Version: 2023.1
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  • C#

NavMesh.Raycast

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Declaration

public static bool Raycast(Vector3 sourcePosition, Vector3 targetPosition, out AI.NavMeshHit hit, int areaMask);

Parameters

sourcePosition The origin of the ray.
targetPosition The end of the ray.
hit Holds the properties of the ray cast resulting location.
areaMask A bitfield mask specifying which NavMesh areas can be passed when tracing the ray.

Returns

bool True if the ray is terminated before reaching target position. Otherwise returns false.

Description

Trace a line between two points on the NavMesh.

The source and destination points are first mapped on the NavMesh, then a ray is traced from the source point towards the target. If the ray hits a NavMesh boundary, the function returns true and the hit data is filled. If the path from the source to target is unobstructed, the function returns false.

If the raycast terminates on an outer edge, hit.mask is 0; otherwise it contains the area mask of the blocking polygon.

This function can be used to check if an agent can walk unobstructed between two points on the NavMesh. For example if you character has an evasive dodge move which needs space, you can shoot a ray from the characters location to multiple directions to find a spot where the character can dodge to.

The NavMesh.Raycast is different from physics ray cast because it works on “2.5D”, on the NavMesh. The difference to physics raycast is that the NavMesh version can detect all kind of navigation obstructions, such as holes in the ground, and it can also climb up slopes, if the area is navigable.

// TargetReachable
using UnityEngine;
using UnityEngine.AI;

public class TargetReachable : MonoBehaviour { public Transform target; private NavMeshHit hit; private bool blocked = false;

void Update() { blocked = NavMesh.Raycast(transform.position, target.position, out hit, NavMesh.AllAreas); Debug.DrawLine(transform.position, target.position, blocked ? Color.red : Color.green);

if (blocked) Debug.DrawRay(hit.position, Vector3.up, Color.red); } }

If you are looking for to find the nearest point on the NavMesh you should use physics raycast to find a point in the world, see Move to Click Point example.


Declaration

public static bool Raycast(Vector3 sourcePosition, Vector3 targetPosition, out AI.NavMeshHit hit, AI.NavMeshQueryFilter filter);

Parameters

sourcePosition The origin of the ray.
targetPosition The end of the ray.
hit Holds the properties of the ray cast resulting location.
filter A filter specifying which NavMesh areas can be passed when tracing the ray.

Returns

bool True if the ray is terminated before reaching target position. Otherwise returns false.

Description

Traces a line between two positions on the NavMesh, subject to the constraints defined by the filter argument.

The line is terminated on outer edges or a non-passable area.