Will the client GC a connection that the server has deleted?

[iiau]

Let’s say there’s a IntValue in the workspace.

The client has done a .Changed connection.
Now, a server script deletes it.

Will it cause a memory leak to the client?

[inHeadspace (Jeni)]

Calling :Destroy() will break all connections to that instance from all scripts.

[Amiaa16 (Amia)]

Actually, destroying an instance on the server doesn’t cause its connections to get disconnected on the client, nor does it lock the Parent property on the client. This is a known bug and has been discussed here a few times before

Instance:Destroy() Only Replicates Parent = nil Change

The expected behavior of Instance:Destroy() is “Sets the Parent property to nil, locks the Parent property, disconnects all connections and calls Destroy() on all children.” according to the wiki. If called on a server, when using the client, the first part follows as expected with the parent being changed, but the second parts won’t follow. This means that connections aren’t disconnected, and the instances can be reparented. The follow code can be used to illustrate this with a baseplate file, …

[inHeadspace (Jeni)]

Ah, alright. Didn’t know that was bugged.

[ReturnedTrue (Raiden)]

Due to this bug, you could Disconnect it yourself by connecting on workspace.ChildRemoving and comparing it’s properties.

Here’s a little example

local c do
    c = workspace.IntValue.Changed:Connect(function(child)
        --any code
    end)
end

workspace.ChildRemoving:Connect(function(child)
    if child:IsA("IntValue") and c then --compare any other properties
        c:Disconnect()
        c = false
    end
end