A tour of the editor

The first time you open UEFN with a project loaded, it looks like an airplane cockpit. Don't worry — you'll use a handful of panels 90% of the time. Let's name them so they stop being scary.

Open UEFN and create/open any project (the next lesson walks through creating one — if you just want to look around, pick a template and follow along here). Then find each panel below on your screen as you read.

The five panels you'll actually use

1. The Viewport (the big 3D window)

The main view in the center — your island in 3D. This is where you'll click, place, and arrange things.

Getting around the Viewport is the single most useful skill right now:

• Right-mouse-button held + WASD — fly around like a first-person camera (W forward, S back, A/D strafe, Q/E down/up).
• Mouse wheel — zoom in and out.
• Left-click an object — select it.
• F — with something selected, snaps the camera to focus on it.

Spend two minutes just flying around. Muscle memory here pays off forever.

2. The Outliner (a list of everything)

Usually top-right. A text list of every object in your island ("actors"). When the 3D view is crowded, the Outliner lets you find and click things by name. Selecting here = selecting in the Viewport.

3. The Content Browser / Content Drawer (your library)

Usually a button at the bottom (Content Drawer) or a docked panel. This is your library of stuff — 3D models (props), materials, sounds, devices, and your Verse files. You drag things from here into the Viewport to place them.

4. The Details panel (settings for the selected thing)

Usually bottom-right. Select any object and this panel fills with its settings — position, rotation, scale, and device-specific options. Want a button to require 2 players? You'd change that here.

5. The Toolbar (the top strip)

Across the top. The buttons you'll reach for early:

• Move / Rotate / Scale tools (also the keyboard keys W / E / R when an object is selected) — these change the colored arrows/rings you use to drag objects around.
• Launch Session — plays your island so you can test it. (More on this next lesson.)
• Push Changes / Verse build buttons — used when you start writing Verse.

Two ideas to file away

• Actor = any object placed in your island (a wall, a tree, a device, a spawn point). You'll hear this word constantly.
• Device = a pre-made, configurable gadget you drop in and set up without code — timers, buttons, item spawners, and more. Devices do a lot before Verse is ever needed, and later your Verse code will talk to devices.

Try this (5 minutes)

1. Fly around the Viewport with right-click + WASD until it feels natural.
2. Open the Content Drawer and just scroll — see the variety of props and devices available.
3. Click any object in the Viewport, then look at the Details panel and find its Location values.
4. With it selected, press W, E, R in turn and watch the move/rotate/scale handles change.

Panel positions can be moved, and Epic occasionally tweaks the default layout. If a panel is missing, look under the Window menu at the top to bring it back.

Official reference:

• UEFN interface overview: https://dev.epicgames.com/documentation/en-us/uefn/unreal-editor-for-fortnite-interface

Comfortable finding all five panels? Mark complete — time to build and publish a real island.