Returns true if the key it’s checking is pressed and false if not.
keyIsDown() is helpful when checking for multiple different key presses. For example, keyIsDown() can be used to check if both LEFT_ARROW and UP_ARROW are pressed:
if (keyIsDown(LEFT_ARROW) && keyIsDown(UP_ARROW)) {
// Move diagonally.
}keyIsDown() can check for key presses using strings based on KeyboardEvent.key or KeyboardEvent.code values, such as keyIsDown('x') or keyIsDown('ArrowLeft').
Note: In p5.js 2.0 and newer, numeric keycodes (such as 88 for 'X') are no longer supported. This is a breaking change from previous versions.
You can still use the p5 constants like LEFT_ARROW which now map to string values internally rather than numeric codes.
Examples
Syntax
keyIsDown(code)
Parameters
Returns
Related References
key
A String system variable that contains the value of the last key typed.
keyCode
A Number system variable that contains the code of the last key pressed.
keyIsDown
Returns true if the key it’s checking is pressed and false if not.
keyIsPressed
A Boolean system variable that's true if any key is currently pressed and false if not.