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Friday Night Funkin’ includes extensive debug functionality accessible through keyboard shortcuts. Most features are only available in debug builds of the game.
Debug Builds Only: Most of these hotkeys only work in debug builds. Release builds have limited debug functionality for security and performance reasons.

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Global Hotkeys (Any State)

These hotkeys work from any screen in the game:
F5 Hot Reload does not reset song charts or song scripts, but it resets stage layouts, character animations, and most other data files.

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Play State Hotkeys

These hotkeys work during active gameplay:

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UI and Display

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Gameplay Manipulation

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Time Travel

A section is typically 4 measures (16 beats) of the song. The time travel hotkeys let you skip through the song quickly for testing specific parts.

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Editor Access

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Freeplay State Hotkeys

These hotkeys work in the Freeplay menu:
Botplay Mode makes the game play perfectly automatically - useful for testing charts without actually playing.

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Title State Hotkeys

These work on the title screen: These work in the main menu:

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Primary Hotkeys

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Debug-Only Hotkeys

The following hotkeys only work on debug builds and are for testing purposes:

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Chart Editor Hotkeys

When using the Chart Editor, these additional shortcuts are available:

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File Operations

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Edit Operations

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Selection

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Note Manipulation

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Animation Editor Hotkeys

When using the Animation Editor:

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Stage Editor Hotkeys

When using the Stage Editor:

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Platform-Specific Notes

On macOS, keyboard shortcuts use different modifier keys:
  • ⌘ (Command) replaces Ctrl
  • ⌥ (Option) replaces Alt
  • ⇧ (Shift) remains the same
  • ^ (Control) is used separately from Command
The Chart Editor automatically displays the correct symbols for your platform.
MacBooks without dedicated Page Up/Down keys should use:
  • Fn+Up for Page Up
  • Fn+Down for Page Down
Some hotkeys can be rebound in the options menu:
  • Debug menu toggle (default ~)
  • Chart editor hotkey (from Play State)
  • Stage editor hotkey (from Play State)

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Debug Overlay (F2)

The Flixel debug overlay provides advanced debugging features:

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Features Available

  • Watch Window: Monitor variable values in real-time
  • Console: Execute commands and view logs
  • Stats Display: FPS, memory usage, draw calls
  • Visual Debug: Collision bounds, camera bounds
  • Scripting: Limited support for script debugging
The debug overlay has partial support for modding scripts and can help debug custom functionality.

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Hot Reload (F5)

The hot reload feature is incredibly useful during development:

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What Gets Reloaded

✅ Reloads:
  • Stage layout data
  • Character animation data
  • Scripts (most types)
  • Asset files from assets folder
  • UI layouts and styles
❌ Does NOT Reload:
  • Song charts (known bug)
  • Song scripts
  • Some cached assets

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Using Hot Reload Effectively

1

Make Changes

Edit files in your assets folder (stage JSON, character data, etc.)
2

Press F5

Hit F5 to trigger hot reload without closing the game
3

State Restarts

The current state restarts with the new data loaded
4

Test Changes

Immediately see your changes in action
If you need to reload song charts, you must exit to the main menu and re-enter the chart editor.

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Memory Management (Insert)

The garbage collection hotkey forces immediate memory cleanup:
  • Useful when testing memory-intensive features
  • Can help identify memory leaks
  • May cause a brief frame drop during collection
  • Not typically needed during normal gameplay

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Screenshots (F3)

The screenshot feature works in both debug and release builds:
  • Saves to screenshots/ directory in game folder
  • Filename includes timestamp
  • Captures current frame at full resolution
  • Works from any state
  • Use with H hotkey to hide UI first

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Force Crash (Debug Only)

The force crash hotkey is for testing crash reporting:
  • Generates detailed crash log
  • Includes full stack trace
  • Useful for testing error handling
  • Only works in Main Menu on debug builds
  • Creates crash report file for analysis
Only use the force crash feature when testing error reporting systems!

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Tips for Using Debug Features

  1. Use F5 to quickly iterate on data changes
  2. Use time travel (Page Up/Down) to test specific song sections
  3. Use H to hide UI for clean screenshots
  4. Use 1 to quickly skip songs during testing
  • Use 2 and 3 to test health drain mechanics
  • Use Shift+Accept in Freeplay for botplay testing
  • Use time travel to skip to difficult sections
  • Use Chart Editor hotkey to quickly fix issues
  • Use F5 after editing stage JSON files
  • Use F4 to quickly escape if stage breaks
  • Open Stage Editor from Play State to edit live
  • Use Animation Editor’s onion skin (F) for reference
  • Save frequently with Ctrl+S
  • Test in gameplay after each major change

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Security Note

Debug features are intentionally disabled in release builds to prevent:
  • Cheating in gameplay
  • Unauthorized access to debug tools
  • Performance overhead from debug systems
  • Security vulnerabilities
When distributing your mod, use release builds to ensure debug features are properly disabled.