What causes GameMaker physics objects bouncing too much?

Both the object and the wall fixtures have nonzero restitution, and Box2D combines them so the effective bounciness is higher than either alone, making objects bounce more than intended.

How do I catch this when it only happens for some players?

Capture it automatically from the player's device with the full stack trace, the device and OS, the build, and a breadcrumb trail of what they did. That turns a vague complaint into a specific, reproducible issue you can fix without owning the hardware it happens on.

How to Fix GameMaker Physics Objects Bouncing Too Much

Quick answer: Lower restitution on the fixtures via physics_fixture_set_restitution, set it to zero on surfaces that should absorb impact, and account for both contacting fixtures.

In GameMaker, objects that bounce off walls far more than expected have restitution set on both the object and the surface, and Box2D combines the two. Reducing it on the right fixtures fixes it. Here is how.

How to fix it

1. Lower the fixture restitution

Use physics_fixture_set_restitution(fixture, value) with a small value (0 = no bounce, 1 = perfectly elastic). Remember the engine combines both contacting fixtures, so set it on the surface too.

2. Zero it on absorbing surfaces

For floors and walls meant to stop objects dead, set their restitution to 0 so no matter the object's value, the combined bounce stays low.

3. Check density and damping

If objects still feel too lively, raise linear/angular damping with the physics variables so energy bleeds off over time, complementing the restitution change.

Catching the ones you can't reproduce

The hardest version of this to fix is the one you can't reproduce — it only happens on a player's hardware, OS, driver, or save state, under conditions that simply aren't present on your machine. A report that says “it crashed” or “it froze” gives you nothing to act on, so the bug survives release after release while quietly costing you players.

Automatic error capture closes that gap. Each failure arrives with its full stack trace, the device and OS, the build number, and a breadcrumb trail of what the player did right before it broke, so even a failure you have never seen becomes a specific, reproducible issue. Fold identical failures into one signature ranked by how many players each hits, and your worklist sorts itself worst-first instead of arriving as a stream of vague complaints.

This is where a tool like Bugnet earns its place. Its SDK captures every GameMaker error automatically with the full stack trace plus device, OS, memory, build, and game-state context, folds duplicates into one grouped issue with an occurrence count, and ties each to the build it first appeared on — so you fix the problem that hurts the most players first and confirm it is gone when its signature disappears from the next release.

Reproduce it once with full context and the fix writes itself. The hunt is the expensive part.