offset-distance

Baseline Widely available

This feature is well established and works across many devices and browser versions. It’s been available across browsers since September 2022.

The offset-distance CSS property specifies a position along an offset-path for an element to be placed.

Try it

offset-distance: 0%;

offset-distance: 80%;

offset-distance: 50px;

<section class="default-example" id="default-example">
  <div class="transition-all" id="example-element"></div>
</section>

#example-element {
  width: 24px;
  height: 24px;
  background: #2bc4a2;
  offset-path: path("M-70,-40 C-70,70 70,70 70,-40");
  clip-path: polygon(0% 0%, 70% 0%, 100% 50%, 70% 100%, 0% 100%, 30% 50%);
}

/* Provides a reference image of what path the element is following */
#default-example {
  background-position: calc(50% - 12px) calc(50% + 14px);
  background-repeat: no-repeat;
  background-image: url('data:image/svg+xml;utf8,<svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="-75 -45 150 140" width="150" height="140"><path d="M-70,-40 C-70,70 70,70 70,-40" fill="none" stroke="lightgrey" stroke-width="2" stroke-dasharray="4.5"/></svg>');
}

Syntax

/* Default value */
offset-distance: 0;

/* the middle of the offset-path */
offset-distance: 50%;

/* a fixed length positioned along the path */
offset-distance: 40px;

/* Global values */
offset-distance: inherit;
offset-distance: initial;
offset-distance: revert;
offset-distance: revert-layer;
offset-distance: unset;

<length-percentage>

A length that specifies how far the element is along the path (defined with offset-path).

100% represents the total length of the path (when the offset-path is defined as a basic shape or path()).

Formal definition

Initial value	`0`
Applies to	transformable elements
Inherited	no
Percentages	refer to the total path length
Computed value	for `<length>` the absolute value, otherwise a percentage
Animation type	a length, percentage or calc();

Formal syntax

offset-distance = 
  <length-percentage>  

<length-percentage> = 
  <length>      |
  <percentage>

Examples

Using offset-distance in an animation

The motion aspect in CSS Motion Path typically comes from animating the offset-distance property. If you want to animate an element along its full path, you would define its offset-path and then set up an animation that takes the offset-distance from 0% to 100%.

HTML

<div id="motion-demo"></div>

CSS

#motion-demo {
  offset-path: path("M20,20 C20,100 200,0 200,100");
  animation: move 3000ms infinite alternate ease-in-out;
  width: 40px;
  height: 40px;
  background: cyan;
}

@keyframes move {
  0% {
    offset-distance: 0%;
  }
  100% {
    offset-distance: 100%;
  }
}

Result

Specifications

Specification
Motion Path Module Level 1 # offset-distance-property

Browser compatibility

	Desktop					Mobile
	Chrome	Edge	Firefox	Opera	Safari	Chrome Android	Firefox for Android	Opera Android	Safari on IOS	Samsung Internet	WebView Android
`offset-distance`	5546	7979	72	4233	16	5546	79	4233	16	6.05.0	5546