# Virtual buttons

<span class="badge text-bg-primary">Intermediate</span>
<span class="badge text-bg-success">Programmer</span>

Rather than bind controls to physical keys and buttons, you can bind them to **virtual buttons**. Players can then assign physical buttons to the virtual buttons, allowing them to create their own control schemes.

For example, imagine you develop a first-person shooter game and need to assign a key for the _UseMedkit_ function. Rather than bind the function to a particular key, you can create a **virtual button** called _UseMedkit_, then bind the virtual button to, say, the **F** key. If they want to, the player can then bind the virtual key to a different key at runtime.

![Virtual buttons](media/index-how-virtual-buttons-work.png)

## Use virtual buttons

1. Bind a key, button, or pointer to a virtual button (eg _MyButton_).
2. Create a list of virtual buttons.
3. Add _MyButton_ to the list of virtual buttons.
4. Assign a function to _MyButton_.
5. Create additional virtual buttons.
6. Add the additional buttons to the same list, or create additional lists.

## Example code

```cs
public override void Start()
{
    base.Start();

    // Create a new VirtualButtonConfigSet if none exists. 
    Input.VirtualButtonConfigSet = Input.VirtualButtonConfigSet ?? new VirtualButtonConfigSet();
    
    //Bind "M" key, GamePad "Start" button and left mouse button to a virtual button "MyButton".
    VirtualButtonBinding b1 = new VirtualButtonBinding("MyButton", VirtualButton.Keyboard.M);
    VirtualButtonBinding b2 = new VirtualButtonBinding("MyButton", VirtualButton.GamePad.Start);
    VirtualButtonBinding b3 = new VirtualButtonBinding("MyButton", VirtualButton.Mouse.Left);

    VirtualButtonConfig c = [b1, b2, b3];

    Input.VirtualButtonConfigSet.Add(c);
}

public override void Update() {
    float button = Input.GetVirtualButton(0, "MyButton");
}
```

## See also
* [Gamepads](gamepads.md)
* [Keyboard](keyboards.md)
* [Mouse](mouse.md)
* [Pointers](pointers.md)
* [Input overview](index.md)