player starts at 0,0,0 during standalone build but works fine in PIE

i have an issue where my player is always spawning at 0,0,0 for standalone builds (including packaged and running .exe), for in editor it runs just fine. any ideas as to why this is? the game mode, default level, etc are all setup and double checked. as stated, works fine in PIE…

Where does it spawn in PIE? do you have a Player Start in the level?

exactly where the player start is, working as expected, only within PIE.

the only thing I can think of is this suggestion from chatgpt

" Asset Paths and References:

Verify that all assets (including Player Start actors) are correctly referenced and located in the expected asset paths in your project. In some cases, asset references can become broken, leading to spawning issues in standalone builds."

however i’m not sure why the asset reference would break. i’ve also tried clearing out caches with no luck.

Hello,

One thing to try:

Place your Pawn/Character directly into the level and set it to ‘Auto Possess Player’ → “Player 0” in it’s details panel.

This will forego the Game Mode → Player Start system.

I will have to go down this route like I have in the past. It is a shame the default actors are buggy with unexpected behavior between runtimes.