Information
Delay nodes are latent actions. Instead of freezing the game while waiting, they pause that execution path and allow Unreal Engine to continue running other logic until the delay is ready to complete.
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Delay
The standard Delay node waits for a specified number of seconds before continuing through its Completed output.
If the same Delay is triggered again while it is already counting down, the new call is ignored. The original delay continues counting down from when it was first triggered.
This makes a normal Delay useful when you simply want something to happen once after a certain amount of time.
Retriggerable Delay
Retriggerable Delay also waits for a specified number of seconds, but behaves differently when triggered multiple times.
If it is triggered again before the delay has completed, its countdown is reset back to the full Duration.
For example, you could start regenerating health five seconds after the player takes damage. Every time the player takes damage again, a Retriggerable Delay can restart the five-second countdown.
Delay Until Next Tick
Delay Until Next Tick pauses the execution path until the object's next tick instead of waiting for a specified number of seconds.
This can be useful when you need Unreal Engine to finish other work before continuing your Blueprint logic.
However, the object's next tick can sometimes occur later during the same engine frame, depending on when the delay was started and the order in which objects are ticking.
Delay Until Next Frame
Delay Until Next Frame is similar to Delay Until Next Tick, but guarantees that execution does not continue until a tick in the next engine frame.
This is useful when something is updated asynchronously with respect to your current Blueprint execution. For example, after adding or resizing a UI widget, its cached geometry may not reflect the new layout until Slate performs another layout pass. Delay Until Next Frame lets that update occur before you read the widget's position or size.
Next Tick vs Next Frame
Delay Until Next Tick and Delay Until Next Frame are also slightly different. Waiting for the next tick does not necessarily mean waiting for another rendered frame.
If you specifically need to continue on a later engine frame, use Delay Until Next Frame. If you only need to defer execution until the object's next tick, use Delay Until Next Tick.
Delay nodes vs Timers
Delay nodes are convenient when you want to pause a Blueprint execution path and continue later. For systems that need to repeat, be cancelled, restarted, or controlled from other parts of a Blueprint, a Timer can often provide more control.