Player Controllers in Godot 4.3+

Player Controllers in Godot 4.3+

All examples target Godot 4.3+ with no deprecated APIs. GDScript is shown first, then C#.

Related skills: physics-system for RigidBody, Area, raycasting, and collision shapes, 2d-essentials for TileMaps, parallax, and 2D lighting, 3d-essentials for CharacterBody3D and 3D movement setup, state-machine for movement state management, camera-system for camera follow and shake, component-system for hitbox/hurtbox integration, animation-system for animation driven by movement state, input-handling for InputMap actions and controller support, ai-navigation for enemy movement and pathfinding.

1. Core Concepts

CharacterBody vs RigidBody

Rule of thumb: Use CharacterBody when you need tight, responsive control. Use RigidBody when you want realistic physics simulation.

The Movement Loop

Every physics frame follows this order:

1. Read input          → get axis/action values
2. Apply forces        → gravity, friction, acceleration
3. Modify velocity     → move_toward, lerp, clamp
4. move_and_slide()    → engine resolves collisions, updates position
5. Post-movement state → check is_on_floor(), is_on_wall(), landing events

Always put this loop in _physics_process(delta), never _process(delta).

2. 2D Top-Down Controller

GDScript