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Unity Engine


Character Joint component reference

Reference for the Character Joint component.
Read time 5 minutesLast updated 21 days ago

A Character Joint is an extended ball-socket joint that allows you to limit the joint on each axis.
Character Joints are useful for ragdoll effects. For information about setting up a ragdoll, refer to Ragdoll Wizard.

Properties

Property

Description

Edit Angular LimitsAdds a visual gizmo to the Scene view that helps you edit joint angular limits. To use this gizmo, set the Angular X, Y, Z Motion to Limited and then handles appear for you to drag and adjust the joint’s rotational space.
Connected BodyOptional reference to the Rigidbody that the joint is dependent upon. If you do not assign a Connected Body or Connected Articulation Body, the joint connects to the world.
Connected Articulation BodyOptional reference to the ArticulationBody that the joint is dependent upon. If not set, the joint connects to the world.
AnchorThe point in the GameObject's local space where the joint rotates around.
AxisDefine the twist axis (visualized with the orange gizmo cone).
Auto Configure Connected AnchorIf this is enabled, then Unity calculates the Connected Anchor position automatically to match the global position of the anchor property. This is the default behavior. If this is disabled, you can configure the position of the connected anchor manually.
Connected AnchorManually configure the connected anchor position.
Swing AxisThe swing axis. Visualized with the green gizmo cone.
Twist Limit SpringThe elasticity of the limit along the Twist axis. Set this value to zero to make the limit impassable. A value other than zero makes the limit elastic. Refer to the Limit Spring properties section for information on the properties available.
Low Twist LimitSpecify a lower limit to the twist axis in degrees, relative to the starting position. Refer to the Limit properties section for information on the properties available.
High Twist LimitSpecify an upper limit to the twist axis in degrees, relative to the starting position. Refer to the Limit properties section for information on the properties available.
Swing Limit SpringThe elasticity of the limit along the Swing axis. Set this value to zero to make the limit impassable. A value other than zero makes the limit elastic. Refer to the Limit Spring properties section for information on the properties available.
Swing 1 LimitLimits the rotation around the swing axis (visualized with the green axis on the gizmo). Refer to the Limit properties section for information on the properties available.
Swing 2 LimitLimits the rotation around the swing 2 axis. The Swing 2 Limit axis isn't visualized on the gizmo, but the axis is orthogonal to the two other axes (that is, the twist axis visualized in orange on the gizmo, and the Swing 1 Limit visualized in green on the gizmo). Refer to the Limit properties section for information on the properties available..
Enable ProjectionThis defines how the joint snaps back to its constraints when it unexpectedly moves beyond them, because the physics engine is unable to reconcile the current combination of forces within the simulation. The options are None and Position and Rotation.
Projection DistanceThe distance the joint must move beyond its constraints before the physics engine attempts to snap it back to an acceptable position.
Projection AngleThe angle the joint must rotate beyond its constraints before the physics engine attempts to snap it back to an acceptable position.
Break ForceThe force that needs to be applied for this joint to break.
Break TorqueThe torque that needs to be applied for this joint to break.
Enable CollisionWhen checked, this enables collisions between bodies connected with a joint.
Enable PreprocessingDisabling preprocessing helps to stabilize configurations that are otherwise not possible.
Mass ScaleThe scale to apply to the inverted mass and inertia tensor of the Rigidbody, ranging from 0.00001 to infinity. This is useful when the joint connects two Rigidbodies of largely varying mass. The physics solver produces better results when the connected Rigidbodies have a similar mass. When your connected Rigidbodies vary in mass, use this property with the Connect Mass Scale property to apply fake masses to make them roughly equal to each other. This produces a high-quality and stable simulation, but reduces the physical behavior of the Rigidbodies.
Connected Mass ScaleThe scale to apply to the inverted mass and inertia tensor of the connected Rigidbody, ranging from 0.00001 to infinity.

Limit Spring properties

The following limit spring properties are available for Twist Limit Spring and Swing Limit Spring.
Values apply to force for linear motion, and torque for rotational motion.

Property

Description

SpringThe elasticity of the limit. Set this value to zero to make the limit impassable. A value other than zero makes the limit elastic.
DamperThe reduction of the spring in proportion to the speed of the joint's movement. Set a value above zero to allow the joint to "dampen" oscillations which would otherwise carry on indefinitely.

Limit properties

The following limit properties are available for Low Twist Limit, High Twist Limit, Swing 1 Limit, and Swing 2 Limit.
Values apply to force for linear motion, and torque for rotational motion.

Property

Description

LimitSet a value to define the limits of the movement for the swing or twist axes, relative to the starting position.

- For the swing axis, the limit angle is symmetric; for example, a value of
30
sets a range between -30 and 30.
- For the twist axis, the Limit for Low Twist Limit indicates the lower limit, and the Limit for the High Twist Limit indicates the higher limit. For example, a Limit of
-30
in Low Twist Limit and
60
in High Twist Limit limits the rotation around the twist axis (orange gizmo) between -30 and 60 degrees.
BouncinessDefine how much bounce occurs when the objects reach the defined limits. A value of 0 does not bounce. A value of 1 bounces without any loss of energy.
Contact DistanceDefine the distance within which the contacts persist. Use this property to avoid jitter.

Additional resources