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Nodes are Godot’s fundamental building blocks. Everything in your game is built from nodes organized into scene hierarchies. Understanding how nodes and scenes work is essential to mastering Godot.

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What is a Node?

A Node is the base class for all scene objects in Godot. Nodes can be assigned as children of other nodes, creating a tree structure. Each node can contain any number of child nodes, with the requirement that all siblings (direct children of a node) have unique names.
Nodes inherit from the Object class, giving them access to signals, properties, and methods that form the foundation of Godot’s object system.

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Node Hierarchy

Nodes are organized in a parent-child relationship: 
# Creating a simple node hierarchy
var parent = Node2D.new()
var child = Sprite2D.new()
var grandchild = Area2D.new()

# Build the hierarchy
child.add_child(grandchild)
parent.add_child(child)

# Access nodes in the hierarchy
var my_child = parent.get_child(0)  # Returns child
var child_count = parent.get_child_count()  # Returns 1
Every child must have a unique name among its siblings. If you add a node with a duplicate name, Godot will automatically rename it by appending a number.

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What is a Scene?

A scene is a tree of nodes saved together. Scenes can be saved to disk and then instantiated into other scenes, allowing for highly flexible and modular game architecture.

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Creating Scenes Programmatically

# Create a player scene programmatically
var player = CharacterBody2D.new()
var sprite = Sprite2D.new()
var collision = CollisionShape2D.new()

# Build the scene hierarchy
player.add_child(sprite)
player.add_child(collision)

# Set ownership for saving (important!)
sprite.owner = player
collision.owner = player

# Pack and save the scene
var scene = PackedScene.new()
var result = scene.pack(player)
if result == OK:
    ResourceSaver.save(scene, "res://player.tscn")
The owner property determines which nodes get saved when packing a scene. Only nodes with their owner set will be included in the saved scene file.

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Instancing Scenes

One of the most powerful features of scenes is the ability to instance them multiple times: 
func _ready():
    # Load a scene
    var enemy_scene = preload("res://enemy.tscn")
    
    # Create multiple instances
    for i in range(5):
        var enemy = enemy_scene.instantiate()
        enemy.position = Vector2(i * 100, 0)
        add_child(enemy)

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Node Lifecycle

Nodes go through a specific lifecycle when added to or removed from the scene tree.
1

Entering the Tree

When a node is added to the scene tree:
  1. The parent’s _enter_tree() is called first
  2. Then children’s _enter_tree() methods are called in order
  3. The node receives NOTIFICATION_ENTER_TREE
func _enter_tree():
    print("Node entering the scene tree")
    # The node is now part of the tree but not fully initialized
2

Ready Notification

After all nodes have entered the tree:
  1. Children’s _ready() methods are called first (bottom-up)
  2. Then the parent’s _ready() is called
  3. The node receives NOTIFICATION_READY
func _ready():
    print("Node is ready and fully initialized")
    # All children are guaranteed to be ready
    # This is the best place for initialization
3

Exiting the Tree

When a node is removed:
  1. The parent’s _exit_tree() is called last
  2. Children’s _exit_tree() methods are called first
  3. The node receives NOTIFICATION_EXIT_TREE
func _exit_tree():
    print("Node leaving the scene tree")
    # Clean up resources here
The _ready() method is called only once for each node. If you remove a node and add it back to the tree, _ready() will not be called again unless you use request_ready().

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Processing Callbacks

Nodes can receive processing callbacks on each frame to update their state.

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Process Callback

The _process() callback runs on every frame and is ideal for game logic, animations, and visual updates: 
func _process(delta):
    # delta is the time elapsed since last frame (in seconds)
    # Rotate the node smoothly
    rotation += 1.0 * delta
    
    # Move based on input
    var velocity = Vector2.ZERO
    if Input.is_action_pressed("ui_right"):
        velocity.x += 1
    if Input.is_action_pressed("ui_left"):
        velocity.x -= 1
    
    position += velocity * 200 * delta
The delta parameter represents elapsed time in seconds. Multiply movement and animations by delta to make them framerate-independent.

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Physics Process Callback

The _physics_process() callback runs at a fixed rate (60 Hz by default) and should be used for physics-related code: 
func _physics_process(delta):
    # Called at a fixed rate (default: 60 times per second)
    # Perfect for physics calculations
    
    # Apply physics-based movement
    var velocity = Vector2(100, 0)
    position += velocity * delta
    
    # Check collisions
    if is_on_floor():
        apply_jump()
By default, _physics_process() is called 60 times per second, regardless of the visual framerate. This ensures consistent physics behavior.

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Managing Nodes

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Adding and Removing Children

# Add a child node
var child = Node2D.new()
add_child(child)

# Add a child at a specific position in the sibling list
var sibling = Node2D.new()
child.add_sibling(sibling)

# Remove a child
remove_child(child)

# Free a node (deletes it and all children)
child.queue_free()  # Safe - waits until end of frame
# child.free()      # Immediate - use with caution
When you free a node with free() or queue_free(), all its children are automatically freed as well. Use queue_free() instead of free() to avoid errors when freeing nodes during processing.

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Finding Nodes

# Get a child by index
var first_child = get_child(0)
var last_child = get_child(-1)

# Get a node by path
var player = get_node("Player")
var weapon = get_node("Player/Weapon")
var root = get_node("/root")  # Absolute path

# Using the $ shorthand (only works with literal strings)
var sprite = $Sprite2D
var health_bar = $UI/HealthBar

# Find child by pattern
var enemy = find_child("Enemy*", true, false)  # Recursive search

# Find all children of a specific type
var all_sprites = find_children("*", "Sprite2D", true, false)

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Node Paths

Node paths are used to reference nodes in the scene tree: 
# Relative paths
get_node("Child")              # Direct child
get_node("Child/GrandChild")   # Nested child
get_node("../Sibling")         # Sibling node

# Absolute paths
get_node("/root/Main/Player")  # From root

# NodePath type
var path: NodePath = ^"Player/Sprite2D"
var node = get_node(path)

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Parent-Child Relationships

# Access parent
var parent = get_parent()

# Check if node is ancestor
if player.is_ancestor_of(weapon):
    print("Player is an ancestor of weapon")

# Get all children
var children = get_children()
for child in children:
    print(child.name)

# Get sibling index
var index = get_index()
print("This node is child number ", index)

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Practical Example: Building a Game Object

Here’s a complete example of creating a player character scene: 
extends CharacterBody2D

const SPEED = 200.0
const JUMP_VELOCITY = -400.0

# References to child nodes
@onready var sprite = $Sprite2D
@onready var animation = $AnimationPlayer
@onready var collision = $CollisionShape2D

func _ready():
    # Initialize when all children are ready
    print("Player ready with ", get_child_count(), " children")
    
func _physics_process(delta):
    # Add gravity
    if not is_on_floor():
        velocity.y += get_gravity().y * delta
    
    # Handle jump
    if Input.is_action_just_pressed("jump") and is_on_floor():
        velocity.y = JUMP_VELOCITY
    
    # Handle movement
    var direction = Input.get_axis("move_left", "move_right")
    if direction:
        velocity.x = direction * SPEED
    else:
        velocity.x = move_toward(velocity.x, 0, SPEED)
    
    move_and_slide()

func _process(delta):
    # Update sprite based on movement
    if velocity.x != 0:
        sprite.flip_h = velocity.x < 0
The @onready annotation defers variable initialization until _ready() is called. This ensures that child nodes are available when you try to access them:
# This will fail - children aren't ready yet
var sprite = $Sprite2D  

# This works - children are ready when _ready() is called
@onready var sprite = $Sprite2D

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Best Practices

1

Use Scenes for Reusable Components

Create separate scene files for game objects you’ll use multiple times (enemies, bullets, UI elements, etc.).
2

Keep Hierarchies Organized

Use descriptive names and organize nodes logically. Group related nodes under parent nodes.
3

Set Owner When Creating Nodes

When creating nodes programmatically that you want to save, always set the owner property.
4

Use queue_free() Over free()

Prefer queue_free() to safely delete nodes at the end of the current frame, avoiding potential errors.
5

Leverage @onready for Node References

Use @onready to safely reference child nodes without worrying about initialization order.

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Next Steps

Signals

Learn how nodes communicate using Godot’s signal system

Scene Tree

Understand how the SceneTree manages your game

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