Build Your Own Island Rules: A Guide to Island Settings

Welcome to the world of island building! Have you ever wanted to change how your Fortnite island works? Maybe you want the sun to stay up forever. Or maybe you want to stop players from shooting each other.

You can do all of this with Island Settings. Think of these settings like the rules of a board game. They decide what is allowed and what is not. In this tutorial, you will learn how to change the basic rules of your island. You will make your own unique game. Let’s get started!

What You'll Learn

• What Island Settings are and why they matter.
• How to open the Island Settings menu.
• How to change the time of day on your island.
• How to set the maximum number of players.

How It Works

Imagine you are building a LEGO castle. You can pick the color of the bricks. You can decide how tall the walls are. Island Settings are like the instructions for your whole island. They set the "baseline" for everything.

There is a big difference between Island Settings and Game Settings.

• Island Settings are the rules you, the creator, pick. They apply to everyone.
• Game Settings are options players can change for themselves.

For example, you might set the island to have no gravity. That is an Island Setting. A player might choose to use a different controller. That is a Game Setting.

We will focus on the rules you control. We will look at two main things:

1. The Time of Day: Is it day, night, or forever?
2. Player Count: How many friends can play at once?

Let's Build It

In UEFN, we don't just type code to change these settings. We use a special tool called the Details Panel. This panel lets you change properties of objects. The most important object for this is the Island Settings object itself.

Here is how we find it and change it.

Step 1: Find the Island Settings Object

First, open your island in UEFN. Look at the Outliner. The Outliner is like a list of everything in your scene. It shows every prop, trigger, and player.

Type Island Settings in the search box of the Outliner. You will see an item named Island Settings. Click on it.

Step 2: Open the Details Panel

When you click Island Settings, look at the Details Panel. This is where you see all the options for that object. If you don't see it, go to the top menu. Click Window, then click Details.

Now, you are looking at the brain of your island.

Step 3: Change the Time of Day

Let’s make it always daytime. This is great for building maps.

1. In the Details Panel, look for Gameplay or Time of Day.
2. Find the setting called Time of Day.
3. Change it from Dynamic to Fixed.
4. Now, pick a time. You can choose Noon or Sunset.

When you play your island, the sun will stay in that spot! It will never set.

Step 4: Set the Player Count

Now, let’s decide how many friends can join.

1. In the Details Panel, look for Gameplay.
2. Find Max Players.
3. Change the number. Try 4 or 8.

This number tells Fortnite how many players can be on your island at once. If you set it to 4, only four friends can play together.

Verse Code Example

Wait! Is there code? Yes! But it is very simple. We use Verse to read these settings. We don’t usually write them in code. Code is for logic. Settings are for rules.

Here is a small Verse script. It checks the time of day. If it is night, it tells the player.

# This is a simple script for your island.
# It checks the current time.

using { /Fortnite.com/Devices }
using { /Verse.org/Sim }

# This is our main device.
# It runs when the game starts.
CreateIslandDevice() = class(creative_device):
    
    # This function runs once at the start.
    OnBegin<override>()<suspends>: void =
        # We get the current time from the island.
        # This is a special function built into Verse.
        current_time := GetTimeOfDay()
        
        # We check if the time is "Night".
        # This is a comparison. Like checking if a key fits a lock.
        if current_time == TimeOfDay::Night:
            # If it is night, we print a message.
            Print("Good evening! The sun is down.")
        else:
            # If it is not night, it must be day!
            Print("Good morning! The sun is up.")

What does this code do?

• GetTimeOfDay() asks the island, "What time is it?"
• TimeOfDay::Night is a specific value. It means "dark outside."
• The if statement checks the time.
• Print() shows a message in the chat.

This code doesn't change the settings. It just looks at them. We changed the settings in the Details Panel earlier. That is the power of Island Settings!

Try It Yourself

Now it is your turn to be the creator!

Challenge: Make your island have a "Zombie Apocalypse" vibe.

1. Go to Island Settings.
2. Set the Time of Day to Night.
3. Set the Max Players to 1 (so you can practice alone).
4. Add a Spawn Point for a player.
5. Add a Trigger Volume (a box that senses when a player enters).
6. Inside the Trigger, add a Device that spawns a zombie.

Hint: Look for the "Spawning" category in Island Settings. You can change how often enemies appear!

Recap

You have learned how to control your island’s rules.

• Island Settings are the base rules you set as the creator.
• You find them in the Outliner and change them in the Details Panel.
• You can change the Time of Day and Max Players.
• Verse code can read these settings to make smart decisions.

Great job! Your island is now ready for players. Have fun building!

References

• https://dev.epicgames.com/documentation/en-us/fortnite/island-settings-in-uefn-and-fortnite-creative
• https://dev.epicgames.com/documentation/en-us/fortnite/island-settings-in-unreal-editor-for-fortnite
• https://dev.epicgames.com/documentation/en-us/fortnite-creative/understanding-island-settings-in-fortnite-creative
• https://dev.epicgames.com/documentation/en-us/fortnite/understanding-island-settings-in-fortnite-creative
• https://dev.epicgames.com/documentation/en-us/uefn/island-settings-in-unreal-editor-for-fortnite