What's Simulation Space?

VFX Graph emitter property: Local or World. Local: particles transform with the system’s parent. World: particles spawn relative to spawn position but don’t follow afterward. For attached effects (sparks on a hand), pick Local; for trails (rocket exhaust), pick World.

Why does my hand-spark effect lag?

Simulation Space is World — sparks spawn at hand position but don’t move with the hand thereafter. Switch to Local so the whole particle system transforms with its parent.

Should I parent VFX to the moving object?

For Local space VFX, yes — the particle system inherits the parent transform. For World space, also yes for spawn position; particles then live in world space independent of the parent.

Fix: Unity VFX Graph System Position Not Following Target

Quick answer: Set the VFX Graph emitter’s Simulation Space to Local. Particles then transform with the parent each frame.

A flame effect attached to a player’s hand should move with the hand. Player walks; the flame stays at the original position while the player walks forward. Particles look fine relative to where they spawned, but the system doesn’t follow.

Simulation Space

VFX Graph emitter blocks have a Simulation Space property:

Local: particle positions are relative to the parent transform. The whole system moves with the parent.
World: particle positions are world-space. Once spawned, they live in world space; the parent moving doesn’t affect them.

For attached flames, Local is what you want. For falling sparks that should stay in world space, World.

The Fix

Open the VFX Graph asset. Click the emitter. In the Inspector, find the Initialize block’s Simulation Space (or the global System Simulation Space). Set to Local. Save the graph.

Initialize Particle:
  Simulation Space: Local

Particles now move with the parent transform. The VisualEffect GameObject should be a child of the moving entity.

World Space for Trails

For rocket exhaust trails:

Simulation Space: World.
Initial Velocity: relative to parent direction.

Trail particles spawn at the rocket’s current position but linger in world space, creating the visible trail.

Exposed Position for Decoupled Targets

If the effect can’t be a child of the target (cross-scene reference), expose a Vector3 property and update from script:

visualEffect.SetVector3("TargetPos", target.position);

In the graph, use this property to position the emitter. Tradeoff: per-frame property write costs more than Local space inheritance.

Verifying

Walk the player around. The flame should stay glued to the hand. Detach the VFX from the parent; flame stays in place. Reattach with Local space; follows correctly.

“Local for attached effects, World for trails. The choice maps directly to player perception.”

When in doubt, use Local — most game effects feel correct when attached to their source.