What Is Chaos Physics in Unreal Engine 5?
Chaos Physics is Unreal Engine’s real-time physics and destruction system introduced in UE5. It replaces NVIDIA PhysX and allows developers to simulate fracture destruction, cloth, rigid bodies, fluid interactions, vehicles, and crowd physics — all in real time.
✅ Why Use Chaos Physics in UE5?
- Real-time destruction without pre-baked simulations
- Fully GPU-accelerated physics
- Works with Nanite, Lumen & Niagara
- Perfect for games, VFX, virtual production, and simulation
- Built-in support for debris, dust, and particle events
🔥 Unreal Chaos Physics Features
| Feature | Description |
|---|---|
| Chaos Destruction | Breakable walls, buildings, and dynamic fractures |
| Chaos Cloth | Realistic clothing, flags, ropes, soft bodies |
| Chaos Vehicles | Realistic car suspension, collisions, friction |
| Chaos Ragdoll | Character physics, hit reactions |
| Chaos Fields | Radial force, explosions, vortex effects |
| Chaos Niagara | Debris, particles, dust triggered by destruction |
🎮 How to Enable Unreal Chaos Physics in UE5
- Go to Edit → Plugins
- Search: Chaos
- Enable Chaos Destruction, Chaos Vehicles, Chaos Cloth, Chaos Niagara
- Restart Unreal Engine
🧱 Creating a Destructible Mesh (Step-By-Step)
- Import a static mesh (e.g., wall, statue, rock)
- Open the mesh → Fracture Mode
- Apply Voronoi Fracture or Clustered Fracture
- Set collision + mass
- Add Geometry Collection to scene
- Trigger destruction via Blueprint, Niagara, or Chaos Fields
🚗 Chaos Vehicles Setup
- Use the new Chaos Vehicle Component instead of PhysX
- Supports drift, wheel slip, braking forces, and skid marks
- Works with Unreal’s Enhanced Input System
🎬 Chaos + Niagara FX
Chaos events can automatically spawn:
- Dust clouds
- Rock & wood debris
- Fire & explosion FX
- Particle trails
⚠️ Common Problems & Fixes
| Issue | Fix |
|---|---|
| Mesh not breaking | Check Geometry Collection + collision |
| Explosions too weak | Increase Radial Impulse Strength |
| Fractures disappearing | Enable “Persistent Debris” |
| Performance drop | Use Nanite + reduce fracture pieces |
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