Hotkeys

A hotkey runs your function when the player presses a key.

ui.Hotkey("F6", function()
    ui.Notify("You pressed F6.", { kind = "good" })
end)

Close the menu and press F6.

When a hotkey reactsCopy Anchor Link

• A hotkey reacts during play, while the menu is closed.
• It does not react while the menu is open, so typing in a text box never triggers it.
• It goes away when your mod reloads. init.lua then makes it again.

The game still sees the key too. Pick a key that the game does not use for something else.

To make a hotkey react while the menu is open as well, pass in_menu = true:

ui.Hotkey("F7", function()
    ui.Notify("F7 works with the menu open or closed.")
end, { in_menu = true })

Key namesCopy Anchor Link

A key is given by its name, as text.

You rarely need to type these. A Keybind control lets the player press the key, and gives you its name.

Let the player choose the keyCopy Anchor Link

This takes three parts: a hotkey, a Keybind control to change it, and storage to remember the choice.

local settings = storage.Load("keys", { ping = "F6" })

local hotkey = ui.Hotkey(settings.ping, function()
    ui.Notify("Ping!", { kind = "good" })
end)

local window = ui.Window({ title = "Hotkeys", width = 300, height = 140 })

window:Keybind("Ping", settings.ping, function(key)
    hotkey:SetKey(key)
    settings.ping = key
    storage.Save("keys", settings)
end)

Open the menu, click the button beside Ping and press a new key. Close the menu and try it. The choice is still there the next time you play.

Stop a hotkeyCopy Anchor Link

ui.Hotkey gives back the hotkey.

local hotkey = ui.Hotkey("F6", function()
    ui.Notify("Ping!")
end)

local window = ui.Window({ title = "Hotkeys", width = 300, height = 140 })
window:Button("Switch the hotkey off", function()
    hotkey.Disconnect()
    ui.Notify("F6 does nothing now.")
end)

A hotkey may waitCopy Anchor Link

Your function runs as a task, so it may pause.

ui.Hotkey("F6", function()
    ui.Notify("Three...", { seconds = 1 })
    task.wait(1)
    ui.Notify("Two...", { seconds = 1 })
    task.wait(1)
    ui.Notify("One...", { seconds = 1 })
end)

The menu keyCopy Anchor Link

The key that opens the menu is not a hotkey of yours. The player sets it on the Settings page of the Wax panel. From code, use ui.SetToggleKey and ui.GetToggleKey. See The menu.

Every function is listed in the ui reference.