Computer startup

When a computer turns on, it searches for files to run as part of the startup process. This page details this process.

For information about creating a basic startup file, see Running programs on computer startup.

  1. /rom/autorun: Computers first look in the /rom/autorun folder, and run every file in that folder. This folder is empty by default, but may be extended by datapacks or other mods. See the example datapack for an example.

  2. If the shell.allow_disk_startup setting is true, then connected disk drives are searched for a startup file, startup.lua file, or startup/ directory. The first disk containing these files will be used for startup.

    1. The startup (or startup.lua) file will be run.
    2. All programs under startup/ will be run.

    The order disks are iterated over is not defined, and so it is recommended to only have one disk containing startup files connected to a computer.

  3. If no startup files are found on a disk, and the shell.allow_startup setting is true, then the root directory is searched for startup files in the same way (startup or startup.lua, then all files in startup/).

When listing a files from a directory (either startup/ or rom/autorun), the result of fs.list is used directly. This will always return files in lexicographical order. This means that startup/a.lua will always run before startup/b.lua.

See also