GetPathName

GetPathName is a member function used primarily within the Unreal Engine 4 and Unreal Engine 5 frameworks to retrieve the full package path of an UObject derived instance. The function returns a string that contains the object's path as registered in the Unreal package system, including the package name and the path to the object inside that package. For example, an actor stored in a level under the path /Game/Maps/ExampleLevel would return the string "/Game/Maps/ExampleLevel" when the Actor’s GetPathName is called.

The method is typically invoked on any object that inherits from UObject, enabling developers to examine or compare asset paths at runtime or during scripting. In editor tools, GetPathName is often used to generate unique identifiers for assets or to filter objects during batch processing. The resulting string is read‑only and is calculated from the asset reference stored in the UObject’s internal data, so it reflects the original location in the content browser, not the current runtime instance location.

GetPathName differs from GetName, which returns only the object's simple name without any package or folder information. It also differs from GetFullName, which includes the object's full type-qualified name. Because GetPathName is a C++ function, it can be called directly from native code or exposed to Blueprints where it appears as the node “Get Path Name.” The function’s signature in C++ is FString GetPathName() const.

In workflow automation and asset management scripts, GetPathName is valuable when resolving dependencies, resolving hard‑coded paths, or generating documentation that records asset locations. It is considered stable and backward compatible across Unreal Engine releases.