Add project setting to ignore joypad events if the app is unfocused

[Nintorch]

Supersedes #82965
Closes #16832

Also fixes #115110

This PR is based on #82965 and this PR addresses the problems pointed out in the reviews of the original PR, particularly that the Input class shouldn't depend on DisplayServer and the PR should also handle multiple windows.
This PR adds a project setting that allows the joypad events to be ignored if the application (or any of its windows) is unfocused.

2026-01-19.12-40-30.mp4

2026-01-19.12-55-34.mp4

TODO:

• Add a Godot Docs input tutorial note ( Clarify ignoring joypads on unfocused application via project settings godot-docs#11680 )

[Calinou]

Tested locally on Linux/X11, it mostly works as expected.

Some feedback:

• Clicking the window border in game embedding doesn't count as focusing the application, while it should. You need to click on the viewport instead.
• When the window loses focus, stick movement will sometimes still be registered, leading to a "ghost input". This is more common if you are actively moving the stick at the time the window loses focus.

gamepad_unfocused.mp4

[Nintorch]

Thank you for your review, Calinou! I will try to fix these issues later when I can!

[Nintorch]

Tested locally on Linux/X11, it mostly works as expected.

Some feedback:

• Clicking the window border in game embedding doesn't count as focusing the application, while it should. You need to click on the viewport instead.
• When the window loses focus, stick movement will sometimes still be registered, leading to a "ghost input". This is more common if you are actively moving the stick at the time the window loses focus.

I tried to fix these issues, they seem to be fixed now on my local branch( https://github.com/Nintorch/godot/actions/runs/21173143271 ). Tested on Windows 11.

There's another issue that when I switch from the viewport to the embedder window (the window that embeds the game process), inputs get reset, but if I press them again they work. Not sure if I should fix this issue here or in a separate PR, because it's already reported in a separate issue: #115110

[kimimaru4000]

Hey @Nintorch thanks a lot for the PR! I wanted to chime in regarding #115110 and mention that I experience that same issue in an exported build as well. I'll add that detail to the issue for completeness.

[Nintorch]

I decided to also fix #115110 in this PR as well :)
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1y6oSny6j9dd7SeZLaK_QjNZdSwDURZni/view?usp=sharing

[Calinou]

Works great now 🙂

gamepad_no_focus.mp4

The only remaining issue is that buttons pressed beforehand will not be seen as pressed by Godot once the window gains focus. For axes, this will sometimes happen (due to the value changing very often), but it's less likely to happen if you are fully holding a trigger (common with digital triggers) or a stick in a cardinal direction. That said, this issue is commonly found in other programs that disallow background input, so it's not critical and can be resolved in a future PR.

[Nintorch]

Thank you for your review, Calinou! I will try to add a property for this feature soon!

[kimimaru4000]

The double negative ("ignore" -- "unfocused") makes it harder to understand the meaning of the setting. I would recommend a name such as accept_joypad_inputs_when_application_unfocused with the default value true.

[akien-mga]

I tend to disagree, as the action the user would take here is specifically to ignore joypad events on unfocused apps. That's a double negative indeed, but "unfocused app" to me is a well-defined object, so not really a negation per se, if that makes sense. And a setting like "accept" that defaults to true doesn't seem expected to me, if I want to diverge from default behavior, I would expect to enable an option that disables that behavior (so indeed it's enabling a negative option).

But my native language (French) has no issue with double negatives so I may be biased. To me the original setting sounds much clearer than the one you propose, but maybe others would think differently.

[Nintorch]

Personally, I'm not sure this is a double negative (even though my native language is not English either), I've always thought double negatives are grammar errors and they can be seen in sentences like "I didn't see nothing", "I ain't got no time for that", "But I ain't stupid neither" (Left 4 Dead 2 reference :D), see also https://professorscottsenglish.com/english-grammar/common-grammar-mistakes/double-negatives/why-double-negatives-are-grammatically-incorrect-sometimes/ (I'm not sure how reputable this website is, though)
So basically joypad events should be read when the application is focused, and ignored if it's unfocused.

[AThousandShips]

It would be double negation if it was "a non-unfocused" for example

[Nintorch]

Suggested change

	GLOBAL_DEF("input_devices/config/ignore_joypad_on_unfocused_application", false);
	GLOBAL_DEF("input_devices/joypads/ignore_joypad_on_unfocused_application", false);