UAnimInstance::AddNativeStateEntryBinding

function Engine Since 4.0

#include "Animation/AnimInstance.h"

Access: public Specifiers: ENGINE_API

Description

Binds a native C++ delegate that fires when the specified state in an animation state machine is entered. Use this to trigger game logic (sound, VFX, state changes) directly from C++ in response to state machine transitions.

Caveats & Gotchas

• The delegate fires once per entry — if the state machine re-enters the same state (e.g., after a self-transition), the delegate fires again.
• State and machine names must match the Animation Blueprint graph exactly (case-sensitive). Mismatched names silently fail. Register bindings in NativeInitializeAnimation.

Signature

ENGINE_API void AddNativeStateEntryBinding(const FName& MachineName, const FName& StateName, const FOnGraphStateChanged& NativeEnteredDelegate, const FName& BindingName = NAME_None)

Parameters

Name	Type	Description	Default
MachineName	const FName&	Name of the state machine containing the state.	—
StateName	const FName&	Name of the state to bind entry notification to.	—
NativeEnteredDelegate	const FOnGraphStateChanged&	Delegate to call when the state machine enters this state.	—
BindingName	const FName&	Optional name to identify this binding for later queries.	NAME_None

Return Type

void

Example

Play a sound when entering the attack state C++

void UMyAnimInstance::NativeInitializeAnimation()
{
	Super::NativeInitializeAnimation();

	FOnGraphStateChanged EntryDelegate;
	EntryDelegate.BindUObject(this, &UMyAnimInstance::OnEnterAttackState);
	AddNativeStateEntryBinding(FName("Locomotion"), FName("Attack"), EntryDelegate);
}

void UMyAnimInstance::OnEnterAttackState(const FAnimNode_StateMachine& Machine, int32 PrevStateIndex, int32 NextStateIndex)
{
	UGameplayStatics::PlaySoundAtLocation(this, AttackSound, GetSkelMeshComponent()->GetComponentLocation());
}

Version History

Introduced in: 4.0

Version	Status	Notes
5.6	stable	—

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