Prepare to scare — Fortnitemares is coming, and v42.20 brings new tools to help dial up the terrors on your horror islands. The Unarmed weapon update adds punch and shove mechanics in both first- and third-person modes, and the Channel API gives you custom voice and text channels with control over who can communicate and when.
v42.20 ecosystem updates also bring the Stone Sanctum Set, new weapons including the Reaper Sniper Rifle and the Accelerant Drum Gun, higher maximum values for Player Movement Device sprint and acceleration options, and more.
Rocket Racing Template Publishing Changes
On October 1, Rocket Racing will leave Fortnite, and all UEFN islands built with Rocket Racing templates will be unpublished and no longer playable. Publishing will also be disabled for updates to new or existing Rocket Racing islands.
We have migrated Rocket Racing developer tools, such as the Track Spline Tool, Boost Pads, Volume Hazards, and Spawner devices that can be used to create and publish racing games without the use of the template. For more information on converting your islands using the Rocket Racing template into a regular island, see Converting Your Island Into a Brand Island.
To remind you of the change, we’ll add reminders in the Creator Portal and in the publishing flow in the next week.
Your Vehicle Locker is not affected — you can continue using your customized cars in Fortnite.
Unarmed Weapon Update
Create more immersive first-person and third-person combat experiences with the new Unarmed weapon update in UEFN.
The new update lets you add close-range combat to first-person experiences without relying on custom workarounds, making it easier to build first-person experiences where traditional Fortnite weapons or harvesting tools don't fit the gameplay.
Players can punch opponents with a two-hit combo or shove them back with a light amount of force. The Unarmed weapon works in both first and third-person perspectives, so you can build anything from a third-person boxing ring to a first-person horror chase.
To learn more about this weapon update, see First Person Camera Device Design Examples.
Channel API
Use the Channel API to create custom voice and text channels and control who can communicate and when. Create new ways for players to connect and coordinate, or limit communication for dramatic effect, such as cutting a squad’s comms the moment they split up. You can also detect when players start and stop speaking to trigger tension-filled gameplay, such as alerting a guard to the player’s location.
Fortnite Communities Auto-Localization
Fortnite Communities posts are now automatically machine translated into Fortnite-supported locales so readers can see posts in their own language — whether they're in the Fortnite client or on communities.epicgames.com. If a translation isn't available, the post falls back to English, and if English isn't available either, to the original source language.
Replies translate on demand by clicking See Translation on Communities.
Widget Preview
You can now preview and interact with UI widgets directly in the editor — no need to start a session. See widget animations play in real time, test interactions, and make changes like updating button text for faster UI iteration.
Discover Like and Dislike on Island Details Page
Continuing the updates that started in 42.10, players can now like or dislike an island from its details page in Discover. The buttons sit beside mode select and become available once a player has played the island. Icons fill on selection to match the treatment on every other surface, and tapping dislike again clears the choice.
For more on where Discover is heading, read Discover update: Elevating quality and matching players to content they’ll love.
Content Browser and Inventory Updates
Check out the new devices and items available in this release!
Device Updates and Fixes
New:
We’ve updated the maximum values of several user options for the Player Movement Device.
Sprint Maximum Speed maximum value increased from 2,000 to 11,000.
Tactical Sprint Speed Multiplier maximum value increased from 5 to 20.
Maximum Acceleration maximum value increased from 1,000 to 10,000.
Using values above the prior maximums is done at your own risk, and the descriptions of these user options have been updated to include those prior values for reference.
New Weapons
Reaper Sniper Rifle
Rare, Epic, and Legendary
Overpowered Pump Shotgun
Overclocked 8-Bit Shotgun
Balloon Popper Assault Rifle
Accelerant Drum Gun
New Prefabs & Galleries
Stone Sanctum Set
Stone Sanctum Set
Stone Sanctum Temple
Stone Sanctum Floor Gallery
Stone Sanctum Wall Gallery
Stone Sanctum Roof Gallery
Stone Sanctum Prop Gallery
Stone Sanctum Foundation Gallery
Memory Thermometer: Upcoming Changes
In recent releases, Memory Snapshot and Timing Insights have given you real visibility into how your experiences perform. The next step is to bring memory reporting into that same workflow.
The publish memory requirement is moving into the profiling tools. You'll still be able to run the memory calculation manually, but it will also run automatically on every cook — so any session launch or pushed change produces a new value. If your project exceeds the threshold, the Game Performance report at the bottom of the editor will tell you, and a per-asset memory digest will show what's driving it.
Memory will also be reported in real units. The publish limit reads as 100,000 units today; it will read as 300 MB. The budget isn't changing — the number will just match what other memory tools show, making it easier to compare against your own measurements.
In a future release, we'll remove the memory thermometer from running sessions. With just-in-time reporting and the per-asset breakdown in place, memory guidance will live in the profiling tools.
Marketplace and entitlement Verse APIs moved to UnrealEngine.com/Marketplace
The Marketplace Verse APIs (including entitlement) have moved from Fortnite.com/Marketplace to UnrealEngine.com/Marketplace. These APIs were originally scoped under Fortnite though promoting them to the UnrealEngine.com namespace means projects on any Epic game can add entitlement purchases without importing a Fortnite-specific module.
Existing islands are unaffected. All Fortnite.com/Marketplace symbols remain available as aliases pointing to their UnrealEngine.com counterparts, so no changes are required to your project. New projects should import UnrealEngine.com/Marketplace.
V-Bucks-specific functionality remains under Fortnite.
Roadmap Updates
Starting this release, roadmap changes get their own section in the release notes. On September 4, we migrated the UEFN public roadmap to a new format. The move gave us a chance to realign the roadmap with our current priorities, giving you more accurate insight into what’s coming.
We’ve seen your feedback about previous cards disappearing during the transition. The roadmap now shows the work we’re committed to delivering, and in some cases that meant pulling a card because the commitment wasn’t firm yet. Some of those cards may come back.
We’ve also added new cards to the roadmap. Vote and add your thoughts or questions to any item's forum thread.
Share Your Feedback
Have a feature you'd like to see, or feedback on an existing one? Submit it in Feedback & Requests on the Epic Developer Community forums. For bugs, use Issues and Bug Reporting.
Release Notes
Community Bug Fixes
For a full list of all scheduled fixes for v42.20, refer to this search on the Epic Developer Community Forums.
Fixed an issue that prevented players on a console from joining Live Edit sessions hosted on a PC.
Fixed an issue that prevented the Rocket Racing vehicle HUD from being hidden.
Fixed an issue that caused only one instance of an In-World UMG widget to render its Verse-bound values when multiple instances of the same widget class were present.
Fixed an issue that caused the ammo counter around the reticle to display 0 after switching classes.
Fixed an issue that caused Chug Splash to be consumed without healing the player when used inside a bush.
Fixed an issue that caused the Minigun to fire projectiles instead of using hitscan.
Fixed an issue that caused the OG Burst Assault Rifle, OG Pump Shotgun, OG Grenade, Wall Dynamo, and Ceiling Zapper to be labeled as C4MS1 in the inventory.
Fixed an issue that caused the Bass Boost Gauntlets to play their animation without launching the player or applying knockback to others in Creative.
Fixed an issue that prevented Input Trigger devices set to the Standard Action input type from firing events or functions on mobile.
Fixed an issue that caused players to immediately drop the Rift Point device after picking it up when the Custom Items and Inventory checkbox was enabled.
Fortnite Ecosystem Updates and Fixes
Core Tech
New:
Added the GPU Crash Debugging setting to Performance mode.
Added a means to prevent the persistent party’s platform session from being advertised if the title is in an unsuitable state.
Added a StartPosition parameter for wall clocks to specify the time to start within a tempo map.
Bug Fix:
Fixed an issue where a player could not rejoin a match of their party.
Creative
Bug Fixes:
Fixed an issue where, when the Grind Powerup is activated, momentum will increase when sliding down a steep incline for the three-second duration.
Fixed an issue where Friend Zone and Storm Flip would cause invalid effects when overlapped.
Gameplay
Bug Fixes:
Fixed an issue with Pawn not getting correct fall damage on Physics-enabled Islands.
Fixed some issues on the Telekineticon that made the grabbed prop not replicate correctly at its new grab location.
Items
Bug Fixes:
Fixed the Cover Bush so that it no longer blocks Chug Splash.
Creative and UEFN
Bug Fixes:
Fixed the Prop-O-Matic’s Prop Ping visual so that it now continues to display on the Visualize Sound Effect radial indicator when the player is not moving.
Devices
Bug Fixes:
Fixed the ammo UI getting cleared on Hud Refresh — for example, when changing classes.
Scene Graph
Bug Fixes:
SetPresentableToPlayersnow works on named entities in a prefab, even if the prefab is dynamically spawned during runtime.Fixed an issue where component type queries failed to find some component instances after repeated add / remove component calls on an entity.
Changed the behavior of dynamically spawned prefabs. Previously, on the client, the child entities part of the prefab were always added to the client’s simulation. Now, they only get added when they become relevant to that client.
UEFN
New:
Added touch control support to the debug camera that’s used when the game is paused.
Added support for shipping cooked editor not doc stripping specific game modules.
Bug Fixes:
Fixed a crash on the UEFN mobile client that occurred when changes were pushed.
Fixed an issue where Console clients were unable to join in-progress UEFN Edit sessions.
Editor
New:
Adjusted the experimental inventory validation to warn if the project setting is active but the level is inactive.
The project now auto reloads when its Brand is changed.
Improved the framerate of the editor when selecting devices.
The Session Inspector now displays a progress bar and log window to aid in monitoring a Launch Session or Push Changes event.
Bug Fixes:
Fixed an issue where the yellow source control status was showing for Verse classes when it should not have been.
Editor UI
New:
We’re now logging the reasons why certain assets need to be resaved before launching a UEFN session.
Bug Fixes:
The warning was restored when creating a project in an external backup system, such as OneDrive or Dropbox.
Environments and Landscapes
Bug Fixes:
Fixed shader warnings when entering landscape paint mode.
Fixed an assert when loading not yet deprecated landscape, like when landscape grass types are duplicated.
Fixed a crash that occurred when landscape editor mode was exited after the application was shut down.
Fixed an issue that sometimes occurred when manipulating a landscape spline tangent.
In-Game UI
Bug Fixes:
Fixed Conversation Device examples where speech bubbles were too high to read during conversation.
Fixed an issue with SGUI where opaque in-world UMG widgets would render behind farther widgets when viewed from an angle.
Fixed an issue where custom rarity colors would fall back to common when using a HUD controller device where custom items were enabled.
Physics
Bug Fixes:
Fixed an issue where sliding felt sluggish and jittery on Physics-enabled islands compared to non-Physics islands. Sliding now feels consistent regardless of island settings.
Fixed an issue where a physics prop held with the Telekineticon would occasionally not replicate correctly and snap back to its original grab location. Held props now remain in the correct position for all players.
Fixed an issue where the Telekineticon was occasionally unable to grab a physics prop while the player was standing still. Props can now be grabbed regardless of player movement.
Fixed an issue on mobile devices where the Telekineticon would grab objects without being activated when the player aimed at another player standing in front of a prop. The Telekineticon now only grabs objects when intentionally activated.
Fixed an issue on Physics-enabled islands where falling from certain heights did not deal the expected amount of fall damage. Fall damage now scales correctly with fall height.
Verse
API
New:
Verse Voice API added methods for creators to create, remove, and manipulate voice chat channels. Channels are groups of players who can communicate with each other via Game Voice Chat or Game Text Chat. Creators can configure any number of channels for teams, zones, spectators, or any other grouping of players they want to communicate together.
Moved the In-Islands Transaction module from
/Fortnite.com/Marketplaceto/UnrealEngine.com/Marketplace.
Mobile
Fixed an issue where the Available Input Devices API mirrors the session host's hardware for every player instead of the owning client, leaving Touch
falseduring active touch play.Fixed an issue where Preferred Input Method returns
KeyboardAndMouseby default.Fixed an issue where "Aim" touch control can't be overridden because it does not appear on "Action" list.
Fixed an issue where "Fire" touch control is hidden as soon as "Touch Control Layout Override" is referencing any widget.
Upgrade Notes
Core Tech
API Changes:
Added a small
USocialParty::CanEstablishPlatformSession()hook that the title overrides to return false while it does not want a platform party. TheOnPartyConfigurationChangedflow can re-drive session creation once the reason clears usingHandlePartyConfigurationChangedandEvaluateCurrentSession().
UEFN
Editor
Upgrade Notes:
Added new warnings for invalid Experimental Inventory settings.
Verse
API
Upgrade Notes:
The previous path is still functional but will produce deprecation warnings. To eliminate such warnings in your UEFN project, replace using
{ /Fortnite.com/Marketplace }with using{ /UnrealEngine.com/Marketplace }where appropriate.