Day/Night Cycle

A lightweight Unreal Engine 5.8 C++ plugin for a persistent game clock, reusable schedules, events, time ranges, blocking gates, and save-state support.

Beta software. APIs and saved-state formats may change before 1.0.

Install and configure

1. Copy the plugin to <Project>/Plugins/DiurnalCycle.
2. Enable Day/Night Cycle, restart the editor, and compile when prompted.
3. Open Project Settings > Plugins > Day Night Cycle.
4. Choose the starting time and clock speed.
5. Create a Day/Night Cycle Schedule in the Content Browser.
6. Add events or ranges, then place the asset in DefaultSchedules.

That is enough to run an authored schedule in PIE.

Use the plugin

I want to…	Go to…
Create or change events and ranges	Schedule Editor
See everything contributed by the default schedules	Schedule Browser
Read the time or react to schedules in a graph	Blueprint guide

Useful terms

• Event: happens once at a specific time.
• Time Range: stays active between a start and end time.
• Gate: a blocking event that pauses time until the game releases it.
• Schedule: a reusable asset containing events and ranges.

Gameplay Tags are optional labels for finding related entries. They are not unique IDs, so several entries can use the same tag.