UE5: Placing Static Mesh Props Naturally and Randomly with Simulate Physics

Category: UE5

January 04, 2024

Learn to place any Static Mesh into your level naturally and randomly without having to place them manually.

Most common way of placing Static Mesh props into your level is dragging the mesh from Content Browser and then snapping it onto the floor. This works for most meshes that need to be placed individually.

But what if you have a dozen meshes that need to be scattered naturally and interact with each other as if somebody threw them down?

Manual placement would take too much time.

Instead I'm going to show you how to place props naturally and randomly with simulate physics.

Video Tutorial

Insert Meshes Into the Level

Insert a set of props into your level. I will be using "UE5 Retro Office" props that are included in the course.

Drag them all from Content Browser into your map. Make sure you separate them so they are not on top of each other, overlapping. It'll still work but let's make things cleaner. All meshes should float above an area where you would want to position them onto:

For all of these Static Meshes, change their Mobility to Movable in Details Panel:

Then also enable Simulate Physics for all Static Meshes:

Simulate

To make Static Meshes fall down to the floor and interact with it, run Simulate:

Alt + S = Simulate

All meshes will fall to the floor and interact with each other and anything they touch.

To save Static Mesh position you need to press K while still in Simulate mode. Make sure the meshes are selected for their state to be saved.

K = Save the State

Now you can press ESC to exit Simulate.

Next is you want to disable Simulate Physics on all these meshes so you can't move them around while in-game (unless that's what you want). And also change their Mobility back to Static.

Simulate Physics is Grayed Out

If Simulate Physics is grayed out, this means you have no collisions on your Static Meshes. Create collisions for this method to work.

UE5: Retro Office Project

In the video I used assets that are included with "UE5 Retro Office Project" tutorial course. Learn to create and light beautiful interior environments from start to finish in only 9 hours with UE5. Get the course here...