The default project-wide actions

When you create and assign default project-wide actions the action assets comes pre-configured with some default actions such as "Move", "Jump", and more, which suit many common app and game scenarios. They are configured to read input from the most common types of input controller such as Keyboard, Mouse, Gamepad, Touchscreen, and extended reality (XR).

The Input System Package Project Settings after creating and assigning the default actions

These default actions mean that in many cases, you can start scripting with the Input System without any configuration by referring to the names of the default actions that are already configured for you. You can also rename and reconfigure the default actions, or delete these default configurations to suit your needs.

Default action maps

The default project-wide actions contain two action maps: Player and UI. The following table lists the actions in the Player action map, and how to read the value of each action:

Action	Action type	Control type	Read the value with
Move	Value	Vector2	ReadValue<Vector2>()
Look	Value	Vector2	ReadValue<Vector2>()
Attack	Button	Button	IsPressed() or WasPressedThisFrame()
Interact	Button	Button	WasPerformedThisFrame(). The action has a Hold interaction, so it's performed only after the user holds the control.
Crouch	Button	Button	IsPressed() or WasPressedThisFrame()
Jump	Button	Button	IsPressed() or WasPressedThisFrame()
Previous	Button	Button	IsPressed() or WasPressedThisFrame()
Next	Button	Button	IsPressed() or WasPressedThisFrame()
Sprint	Button	Button	IsPressed() or WasPressedThisFrame()

For the actions in the UI action map, refer to Default UI Action Map reference. For more information about reading action values, refer to Polling actions.

The legacy default Actions Asset

Note

The default actions asset is entirely separate from the default project-wide actions. It is a legacy asset that is included in the package for backwards compatibility.

The Input System package provides an asset called DefaultInputActions.inputactions which you can reference directly in your projects like any other Unity asset. The asset is also available in code form through the DefaultInputActions class.

void Start()
{
    // Create an instance of the default actions.
    var actions = new DefaultInputActions();
    actions.Player.Look.performed += OnLook;
    actions.Player.Move.performed += OnMove;
    actions.Enable();
}