Use Godot’s ConfigFile to store player preferences in user://, load them with safe defaults at startup, apply them through the relevant runtime APIs, and save after changes. The file stores values; it does not automatically change audio, display, or input behavior.
What ConfigFile does—and does not do
ConfigFile stores Variant values under section and property names in a Godot-specific, INI-style format. A path such as user://settings.cfg is appropriate for player-specific runtime data. The official Godot 4.5 ConfigFile reference documents the format and methods.
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Keep persistence and application as separate jobs: read a preference from the file, then call the API that changes the running game. For example, saving a fullscreen choice does not itself switch the window to fullscreen.
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A small game can keep the settings logic in a node that lives for the necessary duration. If multiple scenes need access to preferences, an autoload can provide a shared owner. That is an organizational choice, not a requirement of ConfigFile.
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Choose explicit defaults in code so a first launch, missing key, or unreadable file does not leave a preference undefined. The following helper loads one configuration and returns defaults when the file cannot be loaded:
extends Node
const SETTINGS_PATH := "user://settings.cfg"
var config := ConfigFile.new()
func _ready() -> void:
var err := config.load(SETTINGS_PATH)
if err != OK:
config = ConfigFile.new()
func get_setting(section: String, key: String, default_value: Variant) -> Variant:
return config.get_value(section, key, default_value)
func set_setting(section: String, key: String, value: Variant) -> Error:
config.set_value(section, key, value)
return config.save(SETTINGS_PATH)get_value(section, key, default) supplies the fallback when a property is absent. Checking load() matters because a missing or unreadable file is not evidence that saved preferences were recovered; for ordinary preferences, starting with defaults is usually the sensible fallback. The methods and error-code behavior are documented in the ConfigFile class reference.
Load preferences and apply them at startup
After the helper loads, read each preference using a default, then apply it to the relevant runtime system. Keep the stored representation consistent with the UI and your application code.
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var master_volume := float(settings.get_setting("audio", "master_volume", 0.8))
var fullscreen := bool(settings.get_setting("display", "fullscreen", false))
# Apply master_volume through the audio system your game uses.
# Apply fullscreen through DisplayServer at runtime.This snippet demonstrates loading and fallback only; it deliberately does not claim to implement audio or input APIs. For display settings, Godot distinguishes settings read at startup from changes made while the game is running. The Project Settings guide points to runtime APIs for live changes, and the Godot 4.2 ProjectSettings reference shows DisplayServer.window_set_mode(DisplayServer.WINDOW_MODE_WINDOWED) as a window-mode example.
Save when the player changes a preference
set_value() changes the in-memory object only. Call save() to write the changed data to disk; the ConfigFile reference explicitly notes that mutating the object does not itself persist it.
func on_fullscreen_toggled(enabled: bool) -> void:
settings.config.set_value("display", "fullscreen", enabled)
var mode := DisplayServer.WINDOW_MODE_FULLSCREEN if enabled
else DisplayServer.WINDOW_MODE_WINDOWED
DisplayServer.window_set_mode(mode)
var err := settings.config.save(SETTINGS_PATH)
if err != OK:
push_error("Could not save settings: %s" % error_string(err))For a small settings file, saving each change keeps the disk copy current and makes the save point straightforward. Alternatively, update the in-memory values as the player edits and save once when the settings menu closes; that reduces writes but means an interruption before the save can lose the latest edits. Whichever approach you choose, check the returned error and do not tell the player a change was saved when the write failed.
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Handle volume as a value plus an audio operation
Decide what the file stores—such as a linear slider value or a decibel value—and use that representation consistently when reading, applying, and saving it. The ConfigFile layer can store either as a value, but it does not convert the preference into an audio change. Apply it to the audio bus your game intends to control using the appropriate runtime audio API for the Godot version you target.
Map fullscreen preference to a runtime window mode
A boolean can represent the player’s choice: true for the intended fullscreen mode and false for windowed mode. Apply the choice through DisplayServer.window_set_mode() rather than assuming that writing a value into the settings file—or changing a startup-oriented project setting—will change the live window.
Confirm the desired mode and behavior on the platforms you support. If the requested mode cannot be used on a particular platform, define a fallback, such as using windowed mode, instead of promising identical behavior everywhere.
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Design keybind persistence deliberately
Key rebinding is not just another scalar setting: a binding involves an action and input-event data. Decide how your game will represent each action and its events, how it will restore defaults, and what it will do if saved data is missing or unsupported. Do not assume every InputEvent can be stored as a simple value.
The Godot input tutorials index identifies input handling as its own documentation area, but does not establish a specific serialization format or set of calls. Verify the exact InputMap and InputEvent APIs against the Godot 4 minor version you use before implementing serialization and restoration.
Reset preferences and keep the file maintainable
To reset settings, restore the chosen defaults in memory, apply them to the running game, and save the resulting values if the reset should survive a restart. Treat a save error the same way as any other failed write: the running game may be using defaults even though the file was not updated.
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Section and property names in a ConfigFile cannot contain spaces. A possible layout is:
master_volume = 0.8
[display]
fullscreen = false
[input]
# Define and document your own action/event representation.This is an example layout, not a built-in Godot schema. ConfigFile uses a Godot-specific format, and comments are lost when the file is saved again, so do not use it as a place to preserve user-authored comments.
Choose a save pattern that fits the settings owner
- One long-lived helper: load one ConfigFile, keep it in memory, update it as settings change, and save it. This suits a shared settings owner.
- Reload before each write: reload the file before changing a value when a short-lived helper needs to avoid replacing unrelated sections with a new empty ConfigFile. Check the load result before continuing.
- Save each change or batch-save: choose between immediate persistence and saving when the menu closes based on whether preserving every edit is more important than avoiding a write for each adjustment.
Godot’s ConfigFile reference provides the core new(), load(), get_value(), set_value(), and save() pattern. Check signatures and runtime behavior against the documentation for your selected Godot 4 minor version when turning these patterns into a complete implementation.
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