Agent and Avatar

The user’s presence in Opensim is represented by two entities: an agent and an avatar.

An agent is a client’s presence within a simulator. All users connect to a sim as an agent. An agent is not an avatar, though it is represented on the client by one. An agent can be an object creator/owner and/or a group member. An agent “sees” the world through a camera and has an avatar.

An avatar is a visual representation of an agent within Opensim; it is the body other users see and interact with. Avatars can wear clothing, have bodyparts, and constantly play animations (if they didn’t, they would just stand with their legs spread wide and their arms stretched out to the sides in a neutral position). Avatars can have attachments and are affected by physics.

The terms “agent” and “avatar” are often used interchangeably. While this is technically incorrect, even Linden Lab has neglected the differences between these two entities when naming LSL’s built-in functions, so it’s more practical to make a page combining the two.

Agent Functions llAddToLandPassList llDialog llEjectFromLand llGetObjectDetails llGetRegionAgentCount llGiveMoney llInstantMessage llRequestAgentData llSameGroup llSetSitText llSetTouchText llTeleportAgentHome	Agent & Avatar Functions llAvatarOnSitTarget llGetAgentInfo llGetPermissions llGetPermissionsKey llKey2Name llReleaseControls llRequestPermissions llSetCameraAtOffset llSetCameraEyeOffset llSitTarget llTakeControls llUnSit	Avatar Functions llAttachToAvatar llDetachFromAvatar llGetAgentSize llGetAnimation llGetAnimationList llGetAttached llPointAt llStartAnimation llStopAnimation llStopPointAt
Agent Events dataserver Triggered by llRequestAgentData. money Triggered by paying an object.	Agent & Avatar Events changed Triggered by sit. control run_time_permissions	Avatar Events attach

Subcategories:

Chat
Animations
Money
Sitting
Teleport
Damage

Q & A:

Q: How do I animate an avatar?
A: See llStartAnimation.