Area in Godot 4: it is Area3D now
By Eduardo Orellana · Updated
Area is called Area3D in Godot 4, matching Area2D. In a Godot 4 project, extends Area fails to parse with Could not find base class "Area".
AppImage, x86_64. Ubuntu 22.04, Debian 12, Fedora 39 or newer.
Intel or AMD Chromebook, with Linux turned on.
What Godot is checking
GDScript resolves the class after extends when the script loads. Area is not a class in Godot 4, so the script fails to parse and nothing in it runs.
The converter carries Area to Area3D. Its body_entered, body_exited, area_entered and area_exited signals keep their names; connect them through the signal now, body_entered.connect(...).
Reproduce it
A Godot 3 script that extends Area, in a Godot 4 project. The scene is one Node carrying it.
extends Area
func _ready():
print("ready")
What Godot 4.7.2 prints
Godot Engine v4.7.2.stable.mono.official.ed1daf0bf - https://godotengine.org
SCRIPT ERROR: Parse Error: Could not find base class "Area".
at: GDScript::reload (res://answers/area-in-godot-4/repro.gd:1)
ERROR: Failed to load script "res://answers/area-in-godot-4/repro.gd" with error "Parse error".
at: load (modules/gdscript/gdscript_resource_format.cpp:46)Fix it
A trigger that extends Area3D and connects its body_entered signal.
extends Area3D
func _ready() -> void:
body_entered.connect(_on_body_entered)
print(get_class(), " monitoring: ", monitoring)
func _on_body_entered(body: Node3D) -> void:
print("entered: ", body.name)
What the fixed script prints
Godot Engine v4.7.2.stable.mono.official.ed1daf0bf - https://godotengine.org
Area3D monitoring: trueVerified on Godot 4.7.2
Both scripts on this page were run headless on Godot 4.7.2 (4.7.2.stable.mono.official.ed1daf0bf) on 18 October 2026, and the output above is what Godot printed, unedited.
Where the check lives in Godot's source: [renames_map_3_to_4.cpp line 1464, Area to Area3D](https://github.com/godotengine/godot/blob/4.7.2-stable/editor/project_upgrade/renames_map_3_to_4.cpp#L1464), [Area3D class reference](https://github.com/godotengine/godot/blob/4.7.2-stable/doc/classes/Area3D.xml).
Questions
- Why does body_entered never fire?
- The body needs a collision shape, and its collision_layer must be in the area's collision_mask.
- Can I disable the shape inside the callback?
- Only deferred: set_deferred("disabled", true), or Godot refuses while it flushes physics queries.