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Flip a Character Sprite in GDevelop: Set the Right Direction State

Use GDevelop’s horizontal Sprite flip action to change a character’s facing direction. Set flipping on for one direction and off for the other; handle movement separately.
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To make a GDevelop character face left or right, use the Sprite action Flip the sprite on the horizontal axis. Set flipping to Yes when the character should face left, and to No when it should face right. The common setup mistake is enabling the flip for one direction but never turning it off when the character changes direction. Flipping changes the image’s orientation; it does not move the character.

Set the horizontal flip in an event

  1. Open the event that handles the character’s leftward movement or facing direction.

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  2. Add the Sprite action Flip the sprite for your character object. Choose the horizontal axis (X).

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  3. Set Activate flipping to Yes for the direction in which the character should face left.

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  4. In the event that makes the character face right, use the same horizontal flip action and set Activate flipping to No.

  5. Set up movement in those events separately—for example, with the movement action or behavior your project uses—then run the scene and check both directions.

GDevelop’s Sprite documentation describes horizontal and vertical mirroring through the “Flip the sprite” actions. For left-and-right facing, horizontal flipping is the relevant choice; vertical flipping is for a different visual effect.

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Why the character can keep facing the wrong way

The flip action sets a state: it turns flipping on or turns it off. If an event activates the horizontal flip when the character faces left, a later right-facing event must deactivate it. Otherwise, the character can keep its mirrored appearance after changing direction. Set the intended state in each direction’s event rather than assuming movement will reset the image.

Also keep visual direction separate from movement logic. The flip action changes how the sprite is drawn; it does not by itself reverse a force, change a direction variable, or make the character travel the other way. GDevelop’s platformer tutorial illustrates this separation in an enemy example: its events change a direction variable, set the flip state, and apply a force as distinct operations. That example’s markers and force setup are specific to that enemy pattern, not requirements for a player character.

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Use the flipped state in other event logic

If another event needs to know which way the character is facing—for example, to aim a projectile or place an effect—use a flipped-state condition. GDevelop’s flippable-object reference documents conditions for checking whether an object is flipped. The same reference says the feature is available without adding the extension through Project Manager.

Event sheets or JavaScript events?

For a beginner using visual event sheets, the built-in flip action is the direct option. It makes the on/off state visible alongside the direction conditions and movement actions. If your project already uses JavaScript events, GDevelop’s JavaScript-events documentation shows the equivalent calls:

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  • player.flipX(true) activates horizontal flipping.

  • player.flipX(false) deactivates horizontal flipping.

Use one workflow or the other based on how your project is organized; both express the same directional state. If your character already has separate left- and right-facing animations, you may instead choose between those animations, but horizontal flipping is useful when the same artwork can serve both directions.

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Quick checks if it still looks wrong

GDevelop’s Objects documentation provides general context for objects controlled through events.

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