Portals
Portals
Portals are a method of traveling to different worlds and instances. Portals can be present statically in worlds, or be 'dropped' by users.
Creating a Portal
A portal can be created by selecting a world on the World menu, choosing New Instance, followed by the instance type, and region that the instance should be hosted in. After this selection, a second screen will appear, with a button that says Drop Portal, and a Lock button next to it. Leaving it unlocked, allows any user to be able to see the portal; if the portal is locked, then the portal will only appear to your friends and yourself.
Dropping a Portal
Once the Drop Portal button is chosen, a visual marker appears to select the area where the portal will be placed. Ensure the Portal is on a flat surface, and is not intersecting with other world objects or players. To confirm placement of the portal, click the left mouse button, the trigger button, tap the screen, or pinch your thumb and index finger together, depending on which controller method is being used. A VR user can also switch hands while dropping a portal, by using the trigger opposite to the controller that is being prompted to drop the portal.
The portal will then appear to others, displaying the world name, the user who dropped the portal, region, instance number, instance type, the group hosting the instance (if applicable), instance capacity, platform compatibility, as well as a timer. The timer will count down from thirty to zero seconds. When the portal reaches zero seconds, the portal will disappear. The timer resets back to thirty seconds after a user enters the portal.
If a portal is leading to a world that is not compatible with a certain platform, then users seeing the portal from an incompatible platform will not be able to enter the instance. Instead, the portal will have a red "X" icon surrounding it. It is generally considered mindful to be aware of friends and acquaintances who may be on other platforms before going to another instance, so that they don't get left behind due to this.
Clicking on a Portal
When a portal is available, they can be clicked on, like other users. By opening up the Quick Menu, clicking on a portal's capsule will open up its world page, and instance information. This allows you to pre-load the world instance instead of walking into the portal, as well as browse its world download size, or favorite it.
Static Portals
Portals may appear pre-placed in worlds, leading to other worlds. These are called "static portals". When a user walks into a static portal, the portal will display a newly generated instance id. Within thirty seconds, any user may follow into that portal's instance. Static Portals do not disappear.
Portal Settings
A variety of settings are available to customize portals. These can be accessed by going to the Settings Menu, and typing portal in the Search bar.
- Portal Prompt - Toggles the requirement for input confirmation from a controller before entering a portal.
- Portal Mode - Place Manually, Drop in Front.
- Place Manually lets a user control where their portal is dropped.
- Drop In Front causes the portal to instantaneously spawn in front of the user.
- Show Portal Notifications - Notifications will appear on your HUD when a portal is dropped.
- Only Show Friend Join/Leave/Portal Notifications - This toggle will restrict portal notifications to only show when friends drop a portal.
Portals in the SDK
World authors can add portals to their world via the VRC Portal Marker prefab from the VRChat SDK. It is located in Packages/com.vrchat.worlds/Samples/UdonExampleScene/Prefabs/VRCPortalMarker.prefab. It allows a world ID along with an optional custom portal name. Alternatively the Portal Marker may point to the official VRChat Hub or Home world instead.
VRC Portal Marker scripts can be updated dynamically through Udon.
