Onready

Part of the Nodes and Scenes section of Coddy's Godot journey. Lesson 21 of 27.

Writing $Face/Eyes on every frame looks for the node 60 times a second. It is better to find it once and keep it in a variable.

Variables at the top of a script are made when the node is made. Its children are not attached yet, so $Face/Eyes would find nothing, and Godot will not start the game. Put @onready in front, and Godot fills the variable when the node is ready, just before _ready() runs:

@onready var mouth = $Face/Mouth

func _ready():
	mouth.position.y += 2

After that, mouth is the node in every function of the script.

Challenge

Easy

Make a dizzy robot:

Keep the eyes in a variable: @onready var eyes = $Face/Eyes.
In _process(), spin eyes clockwise, half a turn every second. The eyes circle around the middle of the face, and the robot stays still.

Try it yourself

extends Node2D

func _process(delta):
	pass

Test yourself

This lesson includes a short quiz. Start the lesson to answer it and track your progress.

All lessons in Nodes and Scenes

1Your First Godot Game

What Is Godot?Ready Runs Once Print in Godot The Scene Tree Set a Position Move a Node Once

4Finding Nodes

The Dollar Sign Node PathsOnreadyChange a Color Hide and Show

2Every Frame

Process Runs Every Frame Delta Pixels per Second Move Diagonally Spin With Rotation Grow With Scale

5Project: Screensaver

Screensaver: Drift Screensaver: Side Walls

Screensaver: Top and Bottom

Screensaver: New Colors

3Values You Can Tune

Variables on a Node Constants Export Variables Vector2 Math Wrap Around the Screen Your Own Functions

Practice on your own: Godot playground