FVector::GetSafeNormal

function Core Since unknown

#include "Math/Vector.h"

Access: public

Description

Returns a normalised copy of the vector, or ResultIfZero if the vector is too short to safely normalise. Does not modify the original vector.

Signature

TVector<T> GetSafeNormal(T Tolerance = UE_SMALL_NUMBER, const TVector<T>& ResultIfZero = ZeroVector) const

Parameters

Name	Type	Description	Default
Tolerance	float	Minimum squared length required to normalise. Below this, ResultIfZero is returned.	UE_SMALL_NUMBER
ResultIfZero	const FVector&	Vector returned when the length is below Tolerance. Defaults to FVector::ZeroVector.	FVector::ZeroVector

Return Type

FVector

Caveats & Gotchas

• Unlike Normalize() which modifies in place, GetSafeNormal() returns a new vector and leaves the original unchanged.
• The Tolerance check is against squared length, not length — UE_SMALL_NUMBER (1e-8) means vectors shorter than ~0.0001 units are treated as zero.
• GetUnsafeNormal() is faster but will produce NaN/Inf for zero-length vectors — only use it when you can guarantee the vector is non-zero.

Example

Get direction to target safely C++

// Safe: returns ZeroVector if actor is at same location
FVector Direction = (TargetLocation - GetActorLocation()).GetSafeNormal();

if (!Direction.IsNearlyZero())
{
	// Use direction to orient or apply force
	Projectile->SetActorRotation(Direction.Rotation());
}

Version History

Introduced in: unknown

Version	Status	Notes
5.6	stable	—

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