The WMI is a bridge between the map and Wiremod, it is an entity (info_wiremapinterface) that is able to give other entities wire ports. E2 wirelinks are supported. Highspeed or memory wire ports are not supported. E2 wirelinks only work when actually wired, not when using E:wirelink()

This point entity is made for the use in the Valve Hammer Editor and is invisible in-game. It supports all popular data types and it is easy to use. It is shipped with Wiremod.

If Wiremod is not installed, the entity will be not loaded, there will be a message in the console that info_wiremapinterface was not found and that it will be ignored. The map will run just fine, beside that you can't use the wire ports of course.

If you want to use this entity you should know this:

• How to use Wiremod.
• How to use the Input/Output system of the editor.
• How to add entities to the map and how to set them up.
• What *.fgd-files are and how to install/use them.
• How to make and compile a functional map.

You can control the use of the WMI by disabling or enabling it using the ConVar below. If you want a per player controlling, you will have to use a prop protection addon.

• sv_wire_mapinterface 1/0 - Enable or disable all Wire Map Interface entities. Default: 1
• sv_wire_mapinterface_min_trigger_time 0-1 - Sets minimum time between Wiremod input triggers per Wire Map Interface entity and Wiremod input. Default: 0.01
• sv_wire_mapinterface_max_sub_entities 1-128 - Sets maximum count of sub entities per Wire Map Interface entity that can get wire ports. Default: 32

Before you can use the WMI in the Hammer Editor you have to load the file wiremod.fgd in the editor. You can find it the root folder of your copy of Wiremod. If you can't find it then you can use this.

If your editor successfully loaded the *.fgd-file and you should be able create a info_wiremapinterface entity easily. If you open its properties menu then you should see this:

This following table explains the key names: (<N> is the number).

Property Name	Key Name	Description	Type	Default Value
Name	targetname	The name of the interface entity.	String (entity name)	<none>
Wire Entity	wire_entity_name	The interface gives up to 32 entities with this targetname wire ports.	String (entity name)	<none>
Minimum Trigger Time	min_trigger_time	The minimum time in seconds between two in-/output triggers. It's useful to prevent lags.	Floating Number	0.01
Wire Input <N> Name	input<N>_name	The name of the Nth input.	String	<none>
Wire Input <N> Type	input<N>_type	The type of the Nth input. See data type section!	int number (choices)	0 (Normal)
Wire Input <N> Description	input<N>_desc	The description of the Nth input. It's shown behind the input name in-game.	String	<none>
Wire Output <N> Name	output<N>_name	The name of the Nth output.	String	<none>
Wire Output <N> Type	output<N>_type	The type of the Nth output. See data type section!	int number (choices)	0 (Normal)
Wire Output <N> Description	output<N>_desc	The description of the Nth output. It's shown behind the output name in-game.	String	<none>

Setting of names and types of entities and ports alone will not work. You have to also connect the interface's Hammer outputs to other entities. What Hammer inputs you connect them is your choice. In this screenshot I connected them to a door:

Valid outputs are: (<N> is the number):

Name	Description	Type
OnResetWireInput<N>	Fired when the Nth wire input got reset. Useful if you have something that isn't zero by default.	Void
OnWireInput<N>	Fired when the Nth wire input got triggered. Leave the override parameter empty, if you want to use the input value!	String
OnWireEntsCreated	Fires when Wire In-/Outputs entities have been created. The entity is ready to use.	Void
OnWireEntsRemoved	Fires when Wire In-/Outputs entities have been removed. The entity is ready to use.	Void
OnWireEntsReady	Fires when Wire In-/Outputs entities have been created or removed. The entity is ready to use.	Void
OnWireEntsStartChanging	Fires when the wire map interface entity is adding or removing Wire In-/Outputs entities. The entity can't be used yet.	Void

Of course this entity has also Hammer inputs, they are useful if you want to build a wire-input-entity-dispenser or if you want to make a kind of a puzzle map for instance.

Valid inputs are: (<N> is the number):

Name	Description	Type
TriggerWireOutput<N>	Sets the Nth wire output to the given var when trigged.	String
AddEntity	Gives the wire ports to calling entity.	Void
RemoveEntity	Remove the wire ports from the calling entity.	Void
AddEntities	Adds entities by name that will get wire ports.	String (entity name)
RemoveEntities	Remove the wire ports from the named entities.	String (entity name)
RemoveAllEntities	Remove the wire ports from all entities.	Void
Activate	Allow the triggering from wire inputs and the updating of wire outputs.	Void
Deactivate	Disallow the triggering from wire inputs and the updating of wire outputs.	Void
Toggle	Toggle the above status.	Void

I think this screenshot should explain enough. These are for built-in entity protecting, removal behavior and wire rendering

The WMI can trigger lua_run entities. Its Lua code will know about the WMI globals when it was triggered by info_wiremapinterface entities. These globals are listed below:

Variable	Description	Type
WIRE_NAME	Input name	String
WIRE_TYPE	Input type (NORMAL, STRING, VECTOR, etc.)	String
WIRE_VALUE	Input value	<varying>
WIRE_WIRED	Is the input wired?	Boolean
WIRE_CALLER	This interface entity	Entity
WIRE_ACTIVATOR	The entity that has the Wire input	Entity
WIRE_DEVICE	The entity where the input data was from, e.g. a Wiremod button	Entity
WIRE_OWNER	The owner of the input device, e.g the player who spawned the Wiremod button	Entity

This table shows some Lua methods of the interface:

Name	Takes	Returns	Description
Entity:AddEntitiesByName	String	<Nothing>	Adds entities with the given name to the list and give them wire ports.
Entity:AddEntitiesByTable	Table	<Nothing>	Adds entities in given table to the list and give them wire ports.
Entity:RemoveAllEntities	<Nothing>	<Nothing>	Removes the wire ports from all the interface's entities.
Entity:RemoveEntitiesByName	String	<Nothing>	Removes the wire ports from the interface's entities that has the given name.
Entity:RemoveEntitiesByTable	Table	<Nothing>	Removes the wire ports from the interface's entities that has the given table.
Entity:GetWiredEntities	<Nothing>	Table	Returns a table of all interface's wire ports entities.
Entity:SetWiredEntities	Table	<Nothing>	Removes the wire ports from all the interface's entities and then adds wire ports to all entities in the given table.

To prevent any nasty stuff from happening, such as players running arbitrarily server side lua code, you must follow these rules when designing maps:

• Never pass user input as Lua code!
• Never use RunString or CompileString on user input! The best is to never use those at all in lua_run entities.
• Never add Hammer I/O (AddOutput) from user input!
• Never attempt to override/bypass any protection logic that might disable lua_run or info_wiremapinterface entities. Expect it to happen on some servers and design fallbacks into your map accordingly.

The WMI will block setups that would run Lua code or add Hammer I/O from user input. When attepted a warning message will be printed and the Hammer I/O will be deleted in game.

Warning: Attepting to bypass that protection is concerned as malicious map design. You have been warned!

To prevent abuse, the Wire Map Interface can no long supports running lua from Wire Input <N> Code / input<N>_lua fields. These field have been removed. Attempting to use them will print a warning message.

To migrate from old map logic, you can just copy paste the used lua code into a lua_run entity and trigger it.

Warning: Be very careful when you put Lua code a lua_run entity. There is a limit of 512 chars for the code and you have to avoid double quotation marks (") and replace them with single quotation marks ('). There is no way around, it's a problem of the Hammer editor! Carelessness may corrupt the map!

The WMI supports all common data types. This is a table of all supported data types and how they are converted:

ID	Wire Data Type	Lua Data Type	How it is converted to wire output?	How it is converted to wire input?
0	NORMAL	Number	Number from String.	Number to String.
1	NORMAL (Toggle)	Number (0 or 1)	Toggling between 0 and 1 each time it is triggered.	It triggers the input only when value is above 0. (Useful inputs for wired buttons.)
2	STRING	String	String is string	String is string
3	VECTOR2	Table with 2 indexes	Get the first 2 numbers separated by spaces from a string.	Get the 2 values and put them separated by spaces in to a string.
4	VECTOR	Vector	Get the first 3 numbers separated by spaces from a string.	Get the 3 values and put them separated by spaces in to a string.
5	VECTOR4	Table with 4 indexes	Get the first 4 numbers separated by spaces from a string.	Get the 4 values and put them separated by spaces in to a string.
6	ANGLE	Angle	Get the first 3 numbers separated by spaces from a string.	Get the 3 values and put them separated by spaces in to a string.
7	ENTITY	Entity	Get them by targetname or by ID number	Get ID number from the Entity
8	ARRAY	Table	Spit string values are separated by spaces.	Put values into a string and separate them by spaces.

When specifying a targetname in Hammer I/O you may also use special targetnames starting with an exclamation mark (!) to find target entities dynamically.

Side Note: Classnames instead of targetnames are supported too.

Targetname	Hammer input	Hammer output
!null	Nothing, no entity	same as input
!self	The Wire Map Interface entity	same as input
!player	All players	same as input
!caller	The entity calling the input, e.g. a trigger brush	same as !self
!activator	The entity triggering !caller, e.g. a player/npc touching the trigger brush	The map entity a wire signal was triggered in to, e.g a wired key pad of a door
!input	same as !activator output	same as input
!device	The entity where the input data was from, e.g. a Wiremod button	same as input
!owner	The owner of !device, e.g. the player who spawned the Wiremod button	same as input

This screenshots shows an example of a trigger brush passing player/NPC as an entity to use in Wiremod. Note as it uses !null to reset the entity output to null again, because passing an empty string will not always be applicable.

This is the official example map, so you can take it apart to see how it is used.

You don't have to ask for any permissions, you can always use parts or everything of the example map for everything you want. The *.vmf source file is included.

You have full permission to use, modify and release/reupload the map, its source or any part of it when ever you like.

• gm_wiremapinterface_v1-1.zip (Current version, June 2025)
• gm_wiremapinterface.zip (Legacy version, January 2012)

Happy mapping and wiring!