setrawmetatable

Sets the raw metatable of an object.

Syntax

setrawmetatable<T>(object: T, metatable: table?) -> T

Also available as debug.setmetatable.

Parameters

Parameter	Type	Description
`object`	`any`	The object to modify
`metatable`	`table?`	The new metatable, or nil to remove it

Returns

Type	Description
`T`	The original object

Description

setrawmetatable sets the metatable of an object directly, bypassing normal restrictions.

Example

local myTable = {}

-- Create a custom metatable
local mt = {
    __index = function(self, key)
        return "Key not found: " .. key
    end
}

local result = setrawmetatable(myTable, mt)

print(myTable.anything) -- "Key not found: anything"
print(result == myTable) -- true

Replacing Metatables

local object = {}
local originalMt = getrawmetatable(object)

-- Set a new metatable
setrawmetatable(object, {
    __tostring = function()
        return "Custom string!"
    end
})

print(tostring(object)) -- "Custom string!"

-- Restore the original metatable (including nil)
setrawmetatable(object, originalMt)

Caution

Modifying metatables of game objects can cause unexpected behavior or crashes. Always keep a reference to the original.

getrawmetatable - Get a raw metatable

setrawmetatable

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