ACharacter::LaunchCharacter

function Engine Blueprint Since 4.0

#include "GameFramework/Character.h"

Access: public Specifiers: virtualENGINE_APIUFUNCTIONBlueprintCallable

Description

Applies an impulse to the character by setting a pending launch velocity that is processed on the next CharacterMovementComponent tick. Transitions the character to the Falling movement mode and fires the OnLaunched event.

Caveats & Gotchas

• The velocity is not applied immediately — it is queued and processed on the next movement component tick. Querying velocity on the same frame will return the old value.
• Calling this while the character is grounded causes it to leave the ground, which triggers OnMovementModeChanged. If bZOverride is false and the character already has upward velocity, the resulting Z speed can exceed expected bounds.
• This is authoritative server-side only in a networked game. Calling it on a client will have no effect on the server simulation.

Signature

ENGINE_API virtual void LaunchCharacter(FVector LaunchVelocity, bool bXYOverride, bool bZOverride);

Parameters

Name	Type	Description	Default
LaunchVelocity	FVector	The velocity to apply to the character.	—
bXYOverride	bool	If true, replaces the character's current XY velocity; if false, adds to it.	—
bZOverride	bool	If true, replaces the character's current Z velocity; if false, adds to it.	—

Return Type

void

Examples

Knockback the character upward on overlap Blueprint

Knockback on hit C++

void AMyCharacter::ApplyKnockback(FVector HitDirection, float Force)
{
    FVector KnockbackVelocity = HitDirection * Force + FVector(0.f, 0.f, 400.f);
    // Override Z to ensure upward pop, add to existing XY
    LaunchCharacter(KnockbackVelocity, false, true);
}

Version History

Introduced in: 4.0

Version	Status	Notes
5.6	stable	—

Feedback

Was this helpful?