If you've been looking for a solid roblox raycasting gun tutorial, you're in the right place because we're going to build a working weapon from scratch today. Most new developers start by using the old "touched" event or physical projectiles for their guns, but if you want something that feels snappy, professional, and actually works in a high-speed game, raycasting is the way to go.
Raycasting sounds a bit intimidating if you're new to scripting, but it's really just a fancy way of saying "drawing an invisible line between two points to see what it hits." It's how games like Call of Duty or Phantom Forces handle their shooting mechanics. Let's dive into how you can set this up for your own Roblox game.
Why Raycasting instead of Projectiles?
Before we start typing out code, it's worth asking why we're even doing this. You could just spawn a Part and throw it forward with velocity, right? Well, you could, but physical projectiles have a few issues. They can be laggy, they might clip through thin walls if they move too fast, and they rely on the physics engine to calculate collisions.
Raycasting is instant. The moment the player clicks, the game calculates exactly where that shot landed. There's no travel time (unless you want to simulate it), and it's way more efficient for the server to handle. If you're building a fast-paced shooter, raycasting is pretty much mandatory.
Setting Up the Gun Tool
First things first, we need an actual object to hold. Go into your Workspace and create a new Tool. Let's name it "Pistol." Inside that Tool, you're going to need a Part that acts as the physical gun. Name this part Handle. If you already have a 3D model, just make sure the main part is named Handle so the player's character knows where to grip it.
Inside your Pistol tool, you're also going to need a few other things: 1. A RemoteEvent named "ShootEvent" (this lets the player's computer tell the server to fire). 2. A LocalScript (to handle the player clicking). 3. A Script (to handle the actual damage on the server).
The Client-Side Scripting
Let's start with the LocalScript. This is what runs on the player's computer. Its job is to detect when the mouse is clicked and send a message to the server. We don't want the actual "shooting" to happen here because players can exploit client-side scripts. We just want to capture the input.
Open up your LocalScript and let's get to work. We'll need to reference the player's mouse and the RemoteEvent we created.
```lua local tool = script.Parent local player = game.Players.LocalPlayer local mouse = player:GetMouse() local event = tool:WaitForChild("ShootEvent")
tool.Activated:Connect(function() local targetPos = mouse.Hit.Position event:FireServer(targetPos) end) ```
This is a very basic setup. When the tool is activated (clicked while equipped), we find the 3D position of the mouse in the world and send that to our RemoteEvent. It's simple, but it gets the job done for now.
Handling the Raycast on the Server
Now for the meat of this roblox raycasting gun tutorial. Open the server-side Script. This is where the magic happens. We need to listen for that RemoteEvent, and then perform the raycast.
The workspace:Raycast() function needs three main things: an Origin (where the shot starts), a Direction (where the shot is going), and RaycastParams (rules for the ray, like what to ignore).
```lua local tool = script.Parent local event = tool:WaitForChild("ShootEvent")
event.OnServerEvent:Connect(function(player, targetPos) local character = player.Character if not character then return end
local origin = tool.Handle.Position local direction = (targetPos - origin).Unit * 300 -- 300 is the range local params = RaycastParams.new() params.FilterDescendantsInstances = {character} -- Don't shoot yourself! params.FilterType = Enum.RaycastFilterType.Exclude local result = workspace:Raycast(origin, direction, params) if result then local hitPart = result.Instance local model = hitPart:FindFirstAncestorOfClass("Model") if model and model:FindFirstChild("Humanoid") then model.Humanoid:TakeDamage(20) end end end) ```
Let's break that down a bit. The direction calculation (targetPos - origin).Unit * 300 is the most important part. We subtract the start from the end to get the vector, use .Unit to make it exactly 1 stud long, and then multiply it by 300 to give the gun a 300-stud range.
We also used RaycastParams to make sure the bullet doesn't hit the person firing the gun. If you don't do this, the ray will hit the player's own arm or torso the second it's created.
Making it Look Real with Tracers
Right now, the gun works, but it's invisible. You click, and things just die. That's not very satisfying. To make it look like a real gun, we should add a tracer or a "bullet trail."
A common way to do this is using a Beam or a very thin part that connects the gun tip to the point where the ray hit. For this tutorial, we'll use a simple Part-based tracer. Inside the if result then block, you can add code to spawn a part, resize it to the length of the ray, and then use TweenService to fade it out.
Actually, a simpler way is to just create a quick "laser" line. You can create a part, set its CFrame to the midpoint of the ray, and point it toward the hit position. It sounds like a lot of math, but it's mostly just using CFrame.lookAt.
Adding Damage Logic
In the script above, we used model.Humanoid:TakeDamage(20). This is fine for a starter project, but you might want to get more specific. For example, if you want headshots to do more damage, you'd check the name of the part that was hit.
Instead of just checking for a Humanoid, you could do something like this: lua if hitPart.Name == "Head" then model.Humanoid:TakeDamage(50) else model.Humanoid:TakeDamage(20) end This adds a layer of skill to your game. Just remember that names can vary if you're using custom character models, so always double-check your rig names.
Common Pitfalls and Troubleshooting
While following a roblox raycasting gun tutorial, it's easy to run into a few annoying bugs. Here are the big ones I see all the time:
1. The gun shoots from the wrong place: If your "Handle" is oriented weirdly, your shots might come out sideways. Make sure your handle is positioned correctly within the tool. You can also create an empty Part called "Muzzle" and put it at the tip of the barrel, then use tool.Muzzle.Position as your origin instead.
2. The ray hits the gun itself: If you have a complex gun model with lots of parts, the ray might hit the barrel. Add the entire tool to your params.FilterDescendantsInstances list to prevent this.
3. The ray doesn't go where the mouse is: Remember that mouse.Hit.Position is a point in 3D space. If you click on the sky, mouse.Hit might be thousands of studs away. Most developers add a check or a "max distance" to ensure the ray doesn't behave weirdly when clicking the horizon.
Wrapping things up
Raycasting is one of those fundamental skills that opens up a ton of possibilities in Roblox development. Once you've mastered the basic roblox raycasting gun tutorial logic, you can use the same math for wall-climbing systems, AI vision, or even placement systems for building games.
The key is to keep experimenting. Try adding a reload mechanic by using a variable to track "ammo" in your LocalScript. Or, add some screen shake using Camera.CFrame to give the shots some "oomph." The more you tweak the small details, the better your gun will feel to the players. Happy scripting!