Maya Notification Preferences Interoperability with Script Editor Output

Confirmed Behavior: UI Toggle Does Not Silence Console Output

When the Script Editor notification category is disabled in Maya 2022-2025, UI pop-ups for script-generated messages are suppressed, but the underlying print and warning output continues to flow to the Script Editor console. This is not a bug but the intended separation between notification display and script logging.

Root Cause: Dual Output Channels

Maya maintains two distinct pathways for script output:

1. Notification Queue — handles UI pop-ups and respects the category toggles in Preferences → Interface → Notification.
2. Script Editor Console — receives all messages logged via print, warning, error, and internal diagnostics, bypassing the notification filter entirely.

This architectural split means disabling the Script Editor category only hides the messages from appearing as interactive notifications; it does not prevent them from being written to the console.

Undocumented Attribute: gScriptEditorBypass

Research indicates an internal preference gScriptEditorBypass may exist, which forces all script output through the main notification channel. However, this attribute is not documented in official release notes and its behavior could change without notice. Use with caution and verify in your specific Maya version.

Workaround: Redirect Output to Respect Preferences

To ensure script messages respect the notification toggle, redirect output through Maya's displayInfo, displayWarning, or displayError commands, which feed into the notification system rather than the console:

# Instead of:
print("Processing complete")

# Use:
displayInfo("Processing complete")

These commands will be suppressed when the Script Editor category is disabled, matching user expectations.

Verification Steps

1. Open Preferences → Interface → Notification and disable Script Editor.
2. Run print("test message") — message appears in console but not as a pop-up.
3. Run displayInfo("test message") — message should be suppressed entirely.

Important Considerations

• Version Variance — Maya versions prior to 2022 lack the Notification panel, making this behavior inapplicable.
• Unsupported Attributes — any manipulation of gScriptEditorBypass is unsupported and may break in future updates.
• Logging vs. Display — If you need persistent logs, enable Script Editor logging in Preferences → Interface → Script Editor; this writes to a file regardless of notification settings.

Conclusion

The apparent bypass occurs because Maya's notification preferences control only the UI layer, not the console output. For messages that should respect user preferences, use displayInfo, displayWarning, or displayError instead of print.