Building the Lightsaber Workbench in UEFN
In April 2026, Epic brought Star Wars™ tools to Unreal Editor for Fortnite (UEFN) for the first time, giving developers a full toolset of characters, vehicles, weapons, and templates to build with. One of those templates, the Lightsaber and Force Powers, includes a crafting workbench, which means that after years of Lightsabers being available as a Fortnite Battle Royale item, players can now craft and customize their own.
We sat down with Aidan McDu, Lead Gameplay Programmer at Epic, to break down how the team built the Custom Lightsaber system in UEFN using Custom Inventory & Items, Scene Graph and Verse, and why it’s really a showcase for something much bigger.
From modular hilts and crystal colors to Force abilities and progression systems, the setup was designed to give developers the freedom to build their own unique experiences.
A crafting station built entirely in Verse
At the center of the experience is the workbench itself, built using UMG and Verse.
“The Lightsaber Workbench is an interactive crafting system built entirely in Verse. Players walk up, open the UI, and start building their saber piece by piece,” says McDu. “The UI was built using UMG with Verse variables to handle player choices and drive the visuals. Verse manages the entire customization state and dynamically assembles the final lightsaber from the selected parts.”
Every lightsaber starts with a hilt and a crystal. From there, players choose a Force ability, then fine-tune properties like blade stability and arcing to make it their own.
Scene Graph handles the heavy lifting
Behind the UI sits the system that makes all of it possible: Scene Graph.
“Under the hood, the whole system runs on Custom Inventory & Items, which is built on Scene Graph,” he explains. “The concept is simple: attach an item_component to an entity and it becomes an item. Attach an inventory_component and it becomes an inventory. An entity can even be both, so inventories can hold other inventories.”
This means no manager devices, no complex workarounds. Everything is accessible directly through Verse. Developers can modify item properties, grant new items, and build full progression systems all within the Scene Graph.
Every lightsaber is built from stackable parts
That same entity-and-component structure is what makes every lightsaber fully customizable.
“Each lightsaber is an item entity with components stacked on top: a hilt mesh, a crystal color, a Force ability, and tuneable stats like damage, stability, and arcing,” says McDu. “Force abilities are their own entities too. You can attach them to a lightsaber or grant them independently. We built a Combat Simulation training ground so players can test their custom saber against waves of enemies.”
The available Force powers include Push, Pull, Saber Throw, Heal, Distraction, Force Jump, Force Lightning, and more.
A template built to be taken further
What gets McDu excited is where developers might take this. Custom Inventory & Items is a general-purpose system, with the Lightsaber Workbench serving as just one example of what it can do.
“Because this is all Verse and Scene Graph, you could expand it or build something totally different from scratch: a randomized lightsaber generator, a personality quiz that picks your saber for you, a component shop, or a progression system where your Jedi grows in power the more they play,” he says.
Try it for yourself
Learn how to create custom lightsabers and add Force powers using Scene Graph and Verse by following the comprehensive tutorial included with the Lightsabers and Force Powers template. Then, see where you can take your own experience with Custom Inventory & Items, Scene Graph, and Verse.