Hello ! I love the possibility to edit a single pad that s already part of a footprint without editing the footprint itself.
When I changed from 4.x to 5.0 this function seemed to have vanished. Only in legacy graphics mode the Pads could be selected for editing.
But then I found out: You have to activate the Top-Layer to select the Pads ! It does not matter if you are actually using this layer and that the Pads are defined on all layers.
I am in open gl mode, kicad 5 under ubuntu.
I can select pads no matter what layer has the blue triangle next to it. (I assume this is what you mean with active layer) I can also directly use the shortcut e on them regardless of active layer.
Is it possible you are in high contrast mode?
No, I know the high contrast mode but this independent. Maybe it is related to my OGL ? Im using Mint with the nuveau driver. It is not a noGo, just strange. When i turn off the top layer I will always access the footprint properties. Kicad dont even ask if I wanted the single pad.
try different places in the area of the pad. avoid areas where there is anything on another layer.
Has your footprint a closed polygon on courtyard? Maybe kicad bugs out with open courtyard drawings. (Do you get the same result with official kicad footprints?)
OK you give me some work to do 
Ill will try this and come back tomorrow ! As a matter of fact my layout contains “old” footprints…
By the way: Greetings to You, You are fast ! and I would like to greet ALL people working “for” kicad. This is wonderful SW and V5 can compete with others easily !
Hi, back again.
I tried different places to click and I tried old and new (Kicad5) footprints.
It is always the same: When the top Layer is off, Kicad does not recognize single Pads. And it does not ask which element I am looking for, always choosing either track or footprint . The strange thing is: this even happens when I try to edit SMD-Pads on the bottom Layer.
When the top layer is switched on, the footprint is only recognized when I click its anchor point. Pad and Track are found accordingly - sometimes with a questioning dialog.
Oh now i understand. With active you meant the tickmark next to it. The one that controls visibility. That is definitely a bug in the opengl mode.
I submitted a bug report for this: https://bugs.launchpad.net/kicad/+bug/1789084
Aah, the visibility switch is called “tickmark”. I didn t know that. 
I tried the OGL fallback mode - but the behavior is the same.
Anyway, its no problem for me to keep the top layer switched on. So I can wait for future updates.
Thank you very much for your help !
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