---
title: How to switch levels with a loading screen
product: Advanced Framework Pro
version: 2.0
engine: Unreal Engine 5.8
updated: 2026-11-01
canonical: https://docs.human-codeable.com/workflows/loading-screen-level-switch.html
---

# How to switch levels with a loading screen

Advanced Framework Pro switches levels with one call, **Loading Switch Level**, given the target `PDA_Level`. It fades every player to black, shows a loading transition while streaming maps load, and spawns the right pawn on arrival, in the editor, on a listen server and on clients alike. By the end of this you will have a button or trigger that takes the player to another level with a loading screen.

## At a glance

```
Target PDA_Level
├─ Streaming Maps       a non-empty list triggers the loading transition
├─ Transition Class     = BP_Transition_Default, or your BP_Transition subclass
└─ Min Transition Time  = 1–2 s
Any actor
└─ ML_Loading › Loading Switch Level   Level = target PDA_Level, Listen Server = true / false
Custom screen:   BP_Transition › Start Loading, Loading Finished
Current level:   FL_Loading › getLevelInfo
```

## Steps

1. Describe each level in a `PDA_Level`; see [How to create a new level](create-new-level.html).
2. On the target level's data asset, set **Transition Class** to `BP_Transition_Default`, or to your own subclass, and **Min Transition Time** to a second or two so fast loads do not flash.
3. List the level's streaming maps in **Streaming Maps**; a non-empty list is what triggers the loading transition.
4. From any actor, call **Loading Switch Level** (`ML_Loading`) with the target data asset. Pass **Listen Server** true when the host should keep the session open for others.
5. Test in the editor first, then in a packaged build, since the editor path opens the level directly while a build travels.

## Notes

`BP_Transition_Default` is a dark studio: a dome lit by `M_Loading_Backdrop`, with a fine grid and a soft pool of light under the player that both fade out with distance. `WBP_Loading` floats 1.5 m in front of the player, follows the camera's height and shows the target level's name, an animated sweep line and the word Loading. Its own post-process uses a fixed exposure, so the next level's auto-exposure cannot brighten it. The camera fades in over 0.6 s and out over 0.5 s.

For your own loading screen derive from `BP_Transition`, override **Start Loading** and **Loading Finished**, and name the class on the data asset. `AFS_Core_Loading` has no dependency on `AFS_UI`, so a transition of yours can use any widget.

Call `FL_Loading.getLevelInfo` from anywhere to find out which level data asset is active, without a hard reference.

Multiplayer

On a listen server the switch uses `servertravel`, so every client follows; the shipped game mode has seamless travel enabled.

**The switch does nothing in the editor?** Call the library; a hand-built travel URL keeps the play-in-editor prefix and fails.

`Map_Examples_Lobby` switches to every other example map through this system.