Mouse input (GetMouseButton, position) in Unity

Introduction

We use mouse input to let players click or interact with things on the screen. It helps the game know when and where the player clicks.

When you want to detect if the player clicks the left, right, or middle mouse button.

When you need to find the exact position of the mouse pointer on the screen.

When creating interactive menus or buttons that respond to mouse clicks.

When making games that require dragging or aiming with the mouse.

Syntax

Unity

Input.GetMouseButton(int button)
Input.mousePosition

Input.GetMouseButton(0) checks if the left mouse button is held down.

Input.mousePosition gives the current position of the mouse in screen pixels.

Examples

This checks if the left mouse button is pressed and prints a message.

Unity

if (Input.GetMouseButton(0)) {
    Debug.Log("Left mouse button is pressed.");
}

This gets the mouse position and prints it as x, y, z coordinates.

Unity

Vector3 mousePos = Input.mousePosition;
Debug.Log("Mouse position: " + mousePos);

This checks if the right mouse button is pressed.

Unity

if (Input.GetMouseButton(1)) {
    Debug.Log("Right mouse button is pressed.");
}

Sample Program

This script checks every frame if the left mouse button is pressed. If yes, it prints the mouse position on the screen.

Unity

using UnityEngine;

public class MouseInputExample : MonoBehaviour
{
    void Update()
    {
        if (Input.GetMouseButton(0))
        {
            Vector3 pos = Input.mousePosition;
            Debug.Log($"Left click at position: {pos.x}, {pos.y}");
        }
    }
}

Important Notes

Mouse position is in pixels from the bottom-left corner of the screen.

Use Input.GetMouseButtonDown to detect the exact frame the button was pressed.

Remember to attach the script to an active GameObject in your scene.

Summary

Use Input.GetMouseButton(button) to check if a mouse button is held down.

Use Input.mousePosition to get the current mouse pointer position.

This helps make your game interactive with mouse clicks and movements.