Space Engineers How to Make Lights Change Color Script

In Space Engineers, you can make lights change color using custom scripts—no coding experience needed! This guide walks you through setting up programmable blocks, writing simple scripts, and connecting them to your ship’s lighting system. Whether you’re building an RGB disco station or mood lighting for your base, we’ll show you exactly how it’s done.

How to Make Lights Change Color in Space Engineers: A Complete Script Guide

Welcome to your go-to resource for bringing dynamic lighting to life in Space Engineers! If you’ve ever wanted your ship’s interior to pulse with rainbow hues, shift from calm blue to fiery red during emergencies, or simply add some ambiance to your base, then you’re in the right place. This guide will teach you exactly how to make lights change color using simple scripting—no prior programming knowledge required.

By the end of this tutorial, you’ll understand how to connect programmable blocks to your ship’s lighting grid, write clean and effective scripts, and even create smooth color transitions. We’ll walk through every step with clear instructions, visual cues, and practical tips. So grab your welder and let’s get started!

What You’ll Need Before Starting

Before diving into the fun part, let’s make sure you have everything ready:

Visual guide about Space Engineers How to Make Lights Change Color Script

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• A Programmable Block – Found under “Logic” in the build menu. This is your command center for running scripts.
• Light Modules – Any type: Small/Large Spotlights, Floodlights, or Interior Panels. These are what will actually change color.
• A Working Ship or Base – You can test this anywhere, but having a stable structure prevents accidental ejection during testing.
• A Text Editor (Optional but Recommended) – Notepad, WordPad, or any plain-text app to copy-paste your script safely.

Pro tip: Always keep your scripts backed up outside the game—once uploaded to a block, it’s easy to lose track of unless saved elsewhere!

Step 1: Place Your Programmable Block

First things first: find a spot on your ship where you want to install the Programmable Block. It doesn’t matter much where—just ensure it has access to power and isn’t immediately destructible.

How to Access the Build Menu

1. Open your inventory (default key: Tab).
2. Switch to the “Build” tab.
3. Search for “Programmable Block” under “Logic.”
4. Place it wherever suits your design.

Once placed, right-click the block to open its interface. Here, you’ll see options like “Run,” “Stop,” and “Edit Script.” Click “Edit Script” to begin writing your code.

Step 2: Name Your Lights Consistently

This might seem small, but it’s crucial! When your script runs, it needs to know *which* lights to affect. The best way? Use consistent names.

Recommended Naming Convention

Name your lights something predictable, like:

• MainLight
• CeilingPanel_01
• EmergencyRed
• DiscoBlue

Avoid random letters or numbers. Instead, use descriptive names that include function or location. Later, your script can refer to these names clearly.

To rename a light:

1. Select the light module.
2. Press Ctrl + R (or right-click > Properties).
3. Type the new name in the “Name” field.

Tip: If you’re making multiple identical lights, name them sequentially—e.g., Light_1, Light_2, Light_3. Then group them logically in your script.

Step 3: Write Your First Color-Changing Script

Now comes the exciting part—writing the actual code! Don’t worry; we’ll start super basic.

Simple Toggle Script (Two Colors Only)

Let’s begin with a script that toggles between red and green every 5 seconds. Open your Programmable Block’s script editor and paste this:

while true do
    for i, light in pairs(Game.GetBlockGroupWithName("MyLights")) do
        light.Color = Color.Red
    end
    Sleep(5000)
    
    for i, light in pairs(Game.GetBlockGroupWithName("MyLights")) do
        light.Color = Color.Green
    end
    Sleep(5000)
end

But wait—you haven’t created a group called “MyLights” yet!

How to Create a Group for Your Lights

1. Go back to your ship.
2. Hold Shift and select all the lights you want to control together.
3. Right-click one of them and choose “Add to Group” > “Create New Group.”
4. Name the group “MyLights” (exactly as in the script!).

Now upload the script again. Press “Run” in the Programmable Block. Voilà—your lights should blink red, then green, then repeat!

Step 4: Upgrade to Smooth Color Transitions

Toggling colors is cool, but real magic happens when lights flow smoothly from one hue to another. Let’s upgrade our script using HSV interpolation—a technique that blends colors seamlessly.

Advanced Smooth Rainbow Script

Replace your old script with this version:

local hue = 0

while true do
    for i, light in pairs(Game.GetBlockGroupWithName("MyLights")) do
        local color = Color.FromHSV(hue, 1, 1)
        light.Color = color
    end
    hue = hue + 0.01
    if hue >= 1 then hue = 0 end
    Sleep(50)
end

What’s happening here?

• HSV stands for Hue, Saturation, Value—it’s a color model where hue controls the actual color (red, blue, etc.), saturation how intense it is, and value how bright.
• Color.FromHSV() lets us generate any color just by changing the hue number (from 0 to 1).
• Sleep(50)** means wait 50 milliseconds before updating again—so the change looks smooth instead of jerky.

local active = false

while true do
    local switch = GridTerminalSystem.GetBlockWithName("LightController")
    if switch.IsWorking and switch.Status then
        active = true
    else
        active = false
    end

    if active then
        -- Run your light logic here
        for i, light in pairs(Game.GetBlockGroupWithName("MyLights")) do
            light.Color = Color.FromHSV(hue, 1, 1)
        end
        hue = hue + 0.01
        if hue >= 1 then hue = 0 end
        Sleep(50)
    else
        -- Turn off lights when inactive
        for i, light in pairs(Game.GetBlockGroupWithName("MyLights")) do
            light.Color = Color.Black
        end
        Sleep(1000)
    end
end