Operating a ride

A ride runs on its own, but it's more fun with an operator. With Ultimate Theme Park, the control panel is a web page: the operator keeps it open on a second screen, in a window next to the game, or on their phone. They stand in the station, watch the train in the game, and press the buttons.

Open the panel#

1. The operator opens their page with /connect, like any guest — see How guests listen.
2. They go to the Operator tab.
3. They walk into the ride's station.

As soon as they are in the station's region, the panel shows up with the ride's name and its buttons. When they walk out, it goes away.

Take the post#

Anyone standing in the station can see the panel, but only someone with the utp.operator permission can press the buttons. They turn the Operator key: the ride is now theirs, and it no longer runs by itself.

There is one operator at a time. If someone else tries, the chat tells them who is already operating.

Leaving the post#

Turning the key back, walking out of the station or leaving the server all give the post back, and the ride goes back to running by itself at once, whatever state it was left in:

• the emergency stop is released, if it was on;
• the safety lock is released and the restraints open, so riders can get off;
• the transfer table is put back in line, and a train it was holding is sent on;
• if every train was put away in storage, one is brought back out;
• the gates open, and the station takes guests again. Guests already seated get their countdown.

While this happens, the panel shows Manoeuvre in progress and nobody can take the post: the ride is being put back into service, and two people working the same machinery at the same time is how accidents happen. It only takes a few seconds — longer when a train has to come out of storage.

To let your staff operate rides without making them server operators, give them the permission — for example with LuckPerms:

/lp group staff permission set utp.operator true

The panel#

The panel is drawn like the operator desk of a real ride: grey steel, a key, switches, lamps and a small display.

• The display at the top says what the ride is waiting for: Close the gates, Lock the restraints, Ready to dispatch…
• The lamps show how things stand: train in the station, gates shut, restraints locked, your safety lock, ready to go, emergency stop. A coaster with an unload platform has one more, Unload: orange and blinking while riders get off there, white when an empty train is waiting to come in.

A button lights up when it can be pressed. After a press, an orange ring round a control empties while it waits for its animation and debounce delay.

When the train comes back#

With an operator on duty, the station opens nothing by itself when a train comes back: the lap is counted, and the rest is up to the operator. The riders stay in their seats until they are let off:

1. If the ride has a safety lock, release it. The display says Release followed by the lock's name.
2. Open the restraints. The display says Open the restraints.
3. The riders are put out three seconds later. The display says Riders getting off.

Dispatch stays off until they are out: the train would take them round again. Leaving the post lets them off at once.

On a coaster with an unload platform, the riders got off there: the train comes in empty, its restraints already open. Release the safety lock, if there is one, and open the gates for the next guests.

When can the train leave?#

Dispatch only works when everything is safe:

• a train is in the station,
• the riders of the last lap have got off,
• the gates are closed,
• the restraints are closed,
• the safety lock is locked, if the ride has one,
• the next section of track is free,
• and the emergency stop is off.

If something is missing, riders see "Waiting for dispatch authorisation", and the red lights on the panel tell you what's left to do.

Gates and restraints can only move when a train is in the station, and not while the safety lock is on — or still moving: Dispatch only lights up once the lock's animation is over.

Emergency stop#

The emergency stop halts the ride: any countdown is cancelled and no train can be dispatched. Press it again to release it — or leave the post, which releases it too. If the ride is still in a strange state afterwards, /utp ride reset 7 puts it back in order.

Manoeuvres#

Sometimes the plugin works the ride by itself: when your server starts and a coaster puts its fleet back together or its train back in the station, when an operator leaves, or when a flat ride puts its seats back. The panel then shows Manoeuvre in progress, every control is locked, and the Operator key is refused until it is over. Nothing leaves the station meanwhile; guests who sit down get their countdown as soon as it is done.