# velocity

> The current relative velocity of the Character (see notes).

## Definition

* **Type:** Property
* **Namespace:** [UnityEngine](/engine/6000.7/script-reference/unityengine.md)
* **Assembly:** UnityEngine.PhysicsModule

```csharp
public Vector3 velocity { get; }
```

### Remarks

This allows you to track how fast the character is actually walking, for example when it is stuck at a wall this value will be the zero vector.

Note: The velocity returned is simply the difference in distance for the current timestep before and after a call to [CharacterController.Move](/engine/6000.7/script-reference/unityengine/charactercontroller/move.md) or [CharacterController.SimpleMove](/engine/6000.7/script-reference/unityengine/charactercontroller/simplemove.md). The velocity is relative because it won't track movements to the transform that happen outside of the CharacterController (e.g. character parented under another moving Transform, such as a moving vehicle).

### Examples

```csharp
using UnityEngine;

public class Example : MonoBehaviour
{
    CharacterController controller;
    void Start()
    {
        controller = GetComponent<CharacterController>();
    }

    void Update()
    {
        Vector3 horizontalVelocity = controller.velocity;
        horizontalVelocity = new Vector3(controller.velocity.x, 0, controller.velocity.z);

        // The speed on the x-z plane ignoring any speed
        float horizontalSpeed = horizontalVelocity.magnitude;
        // The speed from gravity or jumping
        float verticalSpeed  = controller.velocity.y;
        // The overall speed
        float overallSpeed = controller.velocity.magnitude;
    }
}
```