localization

Localization in Godot 4.3+

All examples target Godot 4.3+ with no deprecated APIs; GDScript first, then C#.

Related skills: godot-ui for Control nodes and theme management, save-load for persisting language settings, responsive-ui for layout adjustments per locale.

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1. Core Concepts

How Godot Localization Works

1. Wrap all user-facing strings in tr() — Godot's translation function
2. Create translation files (CSV or PO) mapping keys to translated strings
3. Import translation files as Translation resources
4. Switch locale at runtime via TranslationServer.set_locale()

All Control nodes with text, tooltip_text, or placeholder_text properties auto-translate when the value matches a translation key.

Translation Key Strategies

Strategy	Example Key	Pros	Cons
Semantic keys	MENU_START_GAME	Clear intent, easy to find	Needs a default language fallback
English-as-key	Start Game	Readable code, no mapping file for English	Breaks if English text changes

Recommendation: Use semantic keys (MENU_START_GAME) for production; English-as-key only for prototypes or solo projects.

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2. Translation Files

CSV Format

The simplest format. First column is the key, subsequent columns are locale codes.

keys,en,cs,de,ja
MENU_START,Start Game,Začít hru,Spiel starten,ゲームスタート
MENU_OPTIONS,Options,Nastavení,Optionen,オプション
MENU_QUIT,Quit,Ukončit,Beenden,終了
PLAYER_HEALTH,Health: %d,Zdraví: %d,Gesundheit: %d,体力: %d
ITEM_COLLECTED,%s collected!,%s sebráno!,%s gesammelt!,%sを入手！

Save as translations.csv in your project. Godot auto-detects the format on import.

Import settings (Import dock):

• Delimiter: Comma (default) or Tab
• Translations section: enable/disable individual locales

PO Format (Gettext)

Industry-standard format, preferred by translation teams and tools like Poedit, Weblate, Crowdin.

Create a POT template (messages.pot):

msgid "MENU_START"
msgstr ""

msgid "MENU_OPTIONS"
msgstr ""

msgid "MENU_QUIT"
msgstr ""

msgid "PLAYER_HEALTH"
msgstr ""

Create locale files (e.g., cs.po for Czech):

msgid "MENU_START"
msgstr "Začít hru"

msgid "MENU_OPTIONS"
msgstr "Nastavení"

msgid "MENU_QUIT"
msgstr "Ukončit"

msgid "PLAYER_HEALTH"
msgstr "Zdraví: %d"

Registering Translations

Project Settings → Localization → Translations → Add... → select your .csv or .po files.

Or register at runtime:

var translation := load("res://translations/cs.po") as Translation
TranslationServer.add_translation(translation)

var translation = GD.Load<Translation>("res://translations/cs.po");
TranslationServer.AddTranslation(translation);

⚠️ Changed in Godot 4.7: OptimizedTranslation.generate() now returns bool (was void). GDScript- and C#-source-compatible, but binary-incompatible — recompile precompiled C# plugins calling it. See the 4.7 migration guide.

POT Generation Hooks (Godot 4.7+)

A custom EditorTranslationParserPlugin can override _customize_strings() — called once after all files are parsed during POT generation — to add or remove entries from the final extracted-string list:

@tool
extends EditorTranslationParserPlugin

func _customize_strings(strings: Array[PackedStringArray]) -> Array[PackedStringArray]:
    strings.append(PackedStringArray(["Test 1", "context", "test 1 plurals", "test 1 comment"]))
    # Drop internal strings that begin with "$".
    return strings.filter(func(s): return not s[0].begins_with("$"))

#if TOOLS
using System.Linq;
using Godot;

public partial class CommentAwareParser : EditorTranslationParserPlugin
{
    public override Godot.Collections.Array<string[]> _CustomizeStrings(Godot.Collections.Array<string[]> strings)
    {
        strings.Add(new[] { "Test 1", "context", "test 1 plurals", "test 1 comment" });
        // Drop internal strings that begin with "$".
        return new Godot.Collections.Array<string[]>(strings.Where(s => !s[0].StartsWith("$")));
    }
}
#endif

Godot 4.7+: The POT generator also extracts Control.accessibility_name and accessibility_description, making accessibility strings translatable without manual listing. (GH-117134)

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3. Using tr() in Code

GDScript

# Basic translation
var label_text: String = tr("MENU_START")  # "Start Game" or translated equivalent

# With format arguments
var health_text: String = tr("PLAYER_HEALTH") % current_health
# "Health: 85" or "Zdraví: 85"

# With string arguments
var collected_text: String = tr("ITEM_COLLECTED") % item_name
# "Sword collected!" or "Meč sebráno!"

# Pluralization (Godot 4.x)
var count := 5
var msg: String = tr_n("ONE_ENEMY", "MANY_ENEMIES", count)
# Requires PO files with plural forms

C#

string labelText = Tr("MENU_START");
string healthText = string.Format(Tr("PLAYER_HEALTH"), currentHealth);

// Pluralization
string msg = TrN("ONE_ENEMY", "MANY_ENEMIES", count);

Automatic Control Translation

Label, Button, RichTextLabel, and other Control nodes auto-translate their text property when it matches a translation key. Set the text to the key:

Button.text = "MENU_START"   → displays "Start Game" (en) or "Začít hru" (cs)

Tip: To disable automatic translation on a specific Control, set auto_translate_mode to DISABLED.

Godot 4.7+: Control.translation_context: StringName sets a per-control translation context, used both to translate displayed text and to generate translation templates — the property equivalent of tr()'s context argument (C#: TranslationContext). (GH-115340)

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4. Switching Locale at Runtime

GDScript

# Switch language
func set_language(locale_code: String) -> void:
    TranslationServer.set_locale(locale_code)
    # All Control nodes with translation keys update automatically

# Get current locale
var current: String = TranslationServer.get_locale()  # e.g. "en", "cs", "de"

# Get available locales
var locales: PackedStringArray = TranslationServer.get_loaded_locales()

C#

public void SetLanguage(string localeCode)
{
    TranslationServer.SetLocale(localeCode);
}

string current = TranslationServer.GetLocale();

Language Selection Menu

extends Control

@onready var language_button: OptionButton = %LanguageButton

var _locales: Array[Dictionary] = [
    {"code": "en", "name": "English"},
    {"code": "cs", "name": "Čeština"},
    {"code": "de", "name": "Deutsch"},
    {"code": "ja", "name": "日本語"},
]

func _ready() -> void:
    for locale in _locales:
        language_button.add_item(locale["name"])

    # Set current selection
    var current_locale: String = TranslationServer.get_locale()
    for i in _locales.size():
        if _locales[i]["code"] == current_locale:
            language_button.selected = i
            break

    language_button.item_selected.connect(_on_language_selected)

func _on_language_selected(index: int) -> void:
    TranslationServer.set_locale(_locales[index]["code"])
    # Save preference — SettingsManager is a user-created autoload (see save-load skill)
    SettingsManager.set_setting("general", "locale", _locales[index]["code"])

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5. Right-to-Left (RTL) Support

Arabic, Hebrew, and Persian need layout_direction on Controls (LOCALE auto-follows the current locale), structured_text_type so URLs and paths do not fully reverse, and a font covering the script — Godot's default font does not. Re-apply layout direction whenever the locale changes. TranslationServer has no signals — override _notification and watch for NOTIFICATION_TRANSLATION_CHANGED (defined on MainLoop, inherited by Node). Since you never subscribe, there is no handler to disconnect.

Full recipes, per-control property table, BBCode for mixed direction, and the C# LocaleAwarePanel: references/rtl-support.md

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6. Locale-Aware Formatting

GDScript has no locale-aware number or date formatting — "%d" % 1234567 is always 1234567, so you group digits by hand. C# does have it: look up a CultureInfo from TranslationServer.GetLocale() (swap _ for -) and use ToString("N"/"C"/"d", culture).

Both helpers in full: references/locale-formatting.md

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7. Project Organization

Recommended File Structure

res://
├── translations/
│   ├── game.csv           # Main game translations
│   ├── ui.csv             # UI-specific translations
│   └── items.csv          # Item names and descriptions
├── fonts/
│   ├── default_font.ttf   # Latin, Cyrillic
│   └── cjk_font.ttf       # Chinese, Japanese, Korean
└── themes/
    └── default_theme.tres  # Font assignments per locale

Translation Keys Convention

# Category_Context_Description
MENU_MAIN_START          # Main menu, start button
MENU_MAIN_QUIT           # Main menu, quit button
HUD_HEALTH_LABEL         # In-game HUD, health label
DIALOGUE_NPC_GREETING    # NPC dialogue, greeting line
ITEM_SWORD_NAME          # Inventory item name
ITEM_SWORD_DESC          # Inventory item description

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8. Common Pitfalls

Symptom	Cause	Fix
Translation key shows instead of text	Translation file not registered in Project Settings	Add to Project Settings → Localization → Translations
Text doesn't update on locale switch	Using string literals instead of tr()	Wrap all user-facing strings in tr()
Label shows key after scene change	Translation resource not loaded yet	Register translations in Project Settings (not at runtime)
RTL text renders LTR	layout_direction not set	Set to RTL or LOCALE on root Control
Font doesn't display characters	Missing Unicode range in font	Import a font covering the target script (Noto Sans recommended)
Pluralization doesn't work with CSV	CSV doesn't support plural forms	Use PO format for languages with complex plural rules
%s in translation shows literal %s	Using tr() result as key instead of formatting it	Use tr("KEY") % value, not tr("KEY" % value)

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9. Editor Locale Preview (Godot 4.5+)

Godot 4.5 adds a Preview Language dropdown under Project Settings → Internationalization: the editor viewport re-renders in any registered locale, so you catch overflow from longer translations and verify RTL layout without entering Play mode. Editor-only — it does not affect exported builds.

Steps and QA benefits: references/editor-preview.md

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10. CSV Plural and Context Support (Godot 4.6+)

Godot 4.6 extends CSV translation with three optional header columns — ?context, ?plural, ?pluralrule — bringing context disambiguation and simple one/other plurals (previously PO-only) to CSV. Languages with 3+ plural forms (Russian, Polish, Arabic) still need PO format with full msgstr[n] plural arrays.

Column reference, example CSV, and tr() / tr_n() usage (GDScript + C#): references/csv-plural-context.md.

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11. Implementation Checklist

• All user-facing strings use tr() (or are set as translation keys on Control nodes)
• Translation files (CSV or PO) are registered in Project Settings → Localization → Translations
• Language can be switched at runtime via TranslationServer.set_locale()
• Language preference is saved and restored on game launch
• Fonts cover all target language character sets (Latin, CJK, Arabic, etc.)
• RTL languages have layout_direction set to RTL or LOCALE on root UI containers
• Format strings (%s, %d) are applied AFTER tr(), not before
• Translation keys follow a consistent naming convention
• UI layout adapts to longer/shorter text in different languages (no hardcoded widths)
• PO format is used for languages with complex plural rules
• Editor Locale Preview (Internationalization → Preview Language) used for translation QA instead of test runs (Godot 4.5+)
• CSV ?context column used when the same key has different meanings in different UI contexts (Godot 4.6+)
• CSV ?plural / ?pluralrule columns used for simple one/other plurals; PO format used for 3+ plural forms (Godot 4.6+)