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Source: Roblox Creator Hub · CC BY 4.0 · View source · Code samples: MIT Imported 2026-10-03. Formatting adapted for this site.

IKControl

Inherits from: Instance → Object

IKControl instances generate procedural animation poses using Inverse Kinematics (IK). They allow you to make characters respond realistically to their environment.

For example, you can make a character place its hand on a door handle exactly, and the character will do so independently of its position. IKControls provide the advantage of needing to create much fewer animations for your game while giving your experience a more realistic and polished feel.

IKControls must be a child of a Humanoid or AnimationController with an Animator and have all of their required properties set properly, otherwise they don't have any effect. The required properties are Type, EndEffector, Target, ChainRoot. As soon as those are set, the IKControl modifies the pose of your character as you specify. The following code sample demonstrates how to set up your first IKControl and get started with creating more realistic animations for your game.

You can use IKControls to make a character:

Rotate its head and torso to look at a point of interest in the world.
Modify its feet positions to respond to dynamic terrain. Adjust its legs and feet to place them accordingly on terrain with rocks and slopes.
Hold a gun and place its hands appropriately on the grip without needing to create animations for each gun in the game.
Aim at a point in the world, so that the tip of the gun point exactly at what you want to shoot. Especially useful in third person shooters.
Place its hands on the steering wheel of a car and follow it when it rotates.
Much more!

IKControl will override the animation for all the parts between the ChainRoot and the EndEffector. You can enable/disable it using Enabled or change how much they have an effect over the underlying animation using the Weight. Be careful: if you do not set up your IKControls correctly, you might generate bad and unrealistic poses!

Inherits from: Instance

Memory category: Animation

Code samples: View on Creator Hub (IKControl-Setup).

Properties

Name	Type / Returns	Description
IKControl.ChainRoot	Instance	The last part that you are interested in moving your character. For example, the upper arm. Must be an ancestor of `EndEffector` and be a `BasePart` or a `Bone` in your character.
IKControl.Enabled	boolean	Toggles the control on and off. True by default.
IKControl.EndEffector	Instance	The part that you are interested in moving to reach the `Target`. For example, the hand of your character. Must be a descendant of `ChainRoot` and be a `BasePart` or a `Bone` in your character.
IKControl.EndEffectorOffset	CFrame	An additional offset applied on top of the `EndEffector` in its local space to change where it moves.
IKControl.Offset	CFrame	An additional offset applied on top of the `Target` to change where the `EndEffector` moves.
IKControl.Pole	Instance	An optional instance that determines which way the chain bends. You can use this to specify which way an elbow or knee bends.
IKControl.Priority	int	Specifies the order in which controls are solved. Higher values have higher priority.
IKControl.SmoothTime	float	Specifies the average number of seconds that it takes for the `EndEffector` to smoothly reach the `Target`.
IKControl.Target	Instance	The object that the `EndEffector` reaches for or points at. It can be anything that has a position in the world, such as `BasePart`, `Attachment`, `Bone`, or `Motor6D`.
IKControl.Type	IKControlType	Specifies how the solver satisfies this control.
IKControl.Weight	float	Specifies the weight of the IK control target. Should be in the [0, 1] range.

Inherited from Instance

Name	Type / Returns	Description
Instance.Archivable	boolean	Determines if an `Instance` and its descendants can be cloned using `Instance:Clone()`, and can be saved/published.
Instance.archivable	boolean
Instance.Capabilities	SecurityCapabilities	The set of capabilities allowed to be used for scripts inside this container.
Instance.IsInSandbox	boolean	Indicates whether the instance is inside a sandboxed container.
Instance.Name	string	A non-unique identifier of the `Instance`.
Instance.Parent	Instance	Determines the hierarchical parent of the `Instance`.
Instance.PredictionMode	PredictionMode	Reflects the client-side prediction mode applied to the instance under server-authoritative physics.
Instance.RobloxLocked	boolean	A deprecated property that used to protect `CoreGui` objects.
Instance.Sandboxed	boolean	When enabled, the instance can only access abilities in its `Capabilities` list.
Instance.UniqueId	UniqueId	A unique identifier for the instance.

Inherited from Object

Name	Type / Returns	Description
Object.ClassName	string	A read-only string representing the class this `Object` belongs to.
Object.className	string

IKControl.ChainRoot

By specifying a ChainRoot and an EndEffector, you instruct the IKControl that it's allowed to move and rotate all parts between the two to move the EndEffector to the Target. For example, if you specify the LeftHand as EndEffector and LeftUpperArm as the ChainRoot, the control moves 3 parts: the LeftHand, the LeftLowerArm, and the LeftUpperArm. Avoid setting ChainRoot as the actual root of the character because that produces unrealistic results.

Field	Value
type	Instance
security	{"read":"None","write":"None"}
thread safety	ReadSafe
category	Behavior
serialization	{"can_load":true,"can_save":true}
capabilities	["Animation"]
simulationAccess	true

IKControl.Enabled

This property allows you to toggle the IK control on and off. It's on by default. When Enabled is false, the IK control is off and isn't resolved by the underlying solver.

Field	Value
type	boolean
security	{"read":"None","write":"None"}
thread safety	ReadSafe
category	Behavior
serialization	{"can_load":true,"can_save":true}
capabilities	["Animation"]
simulationAccess	true

IKControl.EndEffector

The EndEffector describes the last part in the chain of your character that you want to affect. For example, it could be the hand when you want to move the whole arm to reach a point. It can be a BasePart on a character, that has a Motor6D as its child, a Motor6D directly, a Bone, or a Attachment. The pivot of the selected EndEffector moves to the Target, so you can use Attachments to modify which point of a BasePart should reach the Target.

Field	Value
type	Instance
security	{"read":"None","write":"None"}
thread safety	ReadSafe
category	Behavior
serialization	{"can_load":true,"can_save":true}
capabilities	["Animation"]
simulationAccess	true

IKControl.EndEffectorOffset

The end-effector offset is an additional CFrame applied on top of the Target CFrame that produces the final CFrame used to place the EndEffector. By default, it's the identity CFrame, so if you don't set it, it has no effect and the EndEffector uses the Target CFrame directly, which is specified in the local space of the EndEffector.

Alternatively, you can use Attachments by setting an Attachment as EndEffector, which moves it to the Target instead of the parts it's attached to, effectively obtaining the same result.

You can also use EndEffectorOffset to modify which axis of the EndEffector should point at the Target when using LookAt as Type.

Field	Value
type	CFrame
security	{"read":"None","write":"None"}
thread safety	ReadSafe
category	Behavior
serialization	{"can_load":true,"can_save":true}
capabilities	["Animation"]

IKControl.Offset

The offset is an additional CFrame applied on top of the Target CFrame that produces the final CFrame used to place the EndEffector. It's identity by default, so if you don't set it, it has no effect and the EndEffector will use the Target CFrame directly. You can animate it to create procedural animations such as typing on a keyboard. It's useful when the Target and EndEffector aren't aligned and you need to fix it with an additional rotation or translation.

Field	Value
type	CFrame
security	{"read":"None","write":"None"}
thread safety	ReadSafe
category	Behavior
serialization	{"can_load":true,"can_save":true}
capabilities	["Animation"]

IKControl.Pole

The Pole is an optional Instance that gives you control over how intermediate parts in your character should bend. It can be anything that has a position in the world, such as BasePart, Attachment, Bone, Motor6D. It is by default nil. When you specify it, the underlying solver will make the parts bend towards it. When it is nil, the solver will try to make elbows and knees bend appropriately based on the limb of the character. The limb will be "Arm" when you select as EndEffector either the LeftHand or RightHand and as ChainRoot the corresponding LeftUpperArm or RightUpperArm, and it will be "Leg" when you select as EndEffector either the LeftFoot or RightFoot and as ChainRoot the corresponding LeftUpperLeg or RightUpperLeg. In all other cases, if you don't specify a pole, the chain might not bend as you expect.

Field	Value
type	Instance
security	{"read":"None","write":"None"}
thread safety	ReadSafe
category	Behavior
serialization	{"can_load":true,"can_save":true}
capabilities	["Animation"]

IKControl.Priority

When multiple controls are active on a character, the order in which they are solved by the underlying system affects the final generated pose. By changing this value, you specify the ordering in which controls are satisfied. Higher values have higher priority, and higher-priority controls are resolved later because their result might override the previous result of other controls. If you have multiple IK controls on a character and one is more important than the other, specify a lower priority for it. It is 0 by default, meaning all controls have the same priority.

Field	Value
type	int
security	{"read":"None","write":"None"}
thread safety	ReadSafe
category	Behavior
serialization	{"can_load":true,"can_save":true}
capabilities	["Animation"]

IKControl.SmoothTime

This value specifies the average number of seconds that it takes for the EndEffector to reach the Target. The behavior is that of a critically-damped spring, where the rate of change is proportional to the distance to the target and no oscillations are present when approaching the target. Smaller values create a quicker convergence, and larger values create a slower convergence. A value of 0 disables smoothing. The default value is 0.05 to provide a very slight smoothing that makes the motion feel realistic.

Field	Value
type	float
security	{"read":"None","write":"None"}
thread safety	ReadSafe
category	Behavior
serialization	{"can_load":true,"can_save":true}
capabilities	["Animation"]

IKControl.Target

The Target represents a point (CFrame) in the world that you want your EndEffector to reach. The exact behavior of reaching can be set via the Type property, and an additional Offset can be applied on top of it to modify it. If you set a Target that will be moved either by physics or a script, at each frame the IKControl will try to satisfy it, automatically updating the point to reach.

Field	Value
type	Instance
security	{"read":"None","write":"None"}
thread safety	ReadSafe
category	Behavior
serialization	{"can_load":true,"can_save":true}
capabilities	["Animation"]
simulationAccess	true

IKControl.Type

By changing the Type, you can change the behavior of the control. These are the available options:

Transform: it's a full 6-DoF constraint. Aligns the EndEffector CFrame to that of the Target.
Position: aligns the EndEffector position to that of the Target.
Rotation: aligns the EndEffector rotation to that of the Target.
LookAt: moves and orients the whole chain to make an axis (by default the forward axis) on the EndEffector point at a position in the world specified by Target.

Field	Value
type	IKControlType
security	{"read":"None","write":"None"}
thread safety	ReadSafe
category	Behavior
serialization	{"can_load":true,"can_save":true}
capabilities	["Animation"]
simulationAccess	true

IKControl.Weight

You can control how much a given control affects the character pose by using this property. Values should be in the [0, 1] range. 0 means no effect, and 1 means full effect of the IK control. Values outside this range are truncated. Smoothly varying this value allows you to blend in or out a specific control to avoid jarring motion. It is 1 by default.

The weight determines the interpolation factor between the End-Effector and the IK target. Setting the weight to 0 doesn't disable the IK Control because other factors, including the SmoothTime smoothing factor and Pole, can still change the pose. To truly disable the IK Control, turn the Enabled property to false.

Field	Value
type	float
security	{"read":"None","write":"None"}
thread safety	ReadSafe
category	Behavior
serialization	{"can_load":true,"can_save":true}
capabilities	["Animation"]
simulationAccess	true

Methods

Name	Type / Returns	Description
IKControl:GetChainCount	int	Returns the number of segments in the IK chain between the `ChainRoot` and the `EndEffector`.
IKControl:GetChainLength	float	Returns the total length, in studs, of the IK chain between the `ChainRoot` and the `EndEffector`.
IKControl:GetNodeLocalCFrame	CFrame	Returns the `CFrame` of the chain node at the given index, relative to its parent node in the chain.
IKControl:GetNodeWorldCFrame	CFrame	Returns the world-space `CFrame` of the chain node at the given index.
IKControl:GetRawFinalTarget	CFrame	Returns the world-space target `CFrame` the solver aims for before `SmoothTime` smoothing is applied.
IKControl:GetSmoothedFinalTarget	CFrame	Returns the world-space target `CFrame` the solver aims for after `SmoothTime` smoothing is applied.

Inherited from Instance

Name	Type / Returns	Description
Instance:AddTag	()	Applies a tag to the instance.
Instance:children	Instances	Returns an array of the object's children.
Instance:ClearAllChildren	()	This method destroys all of an instance's children.
Instance:Clone	Instance	Create a copy of an instance and all its descendants, ignoring instances that are not `Archivable`.
Instance:clone	Instance
Instance:Destroy	()	Sets the `Instance.Parent` property to `nil`, locks the `Instance.Parent` property, disconnects all connections, and calls `Destroy()` on all children.
Instance:destroy	()
Instance:FindFirstAncestor	Instance?	Returns the first ancestor of the `Instance` whose `Instance.Name` is equal to the given name.
Instance:FindFirstAncestorOfClass	Instance?	Returns the first ancestor of the `Instance` whose `Object.ClassName` is equal to the given className.
Instance:FindFirstAncestorWhichIsA	Instance?	Returns the first ancestor of the `Instance` for whom `Object:IsA()` returns true for the given className.
Instance:FindFirstChild	Instance?	Returns the first child of the `Instance` found with the given name.
Instance:findFirstChild	Instance
Instance:FindFirstChildOfClass	Instance?	Returns the first child of the `Instance` whose `ClassName` is equal to the given class name.
Instance:FindFirstChildWhichIsA	Instance?	Returns the first child of the `Instance` for whom `Object:IsA()` returns true for the given className.
Instance:FindFirstDescendant	Instance?	Returns the first descendant found with the given `Instance.Name`.
Instance:GetActor	Actor?	Returns the `Actor` associated with the Instance, if any.
Instance:GetAttribute	Variant	Returns the value which has been assigned to the given attribute name.
Instance:GetAttributeChangedSignal	RBXScriptSignal	Returns an event that fires when the given attribute changes.
Instance:GetAttributes	Dictionary	Returns a dictionary of the instance's attributes.
Instance:GetChildren	Instances	Returns an array containing all of the instance's children.
Instance:getChildren	Instances
Instance:GetDebugId	string	Returns a coded string of the debug ID used internally by Roblox.
Instance:GetDescendants	Instances	Returns an array containing all of the descendants of the instance.
Instance:GetFullName	string	Returns a string describing the instance's ancestry.
Instance:GetStyled	Variant	Returns the styled or explicitly modified value of the specified property, or else the default property value if it hasn't been styled/modified.
Instance:GetStyledPropertyChangedSignal	RBXScriptSignal	Returns an event that fires when the given style property changes on the instance.
Instance:GetTags	Array	Gets an array of all tags applied to the instance.
Instance:HasTag	boolean	Check whether the instance has a given tag.
Instance:IsAncestorOf	boolean	Returns true if an `Instance` is an ancestor of the given descendant.
Instance:IsDescendantOf	boolean	Returns `true` if an `Instance` is a descendant of the given ancestor.
Instance:isDescendantOf	boolean
Instance:IsPropertyModified	boolean	Returns `true` if the value stored in the specified property is not equal to the code-instantiated default.
Instance:QueryDescendants	Instances	Returns an array containing all descendants of the instance that match the `selector` string.
Instance:Remove	()	Sets the object's `Parent` to `nil`, and does the same for all its descendants.
Instance:remove	()
Instance:RemoveTag	()	Removes a tag from the instance.
Instance:ResetPropertyToDefault	()	Resets a property to its default value.
Instance:SetAttribute	()	Sets the attribute with the given name to the given value.
Instance:WaitForChild	Instance	Returns the child of the `Instance` with the given name. If the child does not exist, it will yield the current thread until it does.

Inherited from Object

Name	Type / Returns	Description
Object:GetPropertyChangedSignal	RBXScriptSignal	Get an event that fires when a given property of the object changes.
Object:IsA	boolean	Returns true if an object's class matches or inherits from a given class.
Object:isA	boolean

IKControl:GetChainCount

Returns the number of segments in the IK chain, meaning the number of parent-child links between the ChainRoot and the EndEffector. A chain of three parts has a count of 2.

The chain always has one more node than it has segments, so the valid indices for GetNodeWorldCFrame() and GetNodeLocalCFrame() range from 1 to the returned count plus 1. This returns 0 when the IKControl doesn't resolve to a valid chain, such as when its required properties aren't set.

Returns

Type	Description
int	The number of segments in the chain, or `0` if the chain isn't valid.

Field	Value
security	None
thread safety	Unsafe
capabilities	["Animation"]

IKControl:GetChainLength

Returns the total length of the IK chain in studs, computed as the sum of the world-space distances between each consecutive part from the EndEffector up to the ChainRoot. This is the maximum reach of the chain: a Target placed farther than this distance from the chain's base can't be reached, and the chain extends toward it as far as it can.

This returns 0 when the IKControl doesn't resolve to a valid chain, such as when its required properties aren't set.

Returns

Type	Description
float	The combined length of the chain in studs, or `0` if the chain isn't valid.

Field	Value
security	None
thread safety	Unsafe
capabilities	["Animation"]

IKControl:GetNodeLocalCFrame

Returns the CFrame of the node at the given index in the solved IK chain, relative to its parent node. Nodes are ordered from the ChainRoot at index 1 to the EndEffector at GetChainCount() plus 1.

This reflects the pose most recently produced by the solver. Use GetNodeWorldCFrame() for the same node in world space. If the index is outside the valid range, or the IKControl hasn't resolved a valid chain, this returns the identity CFrame.

Parameters

Name	Type	Default	Description
index	int		The 1-based position of the node in the chain, from `1` (the `ChainRoot`) up to `GetChainCount()` plus `1` (the `EndEffector`).

Returns

Type	Description
CFrame	The node's `CFrame` in the local space of its parent node, or the identity `CFrame` if the index is out of range or the chain hasn't been solved.

Field	Value
security	None
thread safety	Unsafe
capabilities	["Animation"]

IKControl:GetNodeWorldCFrame

Returns the world-space CFrame of the node at the given index in the solved IK chain. Nodes are ordered from the ChainRoot at index 1 to the EndEffector at GetChainCount() plus 1.

This reflects the pose most recently produced by the solver. Use GetNodeLocalCFrame() for the same node relative to its parent. If the index is outside the valid range, or the IKControl hasn't resolved a valid chain, this returns the identity CFrame.

Parameters

Name	Type	Default	Description
index	int		The 1-based position of the node in the chain, from `1` (the `ChainRoot`) up to `GetChainCount()` plus `1` (the `EndEffector`).

Returns

Type	Description
CFrame	The node's world-space `CFrame`, or the identity `CFrame` if the index is out of range or the chain hasn't been solved.

Field	Value
security	None
thread safety	Unsafe
capabilities	["Animation"]

IKControl:GetRawFinalTarget

Returns the CFrame that the solver aims the EndEffector at on the current frame, before SmoothTime smoothing is applied. This is the Target after Weight, Offset, and EndEffectorOffset are factored in. For a LookAt Type, it's the world position the chain is oriented toward.

Compare with GetSmoothedFinalTarget(), which returns the same target after smoothing. The two are equal when SmoothTime is 0.

Returns

Type	Description
CFrame	The final target `CFrame`, in world space, before smoothing.

Field	Value
security	None
thread safety	Unsafe
capabilities	["Animation"]

IKControl:GetSmoothedFinalTarget

Returns the CFrame that the solver aims the EndEffector at on the current frame, after SmoothTime smoothing has been applied to the raw target from GetRawFinalTarget(). Smoothing uses a critically damped spring that eases toward the raw value over roughly SmoothTime seconds.

Because SmoothTime defaults to 0.05, this value trails GetRawFinalTarget() slightly while the target moves. When SmoothTime is 0, this returns the same CFrame as GetRawFinalTarget.

Returns

Type	Description
CFrame	The final target `CFrame`, in world space, after smoothing.

Field	Value
security	None
thread safety	Unsafe
capabilities	["Animation"]

Events

Inherited from Instance

Name	Type / Returns	Description
Instance.AncestryChanged		Fires when the `Instance.Parent` property of this object or one of its ancestors is changed.
Instance.AttributeChanged		Fires whenever an attribute is changed on the `Instance`.
Instance.ChildAdded		Fires after an object is parented to this `Instance`.
Instance.childAdded
Instance.ChildRemoved		Fires after a child is removed from this `Instance`.
Instance.DescendantAdded		Fires after a descendant is added to the `Instance`.
Instance.DescendantRemoving		Fires immediately before a descendant of the `Instance` is removed.
Instance.Destroying		Fires immediately before (or is deferred until after) the instance is destroyed via `Instance:Destroy()`.
Instance.StyledPropertiesChanged		Fires whenever any style property is changed on the instance, including when a property is set to `nil`.

Inherited from Object

Name	Type / Returns	Description
Object.Changed		Fires immediately after a property of the object changes, with some limitations.