UE5 C++ Coding Standards

UE5 C++ Coding Standards

Follow Epic's coding standards for Unreal Engine C++ development.

Class Prefixes

Prefix	Type
U	UObject-derived classes
A	AActor-derived classes
S	Slate widget classes
F	Structs and non-UObject classes
T	Template classes
E	Enum types
I	Interface classes

Naming Conventions

• PascalCase for all names (no underscores between words)
• Boolean prefix: b (e.g., bIsActive, bDead, bCanJump)
• U.S. English spelling in code and comments
• No Hungarian notation except for type prefixes above

Examples

// Classes
class UHealthComponent : public UActorComponent
class ABaseCharacter : public ACharacter
class FGameStats  // Non-UObject struct

// Enums
UENUM(BlueprintType)
enum class EWeaponState : uint8
{
    Idle,
    Firing,
    Reloading
};

// Variables
UPROPERTY(EditAnywhere, BlueprintReadWrite, Category = "Combat")
float MaxHealth = 100.0f;

UPROPERTY(VisibleAnywhere, BlueprintReadOnly)
bool bIsAlive = true;

// Functions
UFUNCTION(BlueprintCallable, Category = "Combat")
void TakeDamage(float DamageAmount);

UFUNCTION(BlueprintPure)
bool IsAlive() const;

Property Specifiers

Specifier	Use Case
EditAnywhere	Editable in editor and instances
EditDefaultsOnly	Editable only in Blueprint defaults
VisibleAnywhere	Read-only in editor
BlueprintReadWrite	Read/write from Blueprint
BlueprintReadOnly	Read-only from Blueprint
BlueprintCallable	Function callable from Blueprint
BlueprintPure	Pure function (no side effects)

Best Practices

• Use inline initialization for member variables in class declaration
• Use forward declarations to reduce compile times
• Add UPROPERTY/UFUNCTION macros for reflection and GC tracking

Documentation: https://dev.epicgames.com/documentation/en-us/unreal-engine/epic-cplusplus-coding-standard-for-unreal-engine