Object¶

Inherited By: AudioServer, CameraServer, ClassDB, DisplayServer, EditorFileSystemDirectory, EditorPaths, EditorSelection, EditorVCSInterface, Engine, EngineDebugger, Geometry2D, Geometry3D, GodotSharp, IP, Input, InputMap, JNISingleton, JSONRPC, JavaClassWrapper, JavaScript, MainLoop, Marshalls, MultiplayerReplicator, NativeExtensionManager, NavigationMeshGenerator, NavigationServer2D, NavigationServer3D, Node, OS, Performance, PhysicsDirectBodyState2D, PhysicsDirectBodyState3D, PhysicsDirectSpaceState2D, PhysicsDirectSpaceState3D, PhysicsServer2D, PhysicsServer3D, ProjectSettings, RefCounted, RenderingDevice, RenderingServer, ResourceLoader, ResourceSaver, ResourceUID, TextServerManager, TileData, Time, TranslationServer, TreeItem, UndoRedo, VisualScriptCustomNodes, XRServer

Base class for all non-built-in types.

Description¶

Every class which is not a built-in type inherits from this class.

You can construct Objects from scripting languages, using Object.new() in GDScript, new Object in C#, or the "Construct Object" node in VisualScript.

Objects do not manage memory. If a class inherits from Object, you will have to delete instances of it manually. To do so, call the free method from your script or delete the instance from C++.

Some classes that extend Object add memory management. This is the case of RefCounted, which counts references and deletes itself automatically when no longer referenced. Node, another fundamental type, deletes all its children when freed from memory.

Objects export properties, which are mainly useful for storage and editing, but not really so much in programming. Properties are exported in _get_property_list and handled in _get and _set. However, scripting languages and C++ have simpler means to export them.

Property membership can be tested directly in GDScript using in:

var n = Node2D.new()
print("position" in n) # Prints "true".
print("other_property" in n) # Prints "false".

var node = new Node2D();
// C# has no direct equivalent to GDScript's `in` operator here, but we
// can achieve the same behavior by performing `Get` with a null check.
GD.Print(node.Get("position") != null); // Prints "true".
GD.Print(node.Get("other_property") != null); // Prints "false".

The in operator will evaluate to true as long as the key exists, even if the value is null.

Objects also receive notifications. Notifications are a simple way to notify the object about different events, so they can all be handled together. See _notification.

Note: Unlike references to a RefCounted, references to an Object stored in a variable can become invalid without warning. Therefore, it's recommended to use RefCounted for data classes instead of Object.

Tutorials¶

When and how to avoid using nodes for everything

Methods¶

Variant	_get ( StringName property ) virtual
Array	_get_property_list ( ) virtual
void	_init ( ) virtual
void	_notification ( int what ) virtual
bool	_set ( StringName property, Variant value ) virtual
String	_to_string ( ) virtual
void	add_user_signal ( String signal, Array arguments=[] )
Variant	call ( StringName method, ... ) vararg
void	call_deferred ( StringName method, ... ) vararg
Variant	callv ( StringName method, Array arg_array )
bool	can_translate_messages ( ) const
Error	connect ( StringName signal, Callable callable, Array binds=[], int flags=0 )
void	disconnect ( StringName signal, Callable callable )
void	emit_signal ( StringName signal, ... ) vararg
void	free ( )
Variant	get ( String property ) const
String	get_class ( ) const
Array	get_incoming_connections ( ) const
Variant	get_indexed ( NodePath property ) const
int	get_instance_id ( ) const
Variant	get_meta ( StringName name ) const
PackedStringArray	get_meta_list ( ) const
Array	get_method_list ( ) const
Array	get_property_list ( ) const
Variant	get_script ( ) const
Array	get_signal_connection_list ( String signal ) const
Array	get_signal_list ( ) const
bool	has_meta ( StringName name ) const
bool	has_method ( StringName method ) const
bool	has_signal ( StringName signal ) const
bool	has_user_signal ( StringName signal ) const
bool	is_blocking_signals ( ) const
bool	is_class ( String class ) const
bool	is_connected ( StringName signal, Callable callable ) const
bool	is_queued_for_deletion ( ) const
void	notification ( int what, bool reversed=false )
void	notify_property_list_changed ( )
void	remove_meta ( StringName name )
void	set ( String property, Variant value )
void	set_block_signals ( bool enable )
void	set_deferred ( StringName property, Variant value )
void	set_indexed ( NodePath property, Variant value )
void	set_message_translation ( bool enable )
void	set_meta ( StringName name, Variant value )
void	set_script ( Variant script )
String	to_string ( )
String	tr ( StringName message, StringName context="" ) const
String	tr_n ( StringName message, StringName plural_message, int n, StringName context="" ) const

Signals¶

property_list_changed ( )

script_changed ( )

Emitted whenever the object's script is changed.

Enumerations¶

enum ConnectFlags:

CONNECT_DEFERRED = 1 --- Connects a signal in deferred mode. This way, signal emissions are stored in a queue, then set on idle time.
CONNECT_PERSIST = 2 --- Persisting connections are saved when the object is serialized to file.
CONNECT_ONESHOT = 4 --- One-shot connections disconnect themselves after emission.
CONNECT_REFERENCE_COUNTED = 8 --- Connect a signal as reference-counted. This means that a given signal can be connected several times to the same target, and will only be fully disconnected once no references are left.

Constants¶

NOTIFICATION_POSTINITIALIZE = 0 --- Called right when the object is initialized. Not available in script.
NOTIFICATION_PREDELETE = 1 --- Called before the object is about to be deleted.

Method Descriptions¶

Variant _get ( StringName property ) virtual

Virtual method which can be overridden to customize the return value of get.

Returns the given property. Returns null if the property does not exist.

Array _get_property_list ( ) virtual

Virtual method which can be overridden to customize the return value of get_property_list.

Returns the object's property list as an Array of dictionaries.

Each property's Dictionary must contain at least name: String and type: int (see Variant.Type) entries. Optionally, it can also include hint: int (see PropertyHint), hint_string: String, and usage: int (see PropertyUsageFlags).

void _init ( ) virtual

Called when the object is initialized.

void _notification ( int what ) virtual

Called whenever the object receives a notification, which is identified in what by a constant. The base Object has two constants NOTIFICATION_POSTINITIALIZE and NOTIFICATION_PREDELETE, but subclasses such as Node define a lot more notifications which are also received by this method.

bool _set ( StringName property, Variant value ) virtual

Virtual method which can be overridden to customize the return value of set.

Sets a property. Returns true if the property exists.

String _to_string ( ) virtual

Virtual method which can be overridden to customize the return value of to_string, and thus the object's representation where it is converted to a string, e.g. with print(obj).

Returns a String representing the object. If not overridden, defaults to "[ClassName:RID]".

void add_user_signal ( String signal, Array arguments=[] )

Adds a user-defined signal. Arguments are optional, but can be added as an Array of dictionaries, each containing name: String and type: int (see Variant.Type) entries.

Variant call ( StringName method, ... ) vararg

Calls the method on the object and returns the result. This method supports a variable number of arguments, so parameters are passed as a comma separated list. Example:

var node = Node3D.new()
node.call("rotate", Vector3(1.0, 0.0, 0.0), 1.571)

var node = new Node3D();
node.Call("rotate", new Vector3(1f, 0f, 0f), 1.571f);

Note: In C#, the method name must be specified as snake_case if it is defined by a built-in Godot node. This doesn't apply to user-defined methods where you should use the same convention as in the C# source (typically PascalCase).

void call_deferred ( StringName method, ... ) vararg

Calls the method on the object during idle time. This method supports a variable number of arguments, so parameters are passed as a comma separated list. Example:

var node = Node3D.new()
node.call_deferred("rotate", Vector3(1.0, 0.0, 0.0), 1.571)

var node = new Node3D();
node.CallDeferred("rotate", new Vector3(1f, 0f, 0f), 1.571f);

Note: In C#, the method name must be specified as snake_case if it is defined by a built-in Godot node. This doesn't apply to user-defined methods where you should use the same convention as in the C# source (typically PascalCase).

Variant callv ( StringName method, Array arg_array )

Calls the method on the object and returns the result. Contrarily to call, this method does not support a variable number of arguments but expects all parameters to be via a single Array.

var node = Node3D.new()
node.callv("rotate", [Vector3(1.0, 0.0, 0.0), 1.571])

var node = new Node3D();
node.Callv("rotate", new Godot.Collections.Array { new Vector3(1f, 0f, 0f), 1.571f });

bool can_translate_messages ( ) const

Returns true if the object can translate strings. See set_message_translation and tr.

Error connect ( StringName signal, Callable callable, Array binds=[], int flags=0 )

Connects a signal to a callable. Pass optional binds to the call as an Array of parameters. These parameters will be passed to the Callable's method after any parameter used in the call to emit_signal. Use flags to set deferred or one-shot connections. See ConnectFlags constants.

Note: This method is the legacy implementation for connecting signals. The recommended modern approach is to use Signal.connect and to use Callable.bind to add and validate parameter binds. Both syntaxes are shown below.

A signal can only be connected once to a Callable. It will throw an error if already connected, unless the signal was connected with CONNECT_REFERENCE_COUNTED. To avoid this, first, use is_connected to check for existing connections.

If the callable's target is destroyed in the game's lifecycle, the connection will be lost.

Examples with recommended syntax:

Connecting signals is one of the most common operations in Godot and the API gives many options to do so, which are described further down. The code block below shows the recommended approach for both GDScript and C#.

func _ready():
    var button = Button.new()
    # `button_down` here is a Signal object, and we thus call the Signal.connect() method,
    # not Object.connect(). See discussion below for a more in-depth overview of the API.
    button.button_down.connect(_on_button_down)

    # This assumes that a `Player` class exists which defines a `hit` signal.
    var player = Player.new()
    # We use Signal.connect() again, and we also use the Callable.bind() method which
    # returns a new Callable with the parameter binds.
    player.hit.connect(_on_player_hit.bind("sword", 100))

func _on_button_down():
    print("Button down!")

func _on_player_hit(weapon_type, damage):
    print("Hit with weapon %s for %d damage." % [weapon_type, damage])

public override void _Ready()
{
    var button = new Button();
    // C# supports passing signals as events, so we can use this idiomatic construct:
    button.ButtonDown += OnButtonDown;

    // This assumes that a `Player` class exists which defines a `Hit` signal.
    var player = new Player();
    // Signals as events (`player.Hit += OnPlayerHit;`) do not support argument binding. You have to use:
    player.Hit.Connect(OnPlayerHit, new Godot.Collections.Array {"sword", 100 });
}

private void OnButtonDown()
{
    GD.Print("Button down!");
}

private void OnPlayerHit(string weaponType, int damage)
{
    GD.Print(String.Format("Hit with weapon {0} for {1} damage.", weaponType, damage));
}

``Object.connect()`` or ``Signal.connect()``?

As seen above, the recommended method to connect signals is not connect. The code block below shows the four options for connecting signals, using either this legacy method or the recommended Signal.connect, and using either an implicit Callable or a manually defined one.

func _ready():
    var button = Button.new()
    # Option 1: Object.connect() with an implicit Callable for the defined function.
    button.connect("button_down", _on_button_down)
    # Option 2: Object.connect() with a constructed Callable using a target object and method name.
    button.connect("button_down", Callable(self, "_on_button_down"))
    # Option 3: Signal.connect() with an implicit Callable for the defined function.
    button.button_down.connect(_on_button_down)
    # Option 4: Signal.connect() with a constructed Callable using a target object and method name.
    button.button_down.connect(Callable(self, "_on_button_down"))

func _on_button_down():
    print("Button down!")

public override void _Ready()
{
    var button = new Button();
    // Option 1: Object.Connect() with an implicit Callable for the defined function.
    button.Connect("button_down", OnButtonDown);
    // Option 2: Object.connect() with a constructed Callable using a target object and method name.
    button.Connect("button_down", new Callable(self, nameof(OnButtonDown)));
    // Option 3: Signal.connect() with an implicit Callable for the defined function.
    button.ButtonDown.Connect(OnButtonDown);
    // Option 3b: In C#, we can use signals as events and connect with this more idiomatic syntax:
    button.ButtonDown += OnButtonDown;
    // Option 4: Signal.connect() with a constructed Callable using a target object and method name.
    button.ButtonDown.Connect(new Callable(self, nameof(OnButtonDown)));
}

private void OnButtonDown()
{
    GD.Print("Button down!");
}

While all options have the same outcome (button's BaseButton.button_down signal will be connected to _on_button_down), option 3 offers the best validation: it will throw a compile-time error if either the button_down signal or the _on_button_down callable are undefined. On the other hand, option 2 only relies on string names and will only be able to validate either names at runtime: it will throw a runtime error if "button_down" doesn't correspond to a signal, or if "_on_button_down" is not a registered method in the object self. The main reason for using options 1, 2, or 4 would be if you actually need to use strings (e.g. to connect signals programmatically based on strings read from a configuration file). Otherwise, option 3 is the recommended (and fastest) method.

Parameter bindings and passing:

For legacy or language-specific reasons, there are also several ways to bind parameters to signals. One can pass a binds Array to connect or Signal.connect, or use the recommended Callable.bind method to create a new callable from an existing one, with the given parameter binds.

One can also pass additional parameters when emitting the signal with emit_signal. The examples below show the relationship between those two types of parameters.

func _ready():
    # This assumes that a `Player` class exists which defines a `hit` signal.
    var player = Player.new()
    # Option 1: Using Callable.bind().
    player.hit.connect(_on_player_hit.bind("sword", 100))
    # Option 2: Using a `binds` Array in Signal.connect() (same syntax for Object.connect()).
    player.hit.connect(_on_player_hit, ["sword", 100])

    # Parameters added when emitting the signal are passed first.
    player.emit_signal("hit", "Dark lord", 5)

# Four arguments, since we pass two when emitting (hit_by, level)
# and two when connecting (weapon_type, damage).
func _on_player_hit(hit_by, level, weapon_type, damage):
    print("Hit by %s (level %d) with weapon %s for %d damage." % [hit_by, level, weapon_type, damage])

public override void _Ready()
{
    // This assumes that a `Player` class exists which defines a `Hit` signal.
    var player = new Player();
    // Option 1: Using Callable.Bind(). This way we can still use signals as events.
    player.Hit += OnPlayerHit.Bind("sword", 100);
    // Option 2: Using a `binds` Array in Signal.Connect() (same syntax for Object.Connect()).
    player.Hit.Connect(OnPlayerHit, new Godot.Collections.Array{ "sword", 100 });

    // Parameters added when emitting the signal are passed first.
    player.EmitSignal("hit", "Dark lord", 5);
}

// Four arguments, since we pass two when emitting (hitBy, level)
// and two when connecting (weaponType, damage).
private void OnPlayerHit(string hitBy, int level, string weaponType, int damage)
{
    GD.Print(String.Format("Hit by {0} (level {1}) with weapon {2} for {3} damage.", hitBy, level, weaponType, damage));
}

void disconnect ( StringName signal, Callable callable )

Disconnects a signal from a given callable.

If you try to disconnect a connection that does not exist, the method will throw an error. Use is_connected to ensure that the connection exists.

void emit_signal ( StringName signal, ... ) vararg

Emits the given signal. The signal must exist, so it should be a built-in signal of this class or one of its parent classes, or a user-defined signal. This method supports a variable number of arguments, so parameters are passed as a comma separated list. Example:

emit_signal("hit", "sword", 100)
emit_signal("game_over")

EmitSignal("hit", "sword", 100);
EmitSignal("game_over");

void free ( )

Deletes the object from memory. Any pre-existing reference to the freed object will become invalid, e.g. is_instance_valid(object) will return false.

Variant get ( String property ) const

Returns the Variant value of the given property. If the property doesn't exist, this will return null.

Note: In C#, the property name must be specified as snake_case if it is defined by a built-in Godot node. This doesn't apply to user-defined properties where you should use the same convention as in the C# source (typically PascalCase).

String get_class ( ) const

Returns the object's class as a String. See also is_class.

Note: get_class does not take class_name declarations into account. If the object has a class_name defined, the base class name will be returned instead.

Array get_incoming_connections ( ) const

Returns an Array of dictionaries with information about signals that are connected to the object.

Each Dictionary contains three String entries:

source is a reference to the signal emitter.
signal_name is the name of the connected signal.
method_name is the name of the method to which the signal is connected.

Variant get_indexed ( NodePath property ) const

Gets the object's property indexed by the given NodePath. The node path should be relative to the current object and can use the colon character (:) to access nested properties. Examples: "position:x" or "material:next_pass:blend_mode".

int get_instance_id ( ) const

Returns the object's unique instance ID.

This ID can be saved in EncodedObjectAsID, and can be used to retrieve the object instance with @GlobalScope.instance_from_id.

Variant get_meta ( StringName name ) const

Returns the object's metadata entry for the given name.

PackedStringArray get_meta_list ( ) const

Returns the object's metadata as a PackedStringArray.

Array get_method_list ( ) const

Returns the object's methods and their signatures as an Array.

Array get_property_list ( ) const

Returns the object's property list as an Array of dictionaries.

Each property's Dictionary contain at least name: String and type: int (see Variant.Type) entries. Optionally, it can also include hint: int (see PropertyHint), hint_string: String, and usage: int (see PropertyUsageFlags).

Variant get_script ( ) const

Returns the object's Script instance, or null if none is assigned.

Array get_signal_connection_list ( String signal ) const

Returns an Array of connections for the given signal.

Array get_signal_list ( ) const

Returns the list of signals as an Array of dictionaries.

bool has_meta ( StringName name ) const

Returns true if a metadata entry is found with the given name.

bool has_method ( StringName method ) const

Returns true if the object contains the given method.

bool has_signal ( StringName signal ) const

Returns true if the given signal exists.

bool has_user_signal ( StringName signal ) const

Returns true if the given user-defined signal exists. Only signals added using add_user_signal are taken into account.

bool is_blocking_signals ( ) const

Returns true if signal emission blocking is enabled.

bool is_class ( String class ) const

Returns true if the object inherits from the given class. See also get_class.

Note: is_class does not take class_name declarations into account. If the object has a class_name defined, is_class will return false for that name.

bool is_connected ( StringName signal, Callable callable ) const

Returns true if a connection exists for a given signal and callable.

bool is_queued_for_deletion ( ) const

Returns true if the Node.queue_free method was called for the object.

void notification ( int what, bool reversed=false )

Send a given notification to the object, which will also trigger a call to the _notification method of all classes that the object inherits from.

If reversed is true, _notification is called first on the object's own class, and then up to its successive parent classes. If reversed is false, _notification is called first on the highest ancestor (Object itself), and then down to its successive inheriting classes.

void notify_property_list_changed ( )

Notify the editor that the property list has changed by emitting the property_list_changed signal, so that editor plugins can take the new values into account.

void remove_meta ( StringName name )

Removes a given entry from the object's metadata. See also set_meta.

void set ( String property, Variant value )

Assigns a new value to the given property. If the property does not exist, nothing will happen.

Note: In C#, the property name must be specified as snake_case if it is defined by a built-in Godot node. This doesn't apply to user-defined properties where you should use the same convention as in the C# source (typically PascalCase).

void set_block_signals ( bool enable )

If set to true, signal emission is blocked.

void set_deferred ( StringName property, Variant value )

Assigns a new value to the given property, after the current frame's physics step. This is equivalent to calling set via call_deferred, i.e. call_deferred("set", property, value).

Note: In C#, the property name must be specified as snake_case if it is defined by a built-in Godot node. This doesn't apply to user-defined properties where you should use the same convention as in the C# source (typically PascalCase).

void set_indexed ( NodePath property, Variant value )

Assigns a new value to the property identified by the NodePath. The node path should be relative to the current object and can use the colon character (:) to access nested properties. Example:

var node = Node2D.new()
node.set_indexed("position", Vector2(42, 0))
node.set_indexed("position:y", -10)
print(node.position) # (42, -10)

var node = new Node2D();
node.SetIndexed("position", new Vector2(42, 0));
node.SetIndexed("position:y", -10);
GD.Print(node.Position); // (42, -10)

void set_message_translation ( bool enable )

Defines whether the object can translate strings (with calls to tr). Enabled by default.

void set_meta ( StringName name, Variant value )

Adds, changes or removes a given entry in the object's metadata. Metadata are serialized and can take any Variant value.

To remove a given entry from the object's metadata, use remove_meta. Metadata is also removed if its value is set to null. This means you can also use set_meta("name", null) to remove metadata for "name".

void set_script ( Variant script )

Assigns a script to the object. Each object can have a single script assigned to it, which are used to extend its functionality.

If the object already had a script, the previous script instance will be freed and its variables and state will be lost. The new script's _init method will be called.

String to_string ( )

Returns a String representing the object. If not overridden, defaults to "[ClassName:RID]".

Override the method _to_string to customize the String representation.

String tr ( StringName message, StringName context="" ) const

Translates a message using translation catalogs configured in the Project Settings. An additional context could be used to specify the translation context.

Only works if message translation is enabled (which it is by default), otherwise it returns the message unchanged. See set_message_translation.

See Internationalizing games for examples of the usage of this method.

String tr_n ( StringName message, StringName plural_message, int n, StringName context="" ) const

Translates a message involving plurals using translation catalogs configured in the Project Settings. An additional context could be used to specify the translation context.

Only works if message translation is enabled (which it is by default), otherwise it returns the message or plural_message unchanged. See set_message_translation.

The number n is the number or quantity of the plural object. It will be used to guide the translation system to fetch the correct plural form for the selected language.

Note: Negative and floating-point values usually represent physical entities for which singular and plural don't clearly apply. In such cases, use tr.

See Localization using gettext for examples of the usage of this method.