Invalid call. Nonexistent function 'instance' in base 'PackedScene' in Godot 4
By Eduardo Orellana · Updated
PackedScene.instance() is called instantiate() in Godot 4. var enemy = scene.instance() fails with Invalid call. Nonexistent function 'instance' in base 'PackedScene'; write var enemy = scene.instantiate() and add the result to the tree with add_child().
What Godot is checking
The call is resolved when it runs: the variable holds a PackedScene, and PackedScene has no method named instance in Godot 4, so the function stops and Godot names the method and the class it looked in.
It is a runtime error: the script loads, and the error appears only when the line runs, as the output below shows. On Godot 4.7.2 that holds even when the variable is typed, var scene: PackedScene, so the first time you hear about it is the first time that code runs.
Reproduce it
A scene packed in code, then made into nodes with the Godot 3 call. In a project the scene usually comes from preload("res://enemy.tscn"); the call fails the same way.
extends Node
func _ready():
var root = Node2D.new()
root.name = "Enemy"
var scene = PackedScene.new()
scene.pack(root)
var enemy = scene.instance()
add_child(enemy)
print("after")
What Godot 4.7.2 prints
Godot Engine v4.7.2.stable.mono.official.ed1daf0bf - https://godotengine.org
SCRIPT ERROR: Invalid call. Nonexistent function 'instance' in base 'PackedScene'.
at: _ready (res://answers/nonexistent-function-instance-in-base-packedscene/repro.gd:8)
GDScript backtrace (most recent call first):
[0] _ready (res://answers/nonexistent-function-instance-in-base-packedscene/repro.gd:8)
WARNING: 1 RID of type "CanvasItem" was leaked.
at: _free_rids (servers/rendering/renderer_canvas_cull.cpp:2733)
WARNING: 1 ObjectDB instance was leaked at exit (run with `--verbose` for details).
at: cleanup (core/object/object.cpp:2536)Fix it
instantiate(), then add the new node to the scene tree.
extends Node
func _ready() -> void:
var root := Node2D.new()
root.name = "Enemy"
var scene := PackedScene.new()
scene.pack(root)
root.free()
var enemy := scene.instantiate()
add_child(enemy)
print("added ", enemy.name, ", a ", enemy.get_class())
What the fixed script prints
Godot Engine v4.7.2.stable.mono.official.ed1daf0bf - https://godotengine.org
added Enemy, a Node2DVerified 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 6 October 2026, and the output above is what Godot printed, unedited.
Where the check lives in Godot's source: [gdscript_vm.cpp line 163, the message](https://github.com/godotengine/godot/blob/4.7.2-stable/modules/gdscript/gdscript_vm.cpp#L163), [PackedScene in the class reference](https://github.com/godotengine/godot/blob/4.7.2-stable/doc/classes/PackedScene.xml).
Questions
- What replaced instance() with an edit state, like instance(PackedScene.GEN_EDIT_STATE_INSTANCE)?
- instantiate() takes the same edit-state argument: scene.instantiate(PackedScene.GEN_EDIT_STATE_INSTANCE). Games rarely need it; it is for editor plugins.