AActor::TickActor

function Engine Since 4.0

#include "GameFramework/Actor.h"

Access: public Specifiers: virtualENGINE_API

Description

The internal dispatcher called by the PrimaryActorTick function each frame. It checks conditions (paused, pending kill, tick type) and delegates to Tick(). Rarely overridden by game code.

Caveats & Gotchas

• Override Tick() for per-frame logic, not TickActor(). TickActor handles the pre-conditions — if you override it without calling Super, you must replicate all the guard checks (paused state, LEVELTICK_ViewportsOnly handling, etc.) yourself.
• ThisTickFunction.GetCompletionHandle() can be used inside this function to set up tasks that must finish before this actor's tick is considered done (useful for async work tied to the tick).
• TickType is not always LEVELTICK_All — in editor viewport preview, it may be LEVELTICK_ViewportsOnly. ShouldTickIfViewportsOnly() controls whether the actor ticks in that mode.

Signature

ENGINE_API virtual void TickActor( float DeltaTime, enum ELevelTick TickType, FActorTickFunction& ThisTickFunction );

Parameters

Name	Type	Description	Default
DeltaTime	float	Time elapsed since the last tick.	—
TickType	enum ELevelTick	The type of tick (e.g. LEVELTICK_All, LEVELTICK_ViewportsOnly). Controls which actors should tick.	—
ThisTickFunction	FActorTickFunction&	The tick function object that triggered this call; useful for adding completion prerequisites.	—

Return Type

void

Example

Override Tick, not TickActor C++

// Correct: override Tick for per-frame logic
void AMyActor::Tick(float DeltaTime)
{
	Super::Tick(DeltaTime);
	// Your logic here
}

// TickActor() calls Tick() after validating conditions;
// you rarely need to override it.

Version History

Introduced in: 4.0

Version	Status	Notes
5.6	stable	—

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