C2238: Unexpected Token(s) Preceding ‘;’ in Unreal Engine 5 (UE5 C++) – What It Means & How to Fix It

---

🧠 Why You’re Seeing This Error

The C2238 error means there’s something before a semicolon that doesn’t belong there — often a malformed declaration or stray symbol.

In Unreal Engine 5, this often happens when:

• You forget to fully declare a variable (e.g., missing a type or name)
• You accidentally type extra characters like commas or operators
• You copy-paste Unreal macros or UPROPERTY() lines but forget to complete them
• You have mismatched parentheses, angle brackets, or templates

---

💥 Example Error Message

error C2238: unexpected token(s) preceding ';'

---

🛠️ Example Code

UCLASS()
class AMyActor : public AActor
{
    GENERATED_BODY()

    int32 ; // ❌ C2238: unexpected token(s) preceding ';'
};

---

✅ How to Fix C2238 UE5 – Step-by-Step

---

✔️ 1. Make Sure All Variable Declarations Include a Name

Fix:

int32 Health; // ✅ Valid variable declaration

---

✔️ 2. Avoid Stray Semicolons After Templates or Macros

Wrong:

TArray<>; // ❌ Missing type inside angle brackets

Fix:

TArray Values; // ✅ Proper declaration

---

✔️ 3. Check Copy-Pasted UPROPERTY / UFUNCTION Lines

Wrong:

UPROPERTY() int32; // ❌ Missing variable name

Fix:

UPROPERTY() int32 Score; // ✅ Valid property declaration

---

✔️ 4. Check for Dangling Commas, Parentheses, or Brackets

Sometimes, the problem is not in the line with the error but the line right before it.

Wrong:

int32 Health,
; // ❌ C2238: stray comma before semicolon

Fix:

int32 Health; // ✅

---

✅ Summary: How to Fix C2238 in UE5

Cause	Solution
Missing variable name	Add name after type (int32 Health;)
Broken template	Fill in template params (TArray<int32>)
Stray characters before ;	Remove extra commas, operators, etc.
Copy-paste errors from macros	Complete the line after UPROPERTY, etc.
Invalid declaration format	Always include both type and name