How to Build a Rocket Racing Speed Run (Without Writing a Line of Code)

You want to build a track that feels like it was ripped straight from the Rocket Racing playlist, but you’re new to UEFN and the idea of writing code makes your eyes glaze over faster than a player hitting a boost pad with no momentum. Good news: you don’t need to write a single line of Verse to get a high-speed, timed race working.

In this tutorial, we’re going to set up a Speed Run mode. Think of this as the "Solo Queue" of racing—no teams, no chaos, just you against the clock. We’ll use the pre-built RR Speed Run Manager device, which acts like the game’s internal brain, handling the timing, the HUD, and the rules so you can focus on building a track that doesn’t make players want to quit.

What You'll Learn

• How to switch your project to a Rocket Racing template.
• What the RR Speed Run Manager actually does (it’s the referee).
• How to place your track, checkpoints, and finish line.
• Why you can’t use Verse here yet (and why that’s okay for now).

How It Works

Before we drag and drop anything, let’s talk about the "Scene Graph" concept, but keep it simple. In Fortnite Creative, your island is a hierarchy of objects. You have the Island (the whole map), inside that are Actors (props, devices, players), and inside those are Components (the settings that make them tick).

In standard Fortnite Creative, you often use devices like "Triggers" or "Switches" to tell things what to do. You might say: "When Player A enters Box B, Play Sound C." That’s logic.

Rocket Racing devices are different. They are specialized, pre-compiled systems. Epic has already written the code for how cars collide, how boost pads work, and how lap times are calculated. You don’t write the code; you just place the pieces that the code looks for.

Think of the RR Speed Run Manager like the Battle Bus driver. You don’t control the bus’s engine; you just tell it where to go and when to drop you off. The engine does the heavy lifting.

The Golden Rule: No Verse (Yet)

Here is the most important thing to remember: Rocket Racing devices do not currently have Verse APIs.

What does that mean? It means you can’t write custom scripts to change the rules mid-race. You can’t say, "If Player X wins, give them a golden car." Not yet. The devices are locked down to ensure fair, standardized racing. This is a feature, not a bug—it means you don’t have to debug code. You just have to build a good track.

Let's Build It

We are going to build a simple "Lap 1" speed run.

Step 1: Start the Right Way

You cannot create a Rocket Racing island in a standard Creative 2.0 project. You must start with the correct template.

1. Open UEFN.
2. Click New Project.
3. Look for the Rocket Racing category (usually in the templates list).
4. Select a template (e.g., "RR Competitive" or "RR Speed Run").
   • Note: If you don’t see it, make sure your project settings are set to "Rocket Racing" in the project dropdown at the top.

When you open this project, you’ll see a few devices already placed. These are the RR Speed Run Manager and the RR Track. Don’t delete them yet—we’ll see why in a second.

Step 2: The RR Speed Run Manager (The Referee)

Find the RR Speed Run Manager in your Content Browser or the device palette. It’s usually pre-placed, but if it’s not, drag it in.

What it does:

• It sets the game mode to "Speed Run."
• It hides the normal Fortnite HUD (health, shield) and shows the racing HUD (lap time, position).
• It ensures players don’t collide with each other (ghost mode), so you don’t get T-boned by a random racer while trying to set a personal best.

Settings to Check:

• Laps: Set this to 1 for a simple tutorial track.
• Start Delay: How many seconds after the countdown before the race begins? 3 is standard.

Step 3: The RR Track (The Road)

This is the most critical device. The RR Track device defines the boundaries of your race.

1. Place the RR Track device on your map.
2. Important: The device has a "Track Path" or "Waypoints" property. You need to place Start, Checkpoint, and Finish actors along your race course.
   • Wait, where are these actors? In Rocket Racing templates, these are often pre-placed as part of the track device’s hierarchy. If they aren’t, look for RR Start, RR Checkpoint, and RR Finish devices in the Content Browser.
3. Place them in order:
   • Start: Where the cars line up.
   • Checkpoint: A loop or section in the middle. Players must pass through this to complete the lap. If they miss it, the system knows they cheated.
   • Finish: The end line.

Pro Tip: Make sure your track is flat enough for cars to drive on, but interesting enough to not be boring. Use the Prop Mover or Terrain tools to build ramps and jumps outside the track boundaries, but ensure the track device’s collision volume covers the driving surface.

Step 4: Testing the Logic

Now, let’s see if the "Referee" is working.

1. Press Play.
2. Spawn a car.
3. Drive through the Start line.
   • Did the timer start? Good.
4. Drive through the Checkpoint.
   • Did the lap progress? Good.
5. Drive through the Finish line.
   • Did the timer stop and show your time? Perfect.

If it didn’t work, check the Output Log (the console at the bottom of UEFN). Rocket Racing devices are strict. If your track isn’t closed properly, or if the Start/Finish aren’t in the right order, the log will yell at you. Fix the error, save, and play again.

Try It Yourself

Challenge: Add a second lap.

1. Go back to the RR Speed Run Manager.
2. Change the Laps setting from 1 to 2.
3. Play the game. Does the timer reset after the first finish? Does it require you to go through the Start line again before the second lap begins?

Hint: If the timer doesn’t reset, you might need to adjust the "Restart on Finish" setting on the Manager, or ensure your track is set up as a loop. Check the device’s "Loop" property.

Recap

• Rocket Racing is a specialized mode in UEFN with its own set of devices.
• No Verse: You can’t write custom code for these devices yet; they are pre-built systems.
• RR Speed Run Manager: This is your boss. It handles the rules, the HUD, and the timing.
• Track Devices: You must place Start, Checkpoint, and Finish actors in the correct order for the race to validate.

Now go build a track that doesn’t suck. And remember: if a player falls off the map, that’s on you, not the code.

References

• https://dev.epicgames.com/documentation/en-us/fortnite/using-rocket-racing-devices-in-unreal-editor-for-fortnite
• https://dev.epicgames.com/documentation/en-us/fortnite/creating-rocket-racing-islands-in-unreal-editor-for-fortnite
• https://dev.epicgames.com/documentation/en-us/uefn/working-with-rocket-racing-islands-in-unreal-editor-for-fortnite
• https://dev.epicgames.com/documentation/en-us/fortnite/working-with-rocket-racing-islands-in-unreal-editor-for-fortnite
• https://dev.epicgames.com/documentation/en-us/fortnite/using-rocket-racing-speed-run-manager-devices-in-unreal-editor-for-fortnite