The "Drop Everything" Trap: Using Item Remover Devices in Verse

So, you want to punish players who get cocky? You know the type: they rush in hot, full of healing items and high-tier weapons, only to get one-shotted by a trap they didn’t see. Instead of just respawning them (which is boring), why not make them fight back with nothing but their fists? That’s where the Item Remover comes in.

In this tutorial, we’re going to build a "Loot Goblin" trap. When a player gets knocked out (hits zero health), their inventory gets emptied instantly. It’s like the storm stole their stuff, but faster. We’ll use the Down But Not Out device to detect when a player goes down, and the Item Remover to strip them bare. No coding required—just some smart wiring.

What You'll Learn

• How to use the Down But Not Out device to track player health states.
• How to configure the Item Remover to strip specific or all items.
• How to wire these two devices together so one triggers the other.
• Why renaming devices matters (because finding "Device 42" in a messy island is a nightmare).

How It Works

Think of your island like a match of Fortnite. Usually, if you go down, you’re crawling around waiting for a teammate to save you. Your weapons stay in your hands. But in our trap, we want to change the rules: No loot allowed when you’re down.

Here’s the game mechanic analogy:

• Down But Not Out (DBNO) is like the Elimination Counter. It watches the players and shouts "HEY! Someone went down!" when their health hits zero.
• Item Remover is like a Loot Drop. It reaches into a player’s backpack and throws everything on the ground.

By connecting them, we create a chain reaction:

1. Player gets shot. Health hits 0.
2. DBNO device detects this event.
3. DBNO sends a signal to the Item Remover.
4. Item Remover says, "By order of the island, give me that SMG."
5. Player is now unarmed and vulnerable.

Let's Build It

We aren’t writing complex Verse code here because UEFN has pre-built devices that do this logic for us. However, understanding how they talk to each other is key. In Verse terms, the DBNO device is an Event Source (it generates a signal), and the Item Remover is a Target (it listens for that signal and acts).

Step 1: Set Up the Stage

1. Open your island in UEFN.
2. Place a Down But Not Out device anywhere.
   • Pro Tip: Rename it to DBNO_Trigger in the details panel. Click the name field and type it. This makes it easier to find later.
3. If you are testing with only one player (solo), you must change a setting:
   • Select the DBNO_Trigger.
   • In the Details panel, find DBNO Enabled and set it to Yes. (By default, it’s off for solo games because normally you can’t go down in solo without dying).

Step 2: Add the Thief

1. Place an Item Remover device near the DBNO device.
2. Rename it to LootStripper.
3. Configure the LootStripper:
   • Items To Remove: Set this to All Items. This is the nuclear option. If you want them to keep their shield potion but lose their gun, you’d pick "Weapons" only. But for maximum chaos, go "All Items."

Step 3: The Wiring (The Verse Logic)

Now we make them talk. This is where you apply the programming concept of Event-Driven Programming. In coding, you don’t tell the computer line-by-line what to do; you tell it "When X happens, do Y."

1. Select the DBNO_Trigger.
2. Look at the Events section in the Details panel.
3. Find the event called On Player Downed. (This is the "When X happens" part).
4. Click the + button next to it.
5. In the popup, select the LootStripper device.
6. Select the action Remove Items. (This is the "Do Y" part).

Wait, is that Verse? Yes and no. In UEFN, the visual wiring is the Verse code, compiled for you. Behind the scenes, Epic’s engine translates this wire into a function call like LootStripper.RemoveItems(Player). When you click that wire, you are essentially writing:

# This is what the wire does behind the scenes
On_Player_Downed_Event := func(player: Player):
    LootStripper.RemoveItems(player)

You don’t need to type that. You just draw the line. But understanding that the wire = a function call helps you debug if it doesn’t work.

Step 4: Test It

1. Play your island.
2. Equip a gun and some potions.
3. Shoot yourself (or let a bot kill you) until you go down.
4. Watch your inventory. Empty? Success. You’ve just built a logic system.

Try It Yourself

Now that you’ve stripped them bare, let’s make it harder.

Challenge: Modify your setup so that the Item Remover only removes Weapons, but lets the player keep their Consumables (potions, chug jugs).

Hint: Go back to the LootStripper device settings. Look for the Items To Remove dropdown. It probably says "All Items." Change it to something else. What happens if you play the game now?

(Answer: If you set it to "Weapons," they’ll still have their healing items to crawl to safety with. It’s less punishing but more strategic.)

Recap

• Down But Not Out detects when a player’s health hits zero.
• Item Remover takes items away from a player’s inventory.
• Wiring connects the two: DBNO sends an "On Player Downed" event to the Item Remover, which triggers the "Remove Items" action.
• Renaming devices makes your island easier to manage as it grows.

You’ve just created a dynamic game state change. This is the foundation of all game logic: Event -> Action. Once you get this, you can link anything to anything. Want a door to open when a player dies? Link DBNO to a Door. Want a trap to explode when a player picks up an item? Link an Item Grabber to a Prop Mover. The possibilities are endless.

References

• https://dev.epicgames.com/documentation/en-us/fortnite/item-remover-device-design-example-in-fortnite-creative
• https://dev.epicgames.com/documentation/en-us/fortnite-creative/item-remover-device-design-example-in-fortnite-creative
• https://dev.epicgames.com/documentation/en-us/fortnite-creative/using-item-remover-devices-in-fortnite-creative
• https://dev.epicgames.com/documentation/en-us/fortnite/using-item-remover-devices-in-fortnite-creative
• https://dev.epicgames.com/documentation/en-us/fortnite-creative/device-design-examples-in-fortnite-creative