Understudy is an extension for Canopy that provides technical users with a powerful set of commands to control SimulatedPlayers. SimulatedPlayers are Mojang’s answer to automated testing for player actions in scripting scenarios. Understudy repurposes these entities as stand-ins for actual players that can be used in any scenario you like.
The need for Understudy arises from the necessity to run a Minecraft farm or machine that requires a player to be online while it runs. This is solved with SimulatedPlayers standing in for real players while running these farms, so you can log out and go to sleep for the night, while the farm runs until the morning. Several additional benefits come with the use of SimulatedPlayers in technical play:
- Easier Chunk Loading
Since SimulatedPlayers load the same area as a real player, they can be used to keep an area loaded. It’s an okay substitute for a lack of chunk loading mechanics in the vanilla game, but it’s not great. Canopy attempts to address the chunk loading issue in its own way.
- Server-Side Player Interactions
Some of the most efficient farms can now rely on predictable player input. For example, a farm where mobs must be killed by a player exactly every 10 ticks is now feasible.
Understudy was somewhat of a revolution for Techincal Minecraft Bedrock servers. It was quickly adopted by every major server and they are a great source of user feedback to improve the addon.