Radio towers, tuners and music
A radio is only as useful as the signal and power reaching it. Build coverage, keep the transmitter supplied and check the receiver too.
Build local coverage
Generated towers require revision-10 content, but players can build a tower in an older world. Put a transmitter cabinet beside a supported mast of at least eight segments with an antenna. A broken cabinet lists its parts; default repair requires Electrical 2 and a 30-real-second resumable action. Mast and antenna integrity are separate requirements.
A powered tower carries up to three frequency channels in 88.1–107.9, each News, Lore, Music or Silent. Ownership, claim rules or operator status govern channel edits.
| Setting | Energy/s | Base range, blocks |
|---|---|---|
| Low | 20 | 256 |
| Medium | 60 | 768 |
| High | 150 | 1,536 |
| Max | 300 | 2,560 |
Mast height scales range from ×0.6 at eight segments to ×1 at 32. Default range cap is 3,072 blocks, configurable 256–8,192. Limited power steps the transmitter down; no power takes it off air.
Keep the right source working
| Source | Requirements and limits |
|---|---|
| Original music | Ten packaged instrumental tracks; no internet source required |
| Server playlists | Ogg Vorbis in config/afterfall/radio_music/<playlist>/; operator reindexes; packet transfer and local caching have limits |
| Internet streams | WaterMedia 3.0.0.23 plus Binaries 3.0.0.6 on each listener’s client; each listener loads the link |
| YouTube | Server YouTube links enabled plus compatible client playback support; actual service access remains untested |
| News / Lore | Regional routing and configured fallback; Lore includes 24 original recordings and an eligible story slot |
At most four radio music players run per client in the implementation. Supported finite media can share channel timing; unknown-length playlist items cannot always seek to the same precise position. Failure can produce static and a reason.
Original tracks and server-file music remain separate from the optional media pair. For linked media, follow the WaterMedia setup guide and companion installation guide. The optional pair is not required on the Afterfall dedicated server. The reports did not launch the pair or rebuild Afterfall’s downloadable build.
Diagnose silence
Linked radio needs the game’s sound system; it cannot play when that is unavailable. Check your selected sound device as well as the receiver and tower. Handheld battery/crank radios, block receivers, tabletop radios and vehicle tuners have different supply conditions; a vehicle tuner requires its battery. A record player uses original tracks at its own block position and is not a tower.
If the server allows a player tower to keep its area loaded, it can keep consuming fuel while its owner is away. Regional mains and a broadcast station’s three-survival-day emergency backup have different limits. Servers can also allow fallback news in older worlds before mains shutdown.
Admin & server owner reference
Exact identifiers, original fields and source locators are preserved below. These records describe the documented mod version; they are not commands to run or proof of a new gameplay test.
| Source | Requirements and limits |
|---|---|
| Original music | Ten packaged instrumental tracks; no internet source required |
| Server playlists | Ogg Vorbis in config/afterfall/radio_music/<playlist>/; operator reindexes; packet transfer and local caching have limits |
| Internet streams | Compatible client WATERMeDIA backend; each listener resolves the URL |
| YouTube | Server youtube_links enabled plus compatible client backend/binaries/helper; real service access was not tested |
| News / Lore | Regional routing and configured fallback; Lore includes 24 original recordings and an eligible story slot |
Verification and exact fields
No new audio was auditioned. The author’s sandbox lacked an audio device and could not complete YouTube helper/service access. Custom third-party radio-channel APIs remain planned, beyond API v1.
Original fields and wording
Server youtube_links enabled plus compatible client backend/binaries/helper; real service access was not tested
Original fields and wording
A self-powered player tower can keep chunks loaded under radio.keep_loaded, consuming fuel while its owner is away. Regional mains and a broadcast station’s three-survival-day emergency backup have different limits. Old-world/pre-shutdown news fallback is controlled by radio.news_without_tower.
Sources & verification
Evidence: pdf-derived. Feature status: implemented-static. Article coverage: ready.
PDF pages 39, 209–210 · 15 Radio towers; 31 Media limits · Afterfall 0.14.0 report: E098–E107, E184–E186
Reported static findings and packaged-guide behavior. Underlying source/JAR and gameplay have not been rechecked for this wiki; pack overrides are unknown.
PDF pages 5, 9, 13–14, 17–18 · Client installation and Afterfall television/radio integration · WaterMedia:L1–L6
Static report findings; exact media pair was not launched or Afterfall distributable rebuilt. Preserve separate built-in fallback and linked-media paths.
The wiki has not independently playtested report-derived instructions. Your server or modpack settings may change them.