Start coroutine on an inactive/de-activated GameObject

Question

I have the following code:

void Start()
{
    gameObject.SetActive(false);
    StartCoroutine(Load());
}

IEnumerator Load()
{
    yield return new WaitForSe         


        

Answer 1

You cannot start a coroutine function from a script that has its GameObject de-activated.

The StartCoroutine function is a function under the MonoBehaviour class. When you have to start a coroutine on a deactivated GameObject, you need a reference to a MonoBehaviour object that has an active GameObject.

Two ways to do this:

1. Use an already existing GameObject that's unlikely to be deactivated. In my case, I usually use the camera. I access the camera's MonoBehaviour since it's likely to be activated then use it to start the coroutine function.

I suggest you use this method.

Replace the code in your Start function with the one below:

//De-activate this GameObject
gameObject.SetActive(false);
//Get camera's MonoBehaviour
MonoBehaviour camMono = Camera.main.GetComponent();
//Use it to start your coroutine function
camMono.StartCoroutine(Load());

---

2. Attach the script to an empty GameObject and the script on the empty GameObject will control or be able to activate/de-activate the other GameObject.

The script with the coroutine function you expect to run on a de-activated GameObject (Attach it to the GameObject you wish to de-activate):

public class YourDeactivatableScript: MonoBehaviour
{
    public IEnumerator Load()
    {
        yield return new WaitForSeconds(waitTime);
        gameObject.SetActive(true);
    }
}

Now, let's say that you want to deactivate a GameObject named "Cube" that has the YourDeactivatableScript script attached to it but still be able to start its Load coroutine function, create an empty GameObject with a new script, then start the Load function from it.

Create an empty GameObject then attach this script to it:

public class LoadFuncCallerScript: MonoBehaviour
{
    GameObject targetObject;

    public void Start()
    {
         //Find the GameObject you want to de-activate
        targetObject = GameObject.Find("Cube");
        //De-activate it
        targetObject.SetActive(false);
        //Get it's component/script
        YourDeactivatableScript script = targetObject.GetComponent();
        //Start coroutine on the other script with this MonoBehaviour
        StartCoroutine(script.Load());
    }
}

The coroutine is now started from another script named LoadFuncCallerScript.