Controls & shortcuts

Every player key is an InputMap action, so it shows up — and can be rebound — in Settings → Controls. The keybind menu (ui/menu_config/menu_config.gd) builds its list automatically from InputMap.get_actions() and saves the player's choices to user://inputs.map. There is no hard-coded key in gameplay code: inputs are read with event.is_action_pressed("…") / Input.is_action_pressed("…").

Main shortcuts (default keys)

Several keys are contextual — the same key does one thing on foot and another in a vehicle.

Default	Action	On foot	Driving a vehicle
E	action	Pick up / drop a prop, enter a seat	—
Y	exit	—	Leave the vehicle
L	toggle_flashlight / vehicle_lights	Torch on/off	Head lights on/off
Space	jump / brake	Jump	Brake — hold at low speed = hand brake
R	vehicle_reset	—	Flip the vehicle upright
2	zapette	Toggle the admin cleanup tool ("Zapette")	(same)
I	vehicle_ignition	—	Start / stop the engine
T	emote_wheel	Hold to open the emote wheel, release on a slice to play it	(same)
F2	star_map	Open / close the star map	(same)
+ / −	star_map_zoom_in / _out	Zoom the star map (numpad or the top row)	(same)

Movement (move_forward/back/left/right), sprint, crouch, prone, interact, mining (toggle_tool, aim, perforate), chat (toggle_chat, write_in_chat) and pause are actions too — see the full list (and rebind them) in Settings → Controls.

Seated, the panels come first

Sitting in a vehicle no longer locks you out of the rest of the game: the star map, the emote wheel and the debug panels all still open, and the dashboard instruments stay usable at the wheel. While a panel holds the keyboard, driving input is neutralised and the mouse cursor is released, so opening the map cannot make you honk or drive off — and closing it hands control straight back.

Carrying, cargo & lights

A crate in a vehicle bed is grabbed with E (the carry prompt shows [E] Carry). While carrying, look up / down to raise or lower the held object — to set it on the ground or stack it on a shelf — and it drops on its own if you drag it out of reach (e.g. left stuck behind a wall). On the in-cab HUD the active shortcuts are listed live (e.g. [L] lights, [Space] brake).

Developer & debug tools

Handy while working on the game. Like every key, these are InputMap actions — rebind them in Settings → Controls.

Default	Action	What it does
Alt + ²	toggle_debug	Show/hide the debug panels — server/client stats, and (for the body you're on) your altitude, its local time, and your longitude/latitude.
(see Settings)	toggle_eva	EVA free-flight — detach and fly the body freely to inspect planets, moons and the day/night terminator from afar.
Middle mouse (hold)	carry_free_rotate	While carrying a prop, hold and move the mouse to freely rotate the held object (mouse wheel = step the yaw by 15°).
+ / −	debug_time_forward / _back	Shift the simulated time by an hour; hold to sweep the sky. Safe because the sky is a pure function of time and everything standing on a body is parented to it, so the ground never moves under anyone. The HUD shows the offset. Shares its keys with the star-map zoom, which only reads them while the map is open.
Alt + L	debug_toggle_moon_lights	Cut the moon lights and print each factor (phase, elevation, extinction, energy) — the way to tell "the night is too dark" from "the moon is below the horizon".
Alt + I	debug_isolate_light	Cycle the light isolation modes: no aerial perspective, no sky reflection, no sky ambient. Each step removes exactly one contributor, so whatever still lights the scene names its own source.
F6	game_record	Start / stop the gameplay recording.

See Lighting, day/night & the sky for what those readouts mean.

Chat

The message log is visible by default; F12 (toggle_chat) hides/shows the whole panel. The input bar (channel selector + text field) stays hidden until you write.

To write, press Enter (write_in_chat): the input bar appears; press Enter again to send the message and close it. Escape (or a mouse click) closes the input without sending — Escape here cancels typing rather than opening the pause menu.

While typing, Tab cycles between the channels you can post to (today only the global channel — group/alliance/region come later). Tab and Escape here are fixed text-field keys, like in any chat box, so — unlike toggle_chat and write_in_chat — they are not listed in Settings → Controls and cannot be rebound.

Adding a shortcut (for developers)

Always add a new key as an InputMap action — never a raw keycode. A raw event.keycode == KEY_X is invisible to the settings menu and can't be rebound.

1. Add the action in Project Settings → Input Map (or project.godot [input]), with a default key. Name it readably — the menu label is the action name upper-cased with _ → spaces.
2. Read it with event.is_action_pressed("my_action") (events) or Input.is_action_pressed("my_action") (polling).

It then appears in Settings → Controls and is rebindable + persisted, with zero menu code.

A modifier does not separate two actions on its own

is_action_pressed() ignores modifiers: an action bound to L matches a plain L and Alt+L. So binding Alt+L next to an existing L gives you two actions that both fire on the same press — the torch toggles while you meant to cut the moon lights.

Three actions currently sit on L and two on I for exactly this reason. When you add a modified variant of a key that is already taken, guard both sides symmetrically: the plain action must reject the press when the modifier is held, and the modified one must require it. Checking only the new action leaves the old one firing.

Exception: dev/bench tools

Bench and debug-only keys (e.g. the test bench's T/N, F4, F10) may stay raw keycodes — they are developer tools, not part of the player's control settings.