > 0 then
		return PlayerDistanceTable[1][1]
	end
end
while true do
	task.wait(1)
	local TargetPlayer = returnClosestPlayer()
	if TargetPlayer then -- checks if it isnt nil 
		print(TargetPlayer)
	end
end
1 Like
#6

Thank you so much!!! You fixed my issue

#7

Your script is really hard for me to read, So I’ll just give you this since it is similar and simpler.

local function getNearestPlayer()
	
	local distances = {}
	local players = {}
	
	for i, v in pairs(Players:GetPlayers()) do
		local distance = v:DistanceFromCharacter(NPCHumanoidRootPart.Position)
		
		if distance then
			table.insert(distances, distance)
			players[distance] = v
		end
	end
	
	local nearestPlayer = players[math.min(unpack(distances))]
	
	return if nearestPlayer then nearestPlayer else nil
	
end
1 Like
#8 
local Game = game
local Players = Game:GetService("Players")

local function GetClosest()
	local Closest = {Distance = math.huge, Player = nil}
	for _, Player in ipairs(Players:GetPlayers()) do
		local Distance = Player:DistanceFromCharacter(Vector3.new(0, 0, 0)) --Example world position.
		if Distance < Closest.Distance then Closest = {Distance = Distance, Player = Player} end
	end
	return Closest --Dictionary with two fields, 'Distance' and 'Player'.
end