Code runs properly once, then doesn't update?

[Freddd7878 (Fred)]

I made some code to check how many players have each type of an item. I was doing it in a module but decided to do it in the same script. the problem is that it runs properly once, but after the first time returns the same exact values in the table. Here’s an example:

I currently have 2 tools in my game, a lighter and a flashlight. If the table prints in the output it should look like this.

– if 5 players have a flashlight and 2 players have a lighter:
{
[“Flashlight”] = 5,
[“Lighter”] = 2,
}

The next time it runs, if one less person has a lighter, it should look like this, right?
{
[“Flashlight”] = 5,
[“Lighter”] = 1,
}

Nope. It prints the first table every single time. I know this because I ran it, deleted a tool from my inventory, ran it again, and then it gave me the same table. The function creates and returns a new table every time, so I don’t know why this is happening. Here’s the code.

local function newItem()
	local function itemCheck()
		local toolTable = {
			["Flashlight"] = 0;
			["Lighter"] = 0;
		}

		for _, player:Player in ipairs(game.Players:GetChildren()) do

			for key, v in toolTable do
				if player.Backpack:FindFirstChild(key) or player.Character:FindFirstChild(key) then
					toolTable[key] += 1
				end
			end	

		end

		return toolTable
	end 
	
	local playersWithTool = itemCheck()
	print(playersWithTool)
end

newItem()

I actually call this function every time a new room spawns, but for the example im just gonna leave it at this. Im using this to only spawn tools that not everyone has, or only items (ie batteries) that someone needs, so I kinda need to fix this. Forgive me if the solution is simple.

[JamiePro248clone (jaymey)]

when you deleted the tool from your inventory did you do it from the server view? if you deleted it locally in the playtest the server will not have detected it

[Freddd7878 (Fred)]

I just did, still doesn’t work

[Slymbiote]

@Freddd7878

Nope. It prints the first table every single time. I know this because I ran it, deleted a tool from my inventory, ran it again, and then it gave me the same table. The function creates and returns a new table every time, so I don’t know why this is happening. Here’s the code

local function newItem()
    local function itemCheck()
        local toolTable = {
            ["Flashlight"] = 0,
            ["Lighter"] = 0
        }

        for _, player in ipairs(game.Players:GetPlayers()) do
            for key, _ in pairs(toolTable) do
                if (player.Backpack and player.Backpack:FindFirstChild(key)) or (player.Character and player.Character:FindFirstChild(key)) then
                    toolTable[key] += 1
                end
            end
        end

        return toolTable
    end

    local playersWithTool = itemCheck()
    print(playersWithTool)
end

-- Call newItem with a delay to allow game state to update
task.wait(2) -- Wait for 2 seconds (adjust as needed)
newItem()

[Freddd7878 (Fred)]

Ok so putting the toolTable into pairs might’ve helped but I figured out I had a break somewhere that accidentally stopped the whole loop, my brain stopped working for a second there I guess (I redid it a little to have the values in the table be true or false, made it a little easier on my end)