As items are being dragged, users can affect the drag operation by pressing the shift key, the control key, or both keys. Each time a dragOverCallback is activated, or each time the keyboard status changes, the source, target, and keyboard votes are recalculated, and a net operation is determined. This operation, in turn, determines what the cursor should be.

Because dragging images causes the cursor to blink, an alternative to cursors, called cursor images, is provided. Like cursors, each cursor image corresponds to an operation. The difference is that if a cursor image is defined for an operation, it is drawn over all the drag images and will not blink as the mouse is moved. By default, the system turns off the cursor during drag and drop and uses a unique cursor image for each operation.

The cursor images and keyboard mappings for each operation are configurable on a global basis (see "System configuration").