# Ribbon Particle System lifetime not working **URL:** \ **Category:** FX\ **Tags:** unreal-engine, question\ **Created:** [December 2, 2024, 3:06pm UTC](https://forums.unrealengine.com/t/ribbon-particle-system-lifetime-not-working/2164576 "2024-12-02T15:06:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Gaijin\_Galaxy](https://d3kjluh73b9h9o.cloudfront.net/original/4X/2/8/5/28502927f1d97ba1051b3b47ccfe17233bf41ef0.png) [@Gaijin\_Galaxy](https://forums.unrealengine.com/u/Gaijin_Galaxy)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2024, 3:06pm UTC](https://forums.unrealengine.com/t/ribbon-particle-system-lifetime-not-working/2164576/1 "2024-12-02T15:06:06Z")
![Screenshot 2024-12-01 200111](https://d3kjluh73b9h9o.cloudfront.net/original/4X/2/f/8/2f888190eb88f7ef7b88e8ebde0b0e40c5bbc970.jpeg) I intend to use the ribbon particle system to create stylised fire. But as you can see it’s ‘living’ far too long, I only need it to be about 10% of the size at all times. But lowering the lifetime in particle settings doesn’t have the intended effect. The simulation grows to this large size whether I have it set to 1.0 or 0.1 Anyone know what I’m doing wrong? ---
**Author:** ![Dejan33](https://d1ap1mz92jnks1.cloudfront.net/user_avatar/forums.unrealengine.com/dejan33/32/1194514_2.png) [@Dejan33](https://forums.unrealengine.com/u/Dejan33)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2024, 3:38pm UTC](https://forums.unrealengine.com/t/ribbon-particle-system-lifetime-not-working/2164576/2 "2024-12-02T15:38:11Z")
Lifetime determines duration of particle, not scale of the particle. ---
**Author:** ![Gaijin\_Galaxy](https://d3kjluh73b9h9o.cloudfront.net/original/4X/2/8/5/28502927f1d97ba1051b3b47ccfe17233bf41ef0.png) [@Gaijin\_Galaxy](https://forums.unrealengine.com/u/Gaijin_Galaxy)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2024, 9:12pm UTC](https://forums.unrealengine.com/t/ribbon-particle-system-lifetime-not-working/2164576/3 "2024-12-02T21:12:28Z")
The ribbon width is 12. How do I stop the particle simulation from getting so big? It takes about a minute to get to this size. It grows, which suggests lifetime to me- what setting should I be turning down to keep this simulation at about 10% of its’ size? ---
**Author:** ![Dejan33](https://d1ap1mz92jnks1.cloudfront.net/user_avatar/forums.unrealengine.com/dejan33/32/1194514_2.png) [@Dejan33](https://forums.unrealengine.com/u/Dejan33)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2024, 9:23pm UTC](https://forums.unrealengine.com/t/ribbon-particle-system-lifetime-not-working/2164576/4 "2024-12-02T21:23:31Z")
> [@Scale a niagara particle system](https://forums.unrealengine.com/t/scale-a-niagara-particle-system/450101): > > is it possible to scale an entire niagara particle system as a whole? ---
**Author:** ![sarahlenker](https://d1ap1mz92jnks1.cloudfront.net/user_avatar/forums.unrealengine.com/sarahlenker/32/994419_2.png) [@sarahlenker](https://forums.unrealengine.com/u/sarahlenker)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2024, 4:49pm UTC](https://forums.unrealengine.com/t/ribbon-particle-system-lifetime-not-working/2164576/5 "2024-12-05T16:49:16Z")
Hello @Gaijin_Galaxy! Ribbon particles can be a bit tricky to work with, because they work differently than other particles. For ribbons, the particle lifetime determines how long the trail stays active (aka how long the trail is). In order to adjust the overall lifetime of a ribbon, you need to set the life cycle of the emitter. In my screenshot, this is probably the setup you want- with the loop duration controlling the ribbon lifetime. ![image](https://d3kjluh73b9h9o.cloudfront.net/original/4X/1/f/7/1f712b3064b57ee8f25481440340962ef5a63c15.png) In the case that your ribbons are being generated using a location event from another emitter, setting the particle lifetime in that emitter will determine the lifetime of your ribbons. ---
**Author:** ![Alterior](https://d3kjluh73b9h9o.cloudfront.net/original/4X/2/8/5/28502927f1d97ba1051b3b47ccfe17233bf41ef0.png) [@Alterior](https://forums.unrealengine.com/u/Alterior)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2025, 8:33pm UTC](https://forums.unrealengine.com/t/ribbon-particle-system-lifetime-not-working/2164576/6 "2025-03-12T20:33:24Z")
So, 3 months late to this post. Came across it because my ribbon particle system was lasting forever and the lifetime variable wasn’t working for me either. For anyone else who finds this later, I had to add a Particle State module under the Emitter properties. Without this, the Lifetime variable does nothing. ![image](https://d3kjluh73b9h9o.cloudfront.net/original/4X/a/c/7/ac7fc6e5c7b78659abe64bd050d995dda1cf19b3.png)