Static Objects

This guide explains how static objects (blocks, slopes, & spikes with hitboxes) work in Geometry Dash. It also goes over their Extra options, like Passable and NoTouch.

Guide made by Xplode09 and DangerChampion
Required Guide: Object Types
Easy difficulty
Tiny (1-2 Minutes)

Blocks

Outline Blocks

In this guide, we’ll explain how static objects - blocks, slopes, and (interactable) hazards - function. These objects have hitboxes that the player may interact with, making them essential to creating gameplay.

Blocks

Blocks are contained in the first and second tab of the editor. They are solid, meaning they can be stood on without death. However, if a player comes into contact on the sides or bottom, they will be killed. Their hitboxes are always a rectangle, being identical to how they appear visually.

Blocks, due to being a solid, cannot be rotated. The rotate trigger simply moves the block instead of also putting it at an angle.

There are four types of blocks:

The square

The slab

The small square (½ of the Square’s size)

The Small Slab (½ of the Slab’s size)

Outline Blocks

Outline Blocks act identically to blocks, but work better as a blank canvas for decoration, giving the player a clearer idea of what is and isn’t decorational.

They have many more variations than just a simple box, having a single line (which has a different hitbox), an L shape, the pillar blocks, and a corner piece. There are also three different thicknesses.

Other Blocks

Breakable Blocks get destroyed when approached from the side or the bottom. In Platformer mode, hitting it from the bottom bounces the player off of the block as if it has an H block on it, but in Classic mode they go through it.

Vanishing Blocks slowly fade away, reaching a near-zero opacity as they get closer to the center of the screen. This effect then reverses as it moves away. This is purely visual, and does not have an effect on how the player interacts with it. This opacity can change depending on whether “NoGlow” is ticked in the Edit Group’s Extra menu. For the examples below, NoGlow is disabled.

Some blocks also have different, more unconventional hitboxes.

Slopes

Slopes are located in the second and third tab of the editor. They, just like blocks, can be stood on, and will kill you if hit from the bottom or a side. However, they have a right-angled, triangular hitbox and appearance, with a hypotenuse as its surface.

Slopes, like blocks and all other solids, cannot be rotated.

There are only two types of slopes:

The 45° Slope:

The 22.5° Slope:

With that said however, you can technically create any angle you wish thanks to the new 2.2 scale and warp features.

Outline Slopes

Slopes also have outlines, although they have no thickness variations except on the corner pieces. They are still just as useful for decoration.

Due to the more specific shape of slopes, there are no variations in shape.

Vanishing Slopes

Vanishing Slopes do the exact same thing as Vanishing Blocks. The only difference is that they are a slope.

Spikes

Spikes are located in the fourth tab of the editor. They are hazards, killing the player upon contact. Their hitbox is rectangular, being elevated around ~¼ of the spike’s height.

Unlike blocks and slopes, spikes can be rotated, as it is not a solid; however, the slope spikes are an exception to this since they have a solid slope hitbox on them.

There are four types of spikes:

The Spike:

The Flat Spike:

The Small Spike (~⅔ of the Spike):

The Mini Spike (~½ of the Spike):

Unlike solids, spikes do not have outline objects. They can be recreated using the color spikes, but they are not a default object in the editor.

Ground Spikes

Ground Spikes are spikes made to be put on the ground. They are often used to catch the player, preventing skips while looking more natural in groups. They are more useful for decoration, but are still good to know about. Their hitboxes vary, and don’t follow the same conventions that traditional spikes do.

Other Spikes

Vanishing Spikes act the same way as any other Vanishing object.

Some of the spikes have slightly unconventional hitboxes.

Saws

Saws are located in the twelfth tab of the editor. Just like spikes, saws are hazards and kill the player upon contact. Instead of the spike’s rectangular hitbox, the saws’ hitboxes have a circular shape, usually extending (approximately) until the teeth.

Saws can also be rotated, - just like spikes - although it isn’t as noticeable since they spin anyway; however, it allows for custom rotations if you only make the saw spin.

There are three types of saws:

The small saw:

The medium saw:

The big saw:

Variations

Saws have a lot of variations - 8 of them, to be exact. These all share different hitboxes between each other. These differences need to be kept in mind when making gameplay (especially with the last one), since choosing the right saw can make a positive or negative impact on the gameplay.

Vanishing Saws also exist, having a blue button instead of a grey one. They do exactly what all other vanishing objects do - slowly fade away as they come nearer to the center of the screen.

These objects are a hybrid between saws and spikes. Despite being in the saws tab, looking like saws, and having the same circular hitboxes as them, they act more like spikes, due to having no automatic rotation.

These saws have incredibly unconventional hitboxes, so use them wisely.

Rotations

You can select a saw and click on Edit Special to give them a custom rotation. There are three options: the default rotation, which randomly fluctuates between a set of rotation speeds; the custom rotation which lets you input a specific rotation speed measured in degrees per second; and the disable rotation, which ceases all rotation on the block.

Object Options

In addition to these objects, you can modify their properties to your liking. To do this, select an object, click on Edit Group, and click on the Extra button to the right.

IceBlock gives blocks in Platformer an ice-like property, making acceleration much slower when the player attempts to do so on the block’s surface.

NoTouch removes the object’s hitbox completely, making it unable to be interacted with by the player.

GripSlope allows the player to stand still on a 45° slope, instead of sliding down it in Platformer.

Passable allows the player to pass through a block from the bottom, but still allows the players to stand on the block. You can move onto the top from below too.

Hide completely removes the visual appearance of an object. You can press F6 in the editor to show these hidden objects if needed.

NonStickX/NonStickY stops the player from sticking to moving blocks in Platformer.

DontBoostX/DontBoostY stops the player from being boosted by moving blocks.

ExtraSticky keeps the player stuck onto blocks moving downwards at higher speeds. This has a limit, however - moving too fast can still cause the player to stop sticking to the block.