Physics.Raycast

Parameters

Returns

bool True if the ray intersects with a Collider, otherwise false.

Description

Casts a ray, from point origin, in direction direction, of length maxDistance, against all colliders in the Scene.

You may optionally provide a LayerMask, to filter out any Colliders you aren't interested in generating collisions with.

Specifying queryTriggerInteraction allows you to control whether or not Trigger colliders generate a hit, or whether to use the global Physics.queriesHitTriggers setting.

using UnityEngine;

// C# example.

public class ExampleClass : MonoBehaviour
{
    void Update()
    {
        // Bit shift the index of the layer (8) to get a bit mask
        int layerMask = 1 << 8;

        // This would cast rays only against colliders in layer 8.
        // But instead we want to collide against everything except layer 8. The ~ operator does this, it inverts a bitmask.
        layerMask = ~layerMask;

        RaycastHit hit;
        // Does the ray intersect any objects excluding the player layer
        if (Physics.Raycast(transform.position, transform.TransformDirection(Vector3.forward), out hit, Mathf.Infinity, layerMask))
        {
            Debug.DrawRay(transform.position, transform.TransformDirection(Vector3.forward) * hit.distance, Color.yellow);
            Debug.Log("Did Hit");
        }
        else
        {
            Debug.DrawRay(transform.position, transform.TransformDirection(Vector3.forward) * 1000, Color.white);
            Debug.Log("Did not Hit");
        }
    }
}

This example creates a simple Raycast, projecting forwards from the position of the object's current position, extending for 10 units.

using UnityEngine;

public class ExampleClass : MonoBehaviour
{
    void FixedUpdate()
    {
        Vector3 fwd = transform.TransformDirection(Vector3.forward);

        if (Physics.Raycast(transform.position, fwd, 10))
            print("There is something in front of the object!");
    }
}

Note: Raycasts will not detect Colliders for which the Raycast origin is inside the Collider.

Parameters

Returns

bool True when the ray intersects any collider, otherwise false.

Description

Casts a ray against all colliders in the Scene and returns detailed information on what was hit.

This example reports the distance between the current object and the reported Collider:

using UnityEngine;

public class RaycastExample : MonoBehaviour
{
    void FixedUpdate()
    {
        RaycastHit hit;

        if (Physics.Raycast(transform.position, -Vector3.up, out hit))
            print("Found an object - distance: " + hit.distance);
    }
}

This example re-introduces the maxDistance parameter to limit how far ahead to cast the Ray:

using UnityEngine;

public class RaycastExample : MonoBehaviour
{
    void FixedUpdate()
    {
        RaycastHit hit;

        if (Physics.Raycast(transform.position, -Vector3.up, out hit, 100.0f))
            print("Found an object - distance: " + hit.distance);
    }
}

Parameters

Returns

bool True when the ray intersects any collider, otherwise false.

Description

Same as above using ray.origin and ray.direction instead of origin and direction.

using UnityEngine;

public class ExampleClass : MonoBehaviour
{
    void Update()
    {
        Ray ray = Camera.main.ScreenPointToRay(Input.mousePosition);
        if (Physics.Raycast(ray, 100))
            print("Hit something!");
    }
}

Parameters

Returns

bool True when the ray intersects any collider, otherwise false.

Description

Same as above using ray.origin and ray.direction instead of origin and direction.

This example draws a line along the length of the Ray whenever a collision is detected:

using UnityEngine;

public class ExampleClass : MonoBehaviour
{
    void Update()
    {
        Ray ray = Camera.main.ScreenPointToRay(Input.mousePosition);
        RaycastHit hit;

        if (Physics.Raycast(ray, out hit, 100))
            Debug.DrawLine(ray.origin, hit.point);
    }
}