What would be the best way to make a hitbox?

Help and Feedback Scripting Support
1

I am working on a game where you cut trees with an axe and I was wondering if anyone had a good way to make a hitbox for the axe and the tree? Just wondering because I am trying to find the best method to make this work efficiently

2

Raycasts are not ideal for this as they stop as soon as they hit something instead of getting all the parts in a hitbox, they are more of a hit-line instead of a hitbox.

The most straightforward way of creating hitboxes is through one of the these methods:

  1. For box-shaped hitboxes: Workspace:GetPartBoundsInBox(cframe: CFrame, size: Vector3, overlapParams: OverlapParams)
  2. For sphere-shaped hitboxes: Workspace:GetPartBoundsInRadius(position: Vector3, radius: number, overlapParams: OverlapParams)

Here’s an example of how you do box-shaped hitboxes

Hitbox.server.luau (a server script parented to the axe Tool):

local Workspace = game:GetService("Workspace")

local HITBOX_SIZE = Vector3.new(4, 4, 4) -- This will be the size of your hitbox
local DISTANCE_FROM_CHARACTER = 4 -- This is how far in front of your character the hitbox will be centered
local TREE_PARTS = Workspace:WaitForChild("Trees") -- Parent of all the trees

local axe = script.Parent
assert(axe:IsA("Tool"), "Make sure the script is parented to a tool")

local overlapParams = OverlapParams.new()
overlapParams.FilterType = Enum.RaycastFilterType.Include
overlapParams.FilterDescendantsInstances = { TREE_PARTS }

local function onAxeActivated()
	local character = axe:FindFirstAncestorOfClass("Model")
	assert(character, "Character not found")
	local cframe = character:GetPivot() + (character:GetPivot().LookVector * DISTANCE_FROM_CHARACTER)
	local partBoundsInBox = Workspace:GetPartBoundsInBox(cframe,  HITBOX_SIZE, overlapParams)
	print("Parts in hitbox", partBoundsInBox)
	--[[ If you only want to handle one part in the hitbox we can use
		 if #partBoundsInBox < 1 return end
		 handlePartInHitbox(partBoundsInBox[1])
	]]
end

local function initialize()
	axe.Activated:Connect(onAxeActivated)
end

initialize()

They both return an array of BasePart that you can iterate through to deal with any part that was caught in the query.

Creator Docs Pages:

2 Likes
3

hello, Elaugh14

You’ll want to use collision-based hitboxes or raycasting to detect when the axe hits a tree.

  1. Attach a small invisible part** to the axe head (call it “HitPoint”)
  2. On swing (click or animation trigger)
local tool = script.Parent
local hitPoint = tool:WaitForChild("HitPoint")

tool.Activated:Connect(function()
	local rayOrigin = hitPoint.Position
	local rayDirection = hitPoint.CFrame.LookVector * 3

	local params = RaycastParams.new()
	params.FilterDescendantsInstances = {tool}
	params.FilterType = Enum.RaycastFilterType.Blacklist

	local result = workspace:Raycast(rayOrigin, rayDirection, params)

	if result and result.Instance then
		if result.Instance:IsDescendantOf(workspace.Trees) then
			print("Hit tree!")
			-- Add chop logic here
		end
	end
end)
1 Like
4

That’s a good way to make a hitbox but I think I would prefer GetPartsBounds since it is more of a hitbox like @yieldlua said

5

GetPartsInPart or GetPartsBoundInBox is definitely more hitbox-like, especially if you want physical overlap rather than just ray detection. I suggested raycasting since it’s fast and precise, but if you’re going for more of a swing zone feel, bounding box hit detection is a solid pick too.

2 Likes