@rbxts/jsnatives

setTimeout

Schedules a function to be executed after a specified delay.

Signature

function setTimeout(cb: (sym: symbol) => void, ms = 0): symbol

Description

The setTimeout function schedules the execution of a callback function after a specified delay in milliseconds. It returns a symbol that can be used to cancel the timeout using clearTimeout.

Internally, it uses Roblox's task.delay function to implement the timeout behavior.

Parameters

cb: A callback function to execute after the delay. It receives the timeout symbol as an argument.
ms: The delay in milliseconds before executing the callback. Default is 0.

Return value

A unique symbol that identifies the timeout and can be used with clearTimeout to cancel it.

Examples

Basic usage

// Log a message after 1 second
const timeoutSymbol = setTimeout((sym) => {
  print("This message appears after 1 second");
}, 1000);

Canceling a timeout

// Create a timeout that will execute after 5 seconds
const timeoutSymbol = setTimeout((sym) => {
  print("This will never be printed");
}, 5000);

// Cancel the timeout before it executes
clearTimeout(timeoutSymbol);

Using the symbol parameter

// The symbol can be used inside the callback
const timeoutSymbol = setTimeout((sym) => {
  print(`Timeout with symbol: ${tostring(sym)} has executed`);
  // The symbol can be used to identify which timeout fired
}, 2000);

Zero delay

// With zero delay, the function will execute as soon as possible
// (but still asynchronously)
setTimeout((sym) => {
  print("This executes on the next frame");
});