Skip to content

NFC Reader

Jump to bottom
Alessandro Proto edited this page May 20, 2026 · 5 revisions

The NFC Reader is a peripheral capable of reading and writing data from/to NFC Cards.

A NFC Card is capable of holding string data up to 128 characters and the readonly flag can be irreversibly enabled to prevent further writes.

You can also put dyes along the NFC Card in a crafting table to dye the card.

d0c25a2b72f10ec016dc1913e1d81046be658f18

Methods

The network name of the NFC Reader peripheral is nfc_reader, you can wrap it via the peripheral functions like peripheral.wrap or peripheral.find.

  • write(data: string, label: string|nil, readonly: boolean|nil, privateKey: string|nil): void Submit data to write on the next NFC Card that interacts with the reader.
    • data: Data to write up to 128 characters.
    • label: Label to set on the card. Set to nil to clear.
    • readonly: Irreversibly flag the card as read-only, this will prevent further writes to the card.
    • privateKey: A 32-bytes long string. Will emit its public key on swipe. (only compatible with NFC Cards).
  • cancelWrite(): void Cancel the submitted write command.
  • sign(data: string): string Submit data to sign with the NFC Card holding a private key.
  • cancelSign(): void Cancel the pending signing action.

Events

nfc_data

Upon interacting with the reader while holding a NFC Card with data, the nfc_data event is fired to all computers connected to the peripheral.

  1. string: The event name. Always nfc_data.
  2. string: The side of the peripheral that read the card.
  3. string: The card data.
  4. string: The NFC Card public key.

nfc_write

Upon attempting to write data to a NFC Card, the nfc_write event is fired to all computers connected to the peripheral.

  1. string: The event name. Always nfc_write.
  2. string: The side of the peripheral that tried to write data to a card.
  3. boolean: Whether the write attempt was successful.
  4. string: Reason message of the attempt: "success" for successful write; "readonly" for failed write due to read-only card.

nfc_sign

When signing a message with a NFC Card, while in signing mode, the nfc_sign event is fired to all computers connected to the peripheral.

  1. string: The event name. Always nfc_sign.
  2. string: The side of the peripheral that signed the data.
  3. string: The signature of the message.
  4. string: The public key of the NFC Card.

Pocket computer behaviour (since 0.3.0)

Pocket computers come with a 2-way NFC adapter pre-installed, usable by loading the module os.nfc (require("os.nfc")).

Using a NFC Card with data on a player will enqueue the "nfc_data" event to all pocket computers of the target player, with the side parameter being "internal".

Furthermore, pocket computers are capable of acting like NFC writers and readers, interfacing with other pocket computers and even NFC Readers peripherals.

Calling the NFC module method #write(data: string) will make NFC ready to send data to a target, which will then clear the data.

Interacting with a player while crouching, or interacting with a NFC Reader, will behave the same as NFC Cards.

Interacting with a NFC Reader in write mode (yellow status light) will emit the nfc_data event on the pocket computer.

Clone this wiki locally