New Gameplay Camera constraint axis?

Development Getting Started & Setup
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UE 5.7 introduced a new gameplay camera system. How can I limit the movement of the top-down camera that follows my pawn so that the camera can only move along the Y-axis?

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**Constraining the New UE 5.7 Gameplay Camera System to a Single Axis (Y-Axis)
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With the release of Unreal Engine 5.7, the new Gameplay Camera System has officially moved from experimental to a more robust, node-based data asset workflow. If you are trying to recreate a side-scroller or a top-down game where the camera follows the pawn but stays “locked” on a specific track (like the Y-axis), the old “Break Vector” on a Spring Arm approach is no longer the native way to do it.

Here are the two best methods to achieve an axis-lock in the 5.7 Camera Rig editor.

Method 1: The “Dampen Position” Constraint (Easiest)

In the 5.7 Rig, the Dampen Position node controls how closely the camera follows its target on each individual axis.

  1. Open your Camera Rig Asset.

  2. Add a Dampen Position node after your Pawn Goal or Boom Arm node.

  3. In the Details Panel, look at the Damping Factors.

  4. To lock the X and Z axes: Set their damping to 1.0 (or “Full”). In the new system, a damping value of 1.0 effectively freezes that axis relative to the target’s initial offset.

  5. To allow Y movement: Set the Y-axis damping to 0.0. This allows the camera to follow the pawn’s Y-position with zero lag.

Method 2: Using Camera Variable Collections (Most Precise)

If you need a “hard lock” where the camera physically cannot see the Pawn’s X-coordinate, use a Camera Variable Collection (CVC) to filter the data.

  1. Create a Variable Collection: Right-click in Content Browser > Cameras > Camera Variable Collection. Add a Vector variable called LockedTargetLocation.

  2. In your Character Blueprint: On Event Tick, get the Actor Location. Break the vector, but only pass the Y and Z values into your LockedTargetLocation variable, keeping X at a constant value (e.g., 0).

  3. In the Camera Rig:

    • Add a Variable Evaluation node and select your LockedTargetLocation.

    • Connect this to the World Location pin of your Camera or Boom node.

    • This forces the camera to calculate its position based on your filtered data rather than the actual Pawn transform.

Note on the “Missing” Compile Button

If you are coming from 5.4, you might notice the Compile button is missing in the Camera Rig editor.

  • In 5.7, Camera Rigs are Data Assets, not Blueprints. They use a “Build” system.

  • If your changes aren’t appearing, look for the Build status in the bottom right of the Rig Editor. 5.7 now features “Auto-Build” on PIE (Play in Editor), which handles the compilation for you automatically when you hit Play.

Hope this helps anyone transitioning their camera logic to the new 5.7 system!

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Okay, thanks for your answer. Everybody will be able to ask AI for a solution but since the system is so new, it has no real answer and it’s just making things up.

The Dampen Position node acts like a camera lag on a spring arm. Setting it to 1 or even 0.1 will make it move very slowly but not constrain movement completely, which does not work for me.

For the CVC solution: I cannot seem to find a Variable Evaluation node.

Does anyone have any real knowledge please?