Pixijs Events

PixiJS's federated event system mirrors DOM events on the scene graph. Set container.eventMode = 'static' to opt an object in, then listen with .on(), addEventListener(), or onEventName property handlers. Move events fire only over the listening object; use globalpointermove for drag.

Quick Start

const button = new Sprite(await Assets.load("button.png"));
button.eventMode = "static";
button.cursor = "pointer";
app.stage.addChild(button);

button.on("pointertap", (event) => {
  console.log("clicked at", event.global.x, event.global.y);
});

let dragging = false;
button.on("pointerdown", () => {
  dragging = true;
});
button.on("pointerup", () => {
  dragging = false;
});
button.on("pointerupoutside", () => {
  dragging = false;
});
button.on("globalpointermove", (event) => {
  if (dragging) button.parent.toLocal(event.global, undefined, button.position);
});

Related skills: pixijs-accessibility (screen reader + keyboard), pixijs-scene-dom-container (HTML overlays), pixijs-performance (event-heavy scenes).

Core Patterns

eventMode values

import { Sprite } from "pixi.js";

const sprite = new Sprite();

// No interaction at all; children also ignored
sprite.eventMode = "none";

// Default. Self not interactive; interactive children still work
sprite.eventMode = "passive";

// Hit tested only when a parent is interactive
sprite.eventMode = "auto";

// Standard interaction: receives pointer/mouse/touch events
sprite.eventMode = "static";

// Like static, but also fires synthetic events from the ticker
// when the pointer is stationary (for animated objects under cursor)
sprite.eventMode = "dynamic";

Use 'static' for buttons, UI elements, and drag targets. Use 'dynamic' only for objects that move under a stationary cursor and need continuous hover updates.

Use isInteractive() to check whether an object can receive events:

sprite.eventMode = "static";
sprite.isInteractive(); // true

sprite.eventMode = "passive";
sprite.isInteractive(); // false

Event types

Pointer events (recommended for cross-device compatibility): pointerdown, pointerup, pointerupoutside, pointermove, pointerover, pointerout, pointerenter, pointerleave, pointertap, pointercancel.

Mouse events: mousedown, mouseup, mouseupoutside, mousemove, mouseover, mouseout, mouseenter, mouseleave, click, rightdown, rightup, rightupoutside, rightclick, wheel.

Touch events: touchstart, touchend, touchendoutside, touchmove, touchcancel, tap. Each touch carries altKey, ctrlKey, metaKey, and shiftKey copied from the native TouchEvent, so modifier keys work the same as with mouse or pointer events.

Global move events: globalpointermove, globalmousemove, globaltouchmove. These fire on every pointer movement regardless of whether the pointer is over the listening object.

Container lifecycle events (no eventMode required): added, removed, destroyed, childAdded, childRemoved, visibleChanged.

Listening styles

import { Sprite } from "pixi.js";

const sprite = new Sprite();
sprite.eventMode = "static";

// EventEmitter style (recommended)
const handler = (e) => console.log("clicked");
sprite.on("pointerdown", handler);
sprite.once("pointerdown", handler); // one-time
sprite.off("pointerdown", handler);

// DOM style
sprite.addEventListener(
  "click",
  (event) => {
    console.log("Clicked!", event.detail);
  },
  { once: true },
);

// Property-based handlers
sprite.onclick = (event) => {
  console.log("Clicked!", event.detail);
};

Pointer events and propagation

import { Sprite, Container } from "pixi.js";

const parent = new Container();
parent.eventMode = "static";

const child = new Sprite();
child.eventMode = "static";
parent.addChild(child);

child.on("pointerdown", (event) => {
  console.log("child pressed");
  event.stopPropagation(); // prevent parent from receiving this event
});

parent.on("pointerdown", () => {
  console.log("parent pressed (only if child did not stop propagation)");
});

Capture phase events

All events support capture phase by appending capture to the event name (e.g., pointerdowncapture, clickcapture). Capture listeners fire during the capturing phase, before the event reaches its target.

container.addEventListener(
  "pointerdown",
  (event) => {
    event.stopImmediatePropagation(); // blocks event from reaching children
  },
  { capture: true },
);

Hit testing

When a pointer event fires, PixiJS walks the display tree to find the top-most interactive element under the pointer. The traversal follows these rules:

• eventMode = 'none' on a container skips that element and its entire subtree.
• interactiveChildren = false on a container skips its children (the container itself can still be tested).
• A hitArea overrides bounds-based testing; only the shape is checked.
• Objects that are not visible, not renderable, or not measurable are skipped.

Set a custom hitArea to override bounds-based testing. This also speeds up hit tests on large or complex objects by reducing the geometry checked:

import { Sprite, Rectangle, Circle, Polygon } from "pixi.js";

const sprite = new Sprite();
sprite.eventMode = "static";

// Rectangular hit area
sprite.hitArea = new Rectangle(0, 0, 100, 50);

// Circular hit area
sprite.hitArea = new Circle(50, 50, 40);

// Polygon hit area
sprite.hitArea = new Polygon([0, 0, 100, 0, 50, 100]);

// Custom hit test via contains()
sprite.hitArea = {
  contains(x: number, y: number): boolean {
    return x >= 0 && x <= 100 && y >= 0 && y <= 100;
  },
};

Global move events and drag

import { Sprite, FederatedPointerEvent } from "pixi.js";

const sprite = new Sprite();
sprite.eventMode = "static";
sprite.cursor = "grab";

let dragging = false;

sprite.on("pointerdown", (event: FederatedPointerEvent) => {
  dragging = true;
  sprite.cursor = "grabbing";
});

// globalpointermove fires even when pointer leaves the object
sprite.on("globalpointermove", (event: FederatedPointerEvent) => {
  if (dragging) {
    sprite.position.set(event.global.x, event.global.y);
  }
});

sprite.on("pointerup", () => {
  dragging = false;
  sprite.cursor = "grab";
});

sprite.on("pointerupoutside", () => {
  dragging = false;
  sprite.cursor = "grab";
});

Cursor styles

Basic usage sets the cursor property per-object. For reusable cursors, register named styles on the event system:

app.renderer.events.cursorStyles.default = "url('bunny.png'), auto";
app.renderer.events.cursorStyles.hover = "url('bunny_saturated.png'), auto";

sprite.eventMode = "static";
sprite.cursor = "hover"; // uses the registered 'hover' style

Cursor styles can be strings (CSS cursor values), objects (applied as CSS styles), or functions (called with the mode string).

Event properties

FederatedPointerEvent carries rich input data; the more useful fields are:

sprite.on("pointerdown", (event: FederatedPointerEvent) => {
  event.global; // scene-space Point where the event happened
  event.client; // CSS-pixel Point relative to the viewport
  event.offset; // Point w.r.t. target Container in world space (not supported at the moment)
  event.target; // the Container that received the event
  event.currentTarget; // the Container whose listener is running

  event.pointerType; // 'mouse' | 'pen' | 'touch'
  event.pointerId; // unique id for multi-touch tracking
  event.isPrimary; // first pointer in a multi-pointer gesture
  event.pressure; // 0-1 pen/touch pressure
  event.button; // 0 left, 1 middle, 2 right
  event.buttons; // bitmask of held buttons
  event.altKey; // modifier key state
  event.ctrlKey;
  event.shiftKey;
  event.metaKey;

  event.nativeEvent; // the underlying DOM PointerEvent / MouseEvent / Touch
  event.preventDefault();
  event.stopPropagation();
  event.stopImmediatePropagation();
});

FederatedWheelEvent adds deltaX, deltaY, deltaZ, and deltaMode. Wheel events fire on the same hit-tested object as pointer events.

Event features

Toggle event categories globally for performance:

await app.init({
  eventFeatures: {
    move: true, // pointer/mouse/touch move events
    globalMove: true, // global move events (globalpointermove, etc.)
    click: true, // click/tap/press events
    wheel: true, // mouse wheel events
  },
});

// or configure after init
app.renderer.events.features.globalMove = false;

Performance tips

• Set eventMode = 'none' on non-interactive subtrees to skip hit testing entirely.
• Set interactiveChildren = false on containers where only the container itself needs interaction.
• Use hitArea on large or complex objects to replace bounds-based hit testing with a cheap shape check.
• Prefer 'static' for stationary elements; reserve 'dynamic' for objects that move or animate under a stationary pointer.
• Disable unused event features via eventFeatures (e.g., globalMove: false) to cut per-frame work.

Common Mistakes

[HIGH] Default eventMode is passive

Wrong:

const sprite = new Sprite(texture);
sprite.on("pointerdown", () => {
  console.log("clicked");
});

Correct:

const sprite = new Sprite(texture);
sprite.eventMode = "static";
sprite.on("pointerdown", () => {
  console.log("clicked");
});

The default eventMode is 'passive', which means the object itself receives no events. You must explicitly set eventMode to 'static' or 'dynamic' before any listener will fire.

[HIGH] buttonMode removed; use cursor

Wrong:

sprite.interactive = true;
sprite.buttonMode = true;

Correct:

sprite.eventMode = "static";
sprite.cursor = "pointer";

buttonMode was removed in v8. Use cursor = 'pointer' to show a hand cursor on hover. interactive = true still works as an alias for eventMode = 'static', but eventMode is preferred.

[HIGH] Move events only fire over the object in v8

Wrong:

sprite.eventMode = "static";
sprite.on("pointermove", (event) => {
  // expects to fire everywhere; only fires inside sprite bounds
  updateDrag(event.global.x, event.global.y);
});

Correct:

sprite.eventMode = "static";
sprite.on("globalpointermove", (event) => {
  // fires everywhere, even outside sprite bounds
  updateDrag(event.global.x, event.global.y);
});

In v8, pointermove, mousemove, and touchmove only fire when the pointer is over the display object. In v7 they fired on any canvas move. For drag operations or global tracking, use globalpointermove, globalmousemove, or globaltouchmove.

[MEDIUM] Cursor does not inherit from parent

Setting cursor on a parent container has no effect on its children. Only the direct hit target's cursor value is applied.

// This does NOT make children show a pointer cursor
parent.cursor = "pointer";

// Each interactive child needs its own cursor
child.eventMode = "static";
child.cursor = "pointer";

If you want a uniform cursor for all children, set cursor on each interactive child individually, or set hitArea on the parent and make children non-interactive.

API Reference

• EventSystem
• FederatedEvent
• FederatedPointerEvent
• FederatedMouseEvent
• FederatedWheelEvent
• EventBoundary