Using IConsoleCommand in UE5

GitHub Repo Community Snippet

This is the third post in creating custom console commands in Unreal Engine 5. In the previous two posts, one creates a command using the Exec function specifier while the other onse usesFAutoConsoleCommandWithWorldAndArgs function. This post will create a custom console command using IConsoleCommand.

Inside the MyCheatManager constructer create a variable with the IConsoleCommand type and we start the var with IConsoleManager::Get().RegisterConsoleCommand. The RegisterConsoleCommand takes four parameters, I'll list them below, directly taken from the IConsoleCommand.h file in the Unreal code base.

• Name - The name of this command (must not be nullptr)
• Help - Help text for this command
• Command - The user function to call when this command is executed
• Flags - Optional flags bitmask

First, we need to create a new static function in the header, I called mine MyCommandFunction. We'll define in the .cpp file and then we'll reference in the third argument via FConsoleCommandWithWorldAndArgsDelegate::CreateLambda. The MyCommandFunction` method is very simple, it just prints a string.

The following link is a wonderful community snippet for registering a console command, it includes a great way to unregister the console command when it's no longer needed.

#pragma once

#include "CoreMinimal.h"
#include "GameFramework/CheatManager.h"
#include "MyCheatManager.generated.h"

UCLASS()
class MYPROJECT_API UMyCheatManager : public UCheatManager
{
	GENERATED_BODY()

	UMyCheatManager();

	UFUNCTION(Exec)
	void GetPlayerName();

	UFUNCTION()
	static void MyCommandFunction(const TArray<FString>& Args, UWorld* World);
};

#include "MyCheatManager.h"
#include "MyProject/TP_ThirdPerson/TP_ThirdPersonCharacter.h"

UMyCheatManager::UMyCheatManager()
{
	static IConsoleCommand* MyConsleCommand = IConsoleManager::Get().RegisterConsoleCommand(
		TEXT("MyCheatManager.PrintCommand"),
		TEXT("Print a simle string from the MyCheatManager"),
		FConsoleCommandWithWorldAndArgsDelegate::CreateLambda(&UMyCheatManager::MyCommandFunction),
		ECVF_Cheat
	);
}
...

void UMyCheatManager::MyCommandFunction(const TArray<FString>& Args, UWorld* World)
{
	if (GEngine)
	{
		GEngine->AddOnScreenDebugMessage(-1, 105.f, FColor::Green, TEXT("IConsole Command"));
	}
}

After recompiling the project we can now use the new console command. While playing in the editor or another debug build, press the tilde ~ key to open the command line then type in MyCheatManager.PrintCommand (or your command's name) and you'll get a message printed on the screen.

There's definitely a variety of ways to create custom console commands in Unreal and I'm looking forward to using them in the future.

Harrison McGuire

website github itchio youtube