Scripting languages

Scripts attach to a node and extend its behavior. This means that scripts inherit all functions and properties of the node they attach to.

For example, take a game where a Camera2D node follows a ship. The Camera2D node follows its parent by default. Imagine you want the camera to shake when the player takes damage. As this feature is not built into Godot, you would attach a script to the Camera2D node and code the shake.

Godot offers five gameplay programming languages: GDScript, C#, VisualScript, and, via its GDNative technology, C and C++. There are more , but these are the official ones.

You can use multiple languages in a single project. For instance, in a team, you could code gameplay logic in GDScript as it’s fast to write, let level designers script quests in the graphical language VisualScript, and use C# or C++ to implement complex algorithms and maximize their performance. Or you can write everything in GDScript or C#. It’s your call.

We provide this flexibility to answer the needs of different game projects and developers.

Warning

Godot 4.0 will remove VisualScript from core entirely. As a result, creating new projects using visual scripting in Godot is not recommended. Future Godot 4.x releases may have VisualScript reimplemented as an extension.

While Godot 3.x will keep VisualScript supported, we recommend instead, especially if you intend to migrate your project to Godot 4.

If you’re a beginner, we recommend to start with GDScript. We made this language specifically for Godot and the needs of game developers. It has a lightweight and straightforward syntax and provides the tightest integration with Godot.

For C#, you will need an external code editor like or Visual Studio. While C# support is now mature, you will find fewer learning resources for it compared to GDScript. That’s why we recommend C# mainly to users who already have experience with the language.

Let’s look at each language’s features, as well as its pros and cons.

is an object-oriented and programming language built for Godot. It’s made by and for game developers to save you time coding games. Its features include:

A simple syntax that leads to short files.
Blazing fast compilation and loading times.
Built-in vector and transform types, making it efficient for heavy use of linear algebra, a must for games.
Supports multiple threads as efficiently as statically typed languages.
No garbage collection), as this feature eventually gets in the way when creating games. The engine counts references and manages the memory for you in most cases by default, but you can also control memory if you need to.
. Variables have dynamic types by default, but you also can use type hints for strong type checks.

GDScript looks like Python as you structure your code blocks using indentations, but it doesn’t work the same way in practice. It’s inspired by multiple languages, including Squirrel, Lua, and Python.

Note

Why don’t we use Python or Lua directly?

Years ago, Godot used Python, then Lua. Both languages’ integration took a lot of work and had severe limitations. For example, threading support was a big challenge with Python.

Developing a dedicated language doesn’t take us more work and we can tailor it to game developers’ needs. We’re now working on performance optimizations and features that would’ve been difficult to offer with third-party languages.

As Microsoft’s ) is a favorite amongst game developers, we officially support it. C# is a mature and flexible language with tons of libraries written for it. We could add support for it thanks to a generous donation from Microsoft.

C# offers a good tradeoff between performance and ease of use, although you should be aware of its garbage collector.

Note

You must use the Mono edition of the Godot editor to script in C#. You can download it on the Godot website’s download page.

Since Godot uses the .NET runtime, in theory, you can use any third-party .NET library or framework in Godot, as well as any Common Language Infrastructure-compliant programming language, such as F#, Boo, or ClojureCLR. However, C# is the only officially supported .NET option.

Note

Warning

As a result, creating new projects using visual scripting in Godot is not recommended. Future Godot 4.x releases may have VisualScript reimplemented as an extension.

While Godot 3.x will keep VisualScript supported, we recommend trying out GDScript instead, especially if you intend to migrate your project to Godot 4.

is a graph-based visual programming language where you connect blocks. It can be a great tool for non-programmers like game designers and artists.

You can use other languages to create custom blocks that are specific to your game, for example, to script AIs, quests, or dialogues. That’s where the strength of VisualScript lies.

While it provides all the basic building blocks you need to code complete games, we do not recommend to use VisualScript this way. Programming everything with it is slow compared to using other programming languages.