Control nodes receive mouse input even when the mouse is not touching the Control. Is this a bug?

[DevJac]

Godot Version

4.3 stable

Question

I have the following script on a ColorRect:

extends ColorRect


var last_gui_event: int = 0


func _process(_delta: float) -> void:
    if Time.get_ticks_msec() - last_gui_event > 500:
        color = Color.WHITE
    assert(not has_focus())


func _gui_input(event: InputEvent) -> void:
    last_gui_event = Time.get_ticks_msec()
    prints(last_gui_event, event)
    color = Color.RED

If I click inside the ColorRect and continue to hold down the mouse button, then no matter where I move the mouse the ColorRect will continue to receive gui_input events (it stays red). Even if the mouse is outside the Control, the Control will continue receiving gui_input events as long as the mouse button is pressed.

I do not believe this is related to Control focus, because the Control never has focus; the assertion in the script passes.

This is awkward to work around. The whole point of the gui_input signal is to limit events to those happening inside the Control.

Is this a bug?

I’ve also demonstrated this in a short 3 minute video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yomJZSPa43A

[Sweatix]

This is not a bug. The documentation on Custom GUI Controls states that:

@Godot Docs

[…] controls have a special input method that only works when:

• The mouse pointer is over the control.
• The button was pressed over this control (control always captures input until button is released)
• Control provides keyboard/joypad focus via Control.focus_mode.

This function is Control._gui_input(). Simply override it in your control. No processing needs to be set.

If you wish to ignore mouse position when it is outside the control, you can make use of Notifications.