What causes the nose wheel to not work when you depress the rudder pedals in flight as when taxiing on ground?

For A Cessna 172

Cessna 172’s do have nosewheel steering. if you depress the rudder pedals in the air, the nosewheel will turn. I don’t believe it’s deactivated. On some retractable gear aircraft, it is deactivated, and by different methods depending on the type. Very few aircraft steer on the ground by differential braking, one such type is a Grumman Tiger. The nosewheel on those just casters like a shopping cart rear wheel.

RC Cessna 172 Skyhawk