Element: requestPointerLock() method

Syntax

requestPointerLock()
requestPointerLock(options)

Parameters

options Optional

An options object that can contain the following properties:

unadjustedMovement Optional

Disables OS-level adjustment for mouse acceleration, and accesses raw mouse input instead. The default value is false; setting it to true will disable mouse acceleration.

Return value

A Promise that resolves with undefined.

Security

Transient activation is required when calling requestPointerLock(). The user has to interact with the page or a UI element in order for this feature to work. Also, the target element's associated document must be in the active state.

If calling requestPointerLock() immediately after releasing the pointer lock via the default unlock gesture (instead of through an exitPointerLock() call), the call will fail, even if a transient activation is available.

If calling requestPointerLock() with requestFullscreen(), the requestPointerLock() must be called first, because the requestFullscreen() will consume the state of transient activation.

The allow-pointer-lock sandbox token must be added when calling requestPointerLock() in an <iframe> element. Also, no other elements in other <iframe> elements may be in pointer lock mode.

Examples

Pointer lock is often used in online games, when you want your mouse movement to be focused on controlling the game, without the distraction of the mouse pointer moving around, going outside the game area, or reaching the edge of the window.

To enable pointer lock, you would get the user to interact with the UI in some way, perhaps by pressing a button, or the game canvas itself.

canvas.addEventListener("click", async () => {
  await canvas.requestPointerLock();
});

Operating systems enable mouse acceleration by default, which is useful when you sometimes want slow precise movement (think about you might use a graphics package), but also want to move great distances with a faster mouse movement (think about scrolling, and selecting several files). For some first-person perspective games however, raw mouse input data is preferred for controlling camera rotation — where the same distance movement, fast or slow, results in the same rotation. This results in a better gaming experience and higher accuracy, according to professional gamers.

To disable OS-level mouse acceleration and access raw mouse input, you can set the unadjustedMovement to true:

canvas.addEventListener("click", async () => {
  await canvas.requestPointerLock({
    unadjustedMovement: true,
  });
});

For more example code, see:

• pointer lock demo (see source code)
• Pointer Lock API
• Disable mouse acceleration to provide a better FPS gaming experience

Specifications

Browser compatibility

See also

• Document.pointerLockElement
• Document.exitPointerLock()
• Pointer Lock