Adding Interactivity to Decentraland Scenes

Decision Tree

Need	Approach	API
Click/hover on a specific entity	Pointer events	pointerEventsSystem.onPointerDown()
Detect player entering an area	Trigger area	TriggerArea + triggerAreaEventsSystem
Poll key state every frame	Global input	inputSystem.isTriggered() / isPressed()
Detect objects in a direction	Raycasting	raycastSystem or Raycast component
Read cursor position / lock state	Cursor state	PointerLock, PrimaryPointerInfo

---

Pointer Events (Click / Hover)

Using the Helper System (Recommended)

import { engine, Transform, MeshRenderer, pointerEventsSystem, InputAction } from '@dcl/sdk/ecs'
import { Vector3 } from '@dcl/sdk/math'

const cube = engine.addEntity()
Transform.create(cube, { position: Vector3.create(8, 1, 8) })
MeshRenderer.setBox(cube)

// Add click handler
pointerEventsSystem.onPointerDown(
  {
    entity: cube,
    opts: {
      button: InputAction.IA_POINTER,    // Left click
      hoverText: 'Click me!',
      maxDistance: 10
    }
  },
  (event) => {
    console.log('Cube clicked!', event.hit?.position)
  }
)

All Input Actions

InputAction.IA_POINTER    // Left mouse button
InputAction.IA_PRIMARY    // E key
InputAction.IA_SECONDARY  // F key
InputAction.IA_ACTION_3   // 1 key
InputAction.IA_ACTION_4   // 2 key
InputAction.IA_ACTION_5   // 3 key
InputAction.IA_ACTION_6   // 4 key
InputAction.IA_JUMP       // Space key
InputAction.IA_FORWARD    // W key
InputAction.IA_BACKWARD   // S key
InputAction.IA_LEFT       // A key
InputAction.IA_RIGHT      // D key
InputAction.IA_WALK       // Shift key

All Event Types

PointerEventType.PET_DOWN         // Button pressed
PointerEventType.PET_UP           // Button released
PointerEventType.PET_HOVER_ENTER  // Cursor enters entity
PointerEventType.PET_HOVER_LEAVE  // Cursor leaves entity

Pointer Up (Release)

pointerEventsSystem.onPointerDown(
  { entity: cube, opts: { button: InputAction.IA_POINTER, hoverText: 'Hold me' } },
  () => { console.log('Pressed!') }
)

pointerEventsSystem.onPointerUp(
  { entity: cube, opts: { button: InputAction.IA_POINTER } },
  () => { console.log('Released!') }
)

Removing Handlers

pointerEventsSystem.removeOnPointerDown(cube)
pointerEventsSystem.removeOnPointerUp(cube)

Important: Colliders Required

Pointer events only work on entities with a collider. Add one if your entity doesn't have a mesh:

import { MeshCollider } from '@dcl/sdk/ecs'
MeshCollider.setBox(entity) // Invisible box collider

For GLTF models, set the collision mask:

GltfContainer.create(entity, {
  src: 'models/button.glb',
  visibleMeshesCollisionMask: ColliderLayer.CL_POINTER
})

---

Trigger Areas (Proximity Detection)

Detect when the player enters, exits, or stays inside an area:

import { engine, Transform, TriggerArea } from '@dcl/sdk/ecs'
import { triggerAreaEventsSystem } from '@dcl/sdk/ecs'
import { Vector3 } from '@dcl/sdk/math'

const area = engine.addEntity()
TriggerArea.setBox(area) // or TriggerArea.setSphere(area)
Transform.create(area, {
  position: Vector3.create(8, 0, 8),
  scale: Vector3.create(4, 4, 4) // Size the area via Transform.scale
})

// Register enter/exit/stay events
triggerAreaEventsSystem.onTriggerEnter(area, (event) => {
  console.log('Entity entered trigger:', event.trigger.entity)
})

triggerAreaEventsSystem.onTriggerExit(area, () => {
  console.log('Entity exited trigger')
})

triggerAreaEventsSystem.onTriggerStay(area, () => {
  // Called every frame while an entity is inside
})

By default, trigger areas react to the player layer. Use ColliderLayer to restrict which entities activate the area:

import { ColliderLayer, MeshCollider } from '@dcl/sdk/ecs'

// Area that only reacts to custom layers
TriggerArea.setBox(area, ColliderLayer.CL_CUSTOM1 | ColliderLayer.CL_CUSTOM2)

// Mark a moving entity to activate the area
const mover = engine.addEntity()
Transform.create(mover, { position: Vector3.create(8, 0, 8) })
MeshCollider.setBox(mover, ColliderLayer.CL_CUSTOM1)

---

Raycasting

Raycast Direction Types

Four direction modes are available:

// 1. Local direction — relative to entity rotation
{ $case: 'localDirection', localDirection: Vector3.Forward() }

// 2. Global direction — world-space, ignores entity rotation
{ $case: 'globalDirection', globalDirection: Vector3.Down() }

// 3. Global target — aim at a world position
{ $case: 'globalTarget', globalTarget: Vector3.create(10, 0, 10) }

// 4. Target entity — aim at another entity
{ $case: 'targetEntity', targetEntity: entityId }

Callback-Based Raycasting (Recommended)

import { raycastSystem, RaycastQueryType, ColliderLayer } from '@dcl/sdk/ecs'

// Local direction raycast
raycastSystem.registerLocalDirectionRaycast(
  { entity: myEntity, opts: { queryType: RaycastQueryType.RQT_HIT_FIRST, direction: Vector3.Forward(), maxDistance: 16, collisionMask: ColliderLayer.CL_POINTER } },
  (result) => {
    if (result.hits.length > 0) {
      console.log('Hit:', result.hits[0].entityId)
    }
  }
)

// Global direction raycast
raycastSystem.registerGlobalDirectionRaycast(
  { entity: myEntity, opts: { queryType: RaycastQueryType.RQT_HIT_FIRST, direction: Vector3.Down(), maxDistance: 20 } },
  (result) => { /* handle hits */ }
)

// Target position raycast
raycastSystem.registerGlobalTargetRaycast(
  { entity: myEntity, opts: { globalTarget: Vector3.create(8, 0, 8), maxDistance: 20 } },
  (result) => { /* handle result */ }
)

// Target entity raycast
raycastSystem.registerTargetEntityRaycast(
  { entity: sourceEntity, opts: { targetEntity: targetEntity, maxDistance: 15 } },
  (result) => { /* handle result */ }
)

// Remove raycast from entity
raycastSystem.removeRaycasterEntity(myEntity)

Component-Based Raycasting

import { engine, Raycast, RaycastResult, RaycastQueryType } from '@dcl/sdk/ecs'
import { Vector3 } from '@dcl/sdk/math'

const rayEntity = engine.addEntity()
Raycast.create(rayEntity, {
  direction: { $case: 'localDirection', localDirection: Vector3.Forward() },
  maxDistance: 16,
  queryType: RaycastQueryType.RQT_HIT_FIRST,
  continuous: false // Set true for continuous raycasting
})

// Check results
engine.addSystem(() => {
  const result = RaycastResult.getOrNull(rayEntity)
  if (result && result.hits.length > 0) {
    const hit = result.hits[0]
    console.log('Hit entity:', hit.entityId, 'at', hit.position)
  }
})

Camera Raycast

Cast a ray from the camera to detect what the player is looking at:

raycastSystem.registerGlobalDirectionRaycast(
  {
    entity: engine.CameraEntity,
    opts: {
      direction: Vector3.rotate(Vector3.Forward(), Transform.get(engine.CameraEntity).rotation),
      maxDistance: 16
    }
  },
  (result) => {
    if (result.hits.length > 0) console.log('Looking at:', result.hits[0].entityId)
  }
)

---

Global Input Handling

Listen for key presses anywhere (not entity-specific):

import { inputSystem, InputAction, PointerEventType } from '@dcl/sdk/ecs'

engine.addSystem(() => {
  // Check if E key was just pressed this frame
  if (inputSystem.isTriggered(InputAction.IA_PRIMARY, PointerEventType.PET_DOWN)) {
    console.log('E key pressed!')
  }

  // Check if a key is currently held down
  if (inputSystem.isPressed(InputAction.IA_SECONDARY)) {
    console.log('F key is held!')
  }

  // Entity-specific input via system
  const clickData = inputSystem.getInputCommand(
    InputAction.IA_POINTER,
    PointerEventType.PET_DOWN,
    myEntity
  )
  if (clickData) {
    console.log('Entity clicked via system:', clickData.hit.entityId)
  }
})

Cursor State

import { PointerLock, PrimaryPointerInfo } from '@dcl/sdk/ecs'

// Check if cursor is locked
const isLocked = PointerLock.get(engine.CameraEntity).isPointerLocked

// Get cursor position and world ray
const pointerInfo = PrimaryPointerInfo.get(engine.RootEntity)
console.log('Cursor position:', pointerInfo.screenCoordinates)
console.log('World ray direction:', pointerInfo.worldRayDirection)

---

Toggle Pattern (Click to Switch States)

Common pattern for toggleable objects:

let doorOpen = false

pointerEventsSystem.onPointerDown(
  { entity: door, opts: { button: InputAction.IA_POINTER, hoverText: 'Toggle door' } },
  () => {
    doorOpen = !doorOpen
    const mutableTransform = Transform.getMutable(door)
    mutableTransform.rotation = doorOpen
      ? Quaternion.fromEulerDegrees(0, 90, 0)
      : Quaternion.fromEulerDegrees(0, 0, 0)
  }
)

Best Practices

• Always set maxDistance on pointer events (8-16m is typical)
• Always set hoverText so users know they can interact
• Clean up handlers when entities are removed
• Use MeshCollider for invisible trigger surfaces
• For complex interactions, use a system with state tracking
• Test interactions in preview — hover text should be visible and clear
• Set continuous: false on raycasts unless you need per-frame results
• Design for both desktop and mobile — mobile has no keyboard, rely on pointer and on-screen buttons

For the full input action list and advanced patterns, see {baseDir}/references/input-reference.md.