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Source: Roblox Creator Hub · CC BY 4.0 · View source · Code samples: MIT Imported 2026-10-03. Formatting adapted for this site.

Input

Every game needs to receive user input for players to interact and view their environment. Roblox supports nearly all forms of input, including mouse/keyboard, touch, gamepads, and VR.

Cross-platform input

Roblox is inherently cross‑platform, as players can discover and join games on their phone or tablet, then later continue where they left off on their PC or console. Input is especially important as part of your cross‑platform development plan.

To simplify this process, Roblox provides the Input Action System to define actions such as "jump," "sprint," or "shoot" and set up bindings for multiple hardware inputs to drive those actions. This frees you from thinking of all the technical aspects of hardware inputs and allows you to simply define which inputs perform which actions.

Input type detection

In cross‑platform development, it's important that you determine and respond to the primary input type a player is using, normally to ensure that UI elements like on‑screen buttons and menus work elegantly across devices.

For example, a touch‑enabled device assumes touch is the default input and that touch buttons may appear for actions, but if a player connects an additional bluetooth keyboard/mouse or gamepad, you can assume they want to switch to that as the primary input type and possibly use touch as a backup input for on‑screen UI. The read‑only UserInputService.PreferredInput property is a convenient way to test for and adapt to multiple input types across multiple device types, based on anticipated player behavior.

Behavior

The value of PreferredInput changes based on built‑in device inputs and the player's most recent interaction with a connected gamepad or keyboard/mouse. Examples include:

Benefits

Importantly, the PreferredInput property overcomes the following issues related to UserInputService.TouchEnabled and UserInputService:GetLastInputType(), both traditionally used to detect input types.

• TouchEnabled is true on laptops with touch screens, so it is not a proper "is mobile" check.
• UI layouts for gamepad or keyboard/mouse may be more appropriate even if a device has touch capability, for example a mobile device with a bluetooth gamepad connected.
• Multiple GetLastInputType() values may represent the same input device, requiring compound or logic in scripts. For example, MouseWheel, MouseMovement, and MouseButton1 all represent a mouse.
• GetLastInputType() frequently thrashes between MouseMovement and Keyboard which may cause code to run more often than expected. Similarly, thrashes between Touch and Gamepad[] may cause on‑screen UI to flicker between layouts.
• GetLastInputType() may return confusing values such as TextInput, Focus, and InputMethod.

Note

For advanced workflows or control schemes that rely on detecting and responding to the player's specific most recent UserInputType, you can continue using UserInputService:GetLastInputType() and UserInputService.LastInputTypeChanged.

The following LocalScript is a template for initially detecting the preferred input and responding to changes during gameplay.

local UserInputService = game:GetService("UserInputService")

local function preferredInputChanged()
	local preferredInput = UserInputService.PreferredInput

	if preferredInput == Enum.PreferredInput.Touch then
		-- Player is on touch-enabled device with no other input types available/connected
		print("Touch")
	elseif preferredInput == Enum.PreferredInput.Gamepad then
		-- Player has connected or most recently interacted with a gamepad
		print("Gamepad")
	elseif preferredInput == Enum.PreferredInput.KeyboardAndMouse then
		-- Player has connected or most recently interacted with a keyboard or mouse
		print("KeyboardAndMouse")
	end
end

preferredInputChanged()

UserInputService:GetPropertyChangedSignal("PreferredInput"):Connect(function()
	preferredInputChanged()
end)

Default bindings

Roblox provides default input bindings for movement, camera control, and basic environment interaction — Roblox players are familiar with these controls, so you should only override them in specific cases. Also note that the reserved inputs cannot be overridden and will always operate with their intended purpose.

Roblox Reserved

Character

Action	Mouse/Keyboard	Gamepad	Touch
Move forward	W ↑	Press up on primary thumbstick	Press up on virtual thumbstick
Move backward	S ↓	Press down on primary thumbstick	Press down on virtual thumbstick
Move left	A	Press left on primary thumbstick	Press left on virtual thumbstick
Move right	D	Press right on primary thumbstick	Press right on virtual thumbstick
Jump	Space		Tap virtual jump button

Interface / Inventory

Note

The following action inputs are reserved unless you disable the respective feature.

¹ If GuiNavigationEnabled is enabled (default)

Camera

² If EnableMouseLockOption is enabled (default)