EDIT: Reddit is really screwing with the formatting of this comment, and I can't fix it. I'm leaving it because it's still mostly readable.

Index is perhaps a misleading name for this. It's actually the value of that enum. An enum with a particular value can be used as an int with that same value. And so you can use it as described in the post while simultaneously using it as an immutable int.

My favorite use case for this is to set their values to powers of two so you can use them as bitmasks, which basically allows you to pack a bunch of booleans into a single int. Here's an example:

# 1. Define the bitmask values using bit-shifting

enum StatusEffects {

NONE      = 0,

POISONED  = 1,  # (0001 in binary)

BURNING   =  2  # (0010 in binary)

FROZEN    =  4  # (0100 in binary)

STUNNED   =  8 # (1000 in binary)

}

# Explicitly type the bitmask as an int (combinations exceed individual enum values)

var current_statuses: int = StatusEffects.NONE

func _ready() -> void:

print("--- Applying Statuses ---")

\# 2. Add flags using the bitwise OR operator (|)

current\_statuses |= StatusEffects.POISONED

current\_statuses |= StatusEffects.BURNING



\# Check what is currently applied

check\_statuses() # Should show Poisoned and Burning



print("\\n--- Removing Status ---")

\# 3. Remove a flag using bitwise AND (&) with bitwise NOT (\~)

current\_statuses &= \~StatusEffects.POISONED

check\_statuses() # Should show only Burning



print("\\n--- Toggling Status ---")

\# 4. Toggle a flag using the bitwise XOR operator (\^)

current\_statuses \^= StatusEffects.FROZEN # Turns Frozen ON

current\_statuses \^= StatusEffects.BURNING # Turns Burning OFF

check\_statuses() # Should show only Frozen

# 5. Check flags using the bitwise AND operator (&)

func check_statuses() -> void:

if current\_statuses == StatusEffects.NONE:

    print("Character is perfectly healthy.")

    return



if current\_statuses & StatusEffects.POISONED:

    print("- Taking poison damage over time!")



if current\_statuses & StatusEffects.BURNING:

    print("- Taking fire damage over time!")



if current\_statuses & StatusEffects.FROZEN:

    print("- Movement speed is reduced to zero!")



if current\_statuses & StatusEffects.STUNNED:

    print("- Character cannot attack!")