Phaser 3 Arcade Physics

Add movement and collision to a Phaser 3 game with the lightweight Arcade Physics engine (AABB rectangles and circles only). Targets Phaser 3.90.

When to use

Use for top-down or platformer movement, velocity/acceleration/gravity, bouncing, world bounds, and collision/overlap resolution between sprites, groups, and tiles.

Use when the scene enables

physics: { default: 'arcade' }

and code calls

this.physics.add.*

body.setVelocity

, or

this.physics.add.collider

When not to use: the

Game

config, scene structure, asset loading, or cameras → use

phaser-core

. Hinges, springs, complex polygons, or stacking rigid bodies → use Matter physics (a different engine; Arcade and Matter bodies do not interact). For engine-agnostic feel tuning see

physics-tuning

Core workflow

Enable the world. Set
```
physics: { default: 'arcade', arcade: { gravity: {...}, debug: true } }
```
in the game or scene config. Turn
```
debug
```
on while building to see body outlines and velocity vectors.
Give a sprite a body. Create it with
```
this.physics.add.sprite(...)
```
(dynamic) or
```
this.physics.add.staticImage(...)
```
(static), or attach to an existing object with
```
this.physics.add.existing(obj)
```
.
Drive it through the body, not by setting
x
/
y
. Use
```
setVelocity
```
,
```
setAcceleration
```
, gravity,
```
setBounce
```
, and
```
setCollideWorldBounds
```
. The engine integrates position from velocity each step (already frame-rate independent).
Resolve interactions.
```
this.physics.add.collider(a, b)
```
separates bodies;
```
this.physics.add.overlap(a, b, cb)
```
detects without separating (pickups, triggers). Pass a callback to react.
Group many objects. Use
```
this.physics.add.group()
```
(dynamic) or
```
staticGroup()
```
(platforms) so one collider call handles all members.
Check ground contact with
```
body.onFloor()
```
/
```
body.blocked.down
```
before jumping. Run with
```
debug: true
```
and confirm bodies, contacts, and bounds.

Patterns

1. Enable Arcade Physics (game config)

const config = {
  type: Phaser.AUTO,
  width: 800, height: 600,
  physics: {
    default: 'arcade',
    arcade: {
      gravity: { x: 0, y: 600 },  // top-down? use { x: 0, y: 0 }
      debug: false                // true to draw bodies + velocity while building
    }
  },
  scene: [PlayScene]
};
new Phaser.Game(config);

2. Top-down movement (velocity from input)

create() {
  this.player = this.physics.add.sprite(400, 300, 'player');
  this.player.setCollideWorldBounds(true);
  this.cursors = this.input.keyboard.createCursorKeys();
}

update() {
  const speed = 220;
  const body = this.player.body;
  body.setVelocity(0);                              // reset each frame
  if (this.cursors.left.isDown)  body.setVelocityX(-speed);
  if (this.cursors.right.isDown) body.setVelocityX(speed);
  if (this.cursors.up.isDown)    body.setVelocityY(-speed);
  if (this.cursors.down.isDown)  body.setVelocityY(speed);
  body.velocity.normalize().scale(speed);           // keep diagonals same speed
}

3. Platformer jump (gravity + ground check)

create() {
  this.player = this.physics.add.sprite(100, 450, 'player');
  this.player.setCollideWorldBounds(true);

  // Static platforms: one body each, never moved by collisions.
  this.platforms = this.physics.add.staticGroup();
  this.platforms.create(400, 568, 'ground');
  this.physics.add.collider(this.player, this.platforms);

  this.cursors = this.input.keyboard.createCursorKeys();
}

update() {
  const onGround = this.player.body.blocked.down; // or this.player.body.onFloor()
  if (this.cursors.left.isDown)  this.player.setVelocityX(-160);
  else if (this.cursors.right.isDown) this.player.setVelocityX(160);
  else this.player.setVelocityX(0);

  if (this.cursors.up.isDown && onGround) this.player.setVelocityY(-450);
}

4. Colliders vs overlaps (separate vs detect)

// Push apart and react: player vs enemies.
this.physics.add.collider(this.player, this.enemies, (player, enemy) => {
  this.handleHit(player, enemy);
});

// Detect without pushing: collect coins. The 4th arg is an optional
// process callback returning a boolean to filter pairs before the main callback.
this.physics.add.overlap(this.player, this.coins, (player, coin) => {
  coin.disableBody(true, true);              // deactivate + hide
  this.registry.inc('score', 10);
});

5. A group of moving objects

this.bullets = this.physics.add.group({
  defaultKey: 'bullet',
  maxSize: 30                  // pool size; reuse instead of allocating
});

fire(x, y) {
  const bullet = this.bullets.get(x, y);     // reuses a dead bullet if available
  if (!bullet) return;
  bullet.enableBody(true, x, y, true, true);
  bullet.setVelocityY(-500);
}

Pitfalls

Sprite ignores physics → it was added with
```
this.add.sprite
```
instead of
```
this.physics.add.sprite
```
(or
```
this.physics.add.existing(obj)
```
), so it has no body.
Setting
sprite.x
directly fights the engine → move dynamic bodies with
```
setVelocity
```
/
```
setAcceleration
```
. Direct position writes can tunnel through colliders.
Diagonal movement is faster → independent X and Y velocities add up; normalise the velocity vector and rescale to the intended speed.
Platforms get pushed by the player → use a
```
staticGroup
```
, or set
```
body.setImmovable(true)
```
on a dynamic platform.
onFloor()
is always false → the body needs something to collide with; add the
```
collider
```
against the ground/platforms before checking, and ensure gravity is on.
Moved a static body but collisions are stale → static bodies don't auto-sync; call
```
body.updateFromGameObject()
```
(or
```
refreshBody()
```
on the game object).
Collider added every frame → register
```
collider
```
/
```
overlap
```
once in
```
create
```
, not in
```
update
```
.

References

For body anatomy and tuning (drag, bounce, max velocity, custom
```
setSize
```
/
```
setCircle
```
/
```
setOffset
```
hitboxes, collision categories/masks, and
```
worldbounds
```
events), read
```
references/bodies-and-collision.md
```
.

Related skills

```
phaser-core
```
— game config, scenes, loader, cameras (the prerequisite setup).
```
physics-tuning
```
— engine-agnostic feel (fixed timestep, tunneling, jitter).
```
platformer
```
/
```
tower-defense
```
— genres that compose this skill.
```
level-design
```
— laying out tile/platform geometry these bodies collide with.

phaser-arcade-physics

NPX Install

Tags

SKILL.md Content