Build Configurations Reference

Reference guide for solution and project build configurations.

Choose your operating system:

Windows

macOS

Linux

Build Configuration Descriptions

Unreal Engine 4 uses a custom building method via the UnrealBuildTool (UBT). This tool processes the information necessary to build the engine's reflection system, integrating your C++ code with Blueprints, replication, serialization, and garbage collection.

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Build Configuration for UE4 Solution

When compiling a UE4 solution, you are compiling our engine's source code together with your project's source code. The following build configurations are available when building your project this way:


	Debug	DebugGame	Development	Shipping	Test
[empty]	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓
Editor	✓	✓	✓
Client	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓
Server	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓

Build Configuration for UE4 Project

When compiling a UE4 project, you are only compiling your project's source code. The following build configurations are available when building your project this way:


	DebugGame	Development	Shipping
[empty]	✓	✓	✓
Editor	✓	✓
Client
Server


	DebugGame	Development	Shipping
[empty]	✓	✓	✓
Editor	✓	✓
Client
Server

We currently don't provide a binary installer of Unreal Engine for Linux.
Linux users should refer to the Build Configuration for UE4 Solution section.
Refer to our Installing Unreal Engine documentation to learn how to build Unreal Engine from source.

This page was written for a previous version of Unreal Engine and has not been updated for the current Unreal Engine 5.0 release.