Physics Constraint Component has lost accuracy between Unreal versions 5.2 and 5.4 (and up).
When measuring the exact distance between rigid bodies constrained by a Physics Constraint Component, the licensee noticed a significant decrease in accuracy when comparing engine versions, namely UE5.2 and UE5.4. It became two orders of magnitude less accurate when comparing the two versions. I've tested in 5.6 and noticed it's even less accurate than in 5.4.
The setup is simple, create two static mesh components inside an actor, offset them by 500 units, constrain them using a PhysicsConstraintComponent, print the distance and see how much it varies from 500, and let one swing relative to the other.
While testing this the licensee also noticed that there is a loss of accuracy if the rigid bodies are not axis-aligned.
To verify this the licensee suggested an angled initial position that would still keep the 500 distance.
The difference is noticeable between axis-aligned and non-axis-aligned error range.
There are two issues with accuracy loss: between engine versions, and between axis aligned and non-axis aligned rigid bodies.
My recommended approach is to create a project in 5.2 and later open a copy in 5.4 or 5.6 to make it easier to compare results in different engine versions:
Create a new blank project
Create a new Blueprint actor (BP_Test_90)
Add a cube called Top
Add a cube called Bottom at 0, 500, 0
Set the cube to Simulate physics and the collision to PhysicsActor
Add a Physics Constraint Component between them
Add Tick event to draw the distance between Top and Bottom every frame with the color Red
Add the new BP to a blank level
Create a new Blueprint actor (BP_Test_45)
Add a cube called Top
Add a cube called Bottom at 0, 353.5539, 353.5539 (this is a 500 radius at 45 degrees)
Set the cube to Simulate physics and the collision to PhysicsActor
Add a Physics Constraint Component between them
Add Tick event to draw the distance between Top and Bottom every frame with the color Green
Add the new BP to the level
Run the scene
Note the Red distance varying in the 1/1000th centimeter of 500 on 5.2, and on th 1/10th on 5.4 or 5.6
Note the Green distance being varying by 1/100th from 500 on 5.2, and on the 1/10th on 5.4 or 5.6
There's no existing public thread on this issue, so head over to Questions & Answers just mention UE-254320 in the post.
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Component | UE - Simulation - Physics |
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Affects Versions | 5.4, 5.6 |
Target Fix | 5.6 |
Created | Mar 6, 2025 |
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Updated | Mar 11, 2025 |