I got a ball dropper and a box dropper, each are supposed to be activated by separate buttons, but each button activates them both and they are both clogged with both boxes and spheres.

how can I keep them separated entirely?

Use the instances with the word multiple in their names should fix this. Actually on second thought i thinnk the pshere dropper multiple instance is broken, so modify the standard cube dropper multiple instance for spheres and then save it as a new instance.

How, exactly? I am having difficulty looking up info on that, I just keep getting referred back to useless info that doesnt't fix the issue.
several VMF files i attempt on using keep telling me "file does not exist" which is retarded, and as I have mentioned before in old threads, I AM new at this and have yet to figure out half of what I am being told here

EDIT: I found a thread mentioning actually editing the instance itself and changing the cubes skin from inside the dropper to a sphere would work. It appears to have solved my issue, the autorespawn even works correctly. Now is there a way to make spheres roll down an angled hardlight without falling off of it like in one of the co-op maps?

Yup. func_clip_vphysics. Or func_brushes textured with invisible.

thanks, the second one works perfectly.

another question, I have func_brush attached to a smasher, triggered to push me out of an excursion funnel, but the damn thing passes right through me. i even made the smasher solid, still nothing. What do i do here?

Funnels make sure you can't be easily punted, moved, or jerked within the funnel unless either A. another PHYSICS object hits you or B. you move of your own accord. This accounts foreverything, even Faith Plates (you might notice that at The Part Where He Kills You, the funnel is shut off a split second before your punted by the arm.)

Therefore to make this work as you'd like you'd need to make a brush physics object that would be constrained (via phys_ entities) heavily to a func_brush parented to the crusher's buisness end, or otherwise turn the funnel off for a split second then use a catapult.

i don't see phys_entities on any list, not even to the site. is there a guide to this?

By physics object he meant create a brush, press control-T to turn it to an entity and then select func_physbox from the list.

oh, okay. it works just fine now. thanks