Error: Cannot call method 'start' on a null value

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1

Godot Version

4.6.3.stable

Question

Trying to add a cooldown to changing the gravity. Whenever change_gravity() is run it causes the error; Cannot call method ‘start’ on a null value. I know that g_cooldown_timer’s value is ‘null’ but I’m not exactly sure what that means aside from that it has no value.

I have checked other similar questions, but while they may have had the solution to my problem I --quite honestly-- was not able to apply them to my own code.

I have given the Scene Tree and the Script for Gravity Manager below. I apologize in advance if I did not give enough information, please ask if I need to give any more details.

gravity_manager.gd

extends Node 
class_name Gravity_Manager


@onready var g_cooldown_timer: Timer = $"../G Cooldown Timer"


const GRAVITY = 3000.0
var g_dir : Vector2
var g_on := 1

var cooling_down := false

func _physics_process(delta: float) -> void:
	if Input.get_vector("g_left","g_right","g_up","g_down") and not cooling_down:
		change_gravity(Input.get_vector("g_left","g_right","g_up","g_down"))
		
	if Input.is_action_just_pressed("g_toggle"):
		toggle_gravity()


func change_gravity(dir : Vector2):
		g_dir = dir
		g_on = 1
		cooling_down = true
		g_cooldown_timer.start(-1)


func toggle_gravity():
		if g_on == 1:
			g_on = 0
			print(g_on)
		elif g_on == 0:
			g_on = 1
			print(g_on)

Scene Tree

image
image199×227 6.15 KB

Thank you to anyone who replies.

2

Where is the Gravity manager in your scene tree? Is it the Game Manager Node?

It is a bad practice to use parent-paths (starting with $"../"), I’d recommend making the timer a child of your manager or using an @export variable for sibling or parent nodes instead