---
title: "Face where the pointer is: API"
package: "@phaser-ae/aim-3d"
tier: Free
version: 3.0.0-3
released: 2026-10-14
updated: 2026-10-19
description: "Turns 3D objects to face the spot the pointer marks in the world, through the full circle and up or down, for turrets, twin-stick ships, heads and click-to-move characters."
url: https://phaser.io/packs/aim-3d/api
site: Phaser - https://phaser.io
---

# Face where the pointer is: API

`@phaser-ae/aim-3d` — An object turns to face the spot the pointer lands on in the world — through the full 360°, in front of it or behind it.

## The pack

### `aim3d`

```ts
function aim3d(opts: AimOptions = {}): Pack<{ aim: Aim3dApi }>
```

The `aim-3d` pack: objects turn to face where the pointer meets the world. Requires a 3D world.
Headless, or any step where the pointer resolves to nothing, every object holds its facing.

## Types

### `Aim3dApi`

```ts
interface Aim3dApi
```

`game.aim`.

- `add(h: Handle, opts?: AimOptions): void` — Keep `h` facing the aim point every step. Calling it again re-options it.
- `remove(h: Handle): void` — Stop aiming `h`. It keeps the facing it has.
- `has(h: Handle): boolean` — Is `h` aiming?
- `at: { x: number; y: number; z: number } | null` — Aim at this world point instead of the pointer. Set it back to null to follow the pointer again — which is how a game shares one control between mouse and a gamepad-driven cursor or an AI target.
- `readonly point: { x: number; y: number; z: number } | null` — Where the pointer last resolved to, or null if it resolved to nothing. Read-only.
- `enabled: boolean` — Take the whole pack off and on.
- `readonly count: number` — How many objects are aiming.

### `AimOptions`

```ts
interface AimOptions
```

How one object aims.

- `surface?: AimSurface` — The surface the pointer resolves onto. `'self'` (default) is the horizontal plane through the object, so it aims level at things at its own height; `'ground'` is y = 0, for a character walking to the spot under the cursor; `'view'` is a sphere `range` from the camera, which is the only one that can put the point ABOVE the object and so the only one that aims over the full hemisphere.
- `range?: number` — How far from the camera the `'view'` sphere sits, in world units. Default 20. Ignored otherwise.
- `turnRate?: number` — Radians per second the facing may change. Default 0 — snap straight to it. A real character turns: 6 to 10 is brisk, 2 to 3 is heavy. The turn always takes the SHORT way round.
- `tilt?: boolean` — Pitch toward the point as well as turning. Defaults to true for `'view'`, where looking up is the whole point, and false for the flat surfaces, where it would only ever tip a walking character.
- `up?: number` — How far it may look UP, radians, as a positive angle. Default π/2 — the full hemisphere. A turret with a mount, or a head on a neck, wants a good deal less. Named for what a person means rather than for the sign: pitch is POSITIVE DOWN in this engine, so `up` clamps pitch at `−up` and `down` clamps it at `+down`. Every rig here that took `minPitch` and `maxPitch` made somebody work that out first.
- `down?: number` — How far it may look DOWN, radians, as a positive angle. Default π/2.
- `offset?: number` — Added to the computed yaw, radians. Default 0 — for a model built facing something other than +z.
- `deadZone?: number` — Hold the facing while the point is nearer than this, in world units. Default 0.05.

### `AimSurface`

```ts
type AimSurface = 'self' | 'ground' | 'view'
```

Which surface the pointer's ray is met with to give it a position — and so how much of the sphere the
object can aim over. `'self'` and `'ground'` are horizontal planes and aim FLAT; `'view'` is a sphere
around the camera and aims over the full hemisphere, up and down included.

---

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