Publish your first island

Time to make something real. By the end of this lesson you'll have a private island, running in actual Fortnite, that you placed objects into yourself. No code yet — just the full create → test → publish loop, start to finish.

This is a project lesson. Work through the checklist in UEFN, then come back and mark it complete. It's normal for the first run to take a while.

Part A — Create a project

1. Open UEFN. In the Project Browser, choose a template.
   • Blank or a simple island template is perfect. Avoid a heavy, complex template for your first time.
2. Give the project a name (e.g. my-first-island) and create it.
3. Wait for it to load. First load compiles things — be patient.

Part B — Place something

Let's prove you can change the world.

1. Open the Content Drawer (bottom of the screen).
2. Find a simple prop — a cube, a ramp, a tree, anything.
3. Drag it from the drawer into the Viewport. It appears in your island.
4. With it selected, press W to get the move handles and drag it somewhere obvious.
5. Place a couple more, just because you can.

Part C — Make sure players can spawn

Players need somewhere to appear. Most templates include a player spawn, but let's be sure:

1. In the Content Drawer, search for Player Spawn Pad (a device).
2. Drag one (or a few) into your island, on the ground where you want players to start.

A Player Spawn Pad is a device that marks a valid starting point. No spawns = nowhere to appear when you test.

Part D — Test it (Launch Session)

1. In the Toolbar, click Launch Session (sometimes shown as a play/launch button).
2. UEFN launches a Fortnite session of your island. This can take a minute or two the first time.
3. You'll drop into your island and can run around the things you placed. 🎉
4. When done, close the session window to return to the editor.

If you can walk around your props, the core loop works. This is the exact cycle you'll repeat thousands of times: change something → Launch Session → see it.

Part E — Publish a private island

Publishing turns your project into a real island with a code you (or friends) can load in Fortnite.

1. Find the Publish option (commonly under a Project menu, or a dedicated Publish button).
2. Follow the prompts to publish privately first — this keeps it to you while you learn.
3. After it processes, you'll get an island code.
4. Open Fortnite, and load that island code to play what you made.

Don't worry about making it public or "good" yet. The win here is going all the way through the pipeline once. Everything after this is just adding detail and behavior.

Checklist

• Created a project from a template
• Placed at least one prop in the Viewport
• Placed a Player Spawn Pad
• Ran the island with Launch Session and walked around
• Published a private island and got an island code

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Official references:

• Creating a project: https://dev.epicgames.com/documentation/en-us/uefn/creating-a-new-project-in-unreal-editor-for-fortnite
• Testing & publishing: https://dev.epicgames.com/documentation/en-us/uefn/publishing-your-island-in-unreal-editor-for-fortnite

Done all five? Mark this complete — that's Module 0 finished. Next module, we write our first line of Verse.