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# About Node Property Propagation

Learn which properties of a node affect its child nodes.

## Discussion

Changing certain properties on a node can propogate to its decendents:

|Property                                                                                                                                |Description                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    |
|----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|``doc://com.apple.spritekit/documentation/SpriteKit/SKNode/xScale``, ``doc://com.apple.spritekit/documentation/SpriteKit/SKNode/yScale``|The node’s coordinate system is scaled by these two factors. This property affects coordinate conversion, the node’s frame, drawing, and hit testing. Its descendants are similarly scaled.                                                                                    |
|``doc://com.apple.spritekit/documentation/SpriteKit/SKNode/zPosition``                                                                  |The node’s draw order. Nodes with a higher `zPosition` are rendered above nodes with a lower `zPosition`. This value propagates to its descendants such that a node’s `zPosition` is equal to that of its parent node, plus any value it holds in its own `zPosition` property.|
|``doc://com.apple.spritekit/documentation/SpriteKit/SKNode/zRotation``                                                                  |The node’s coordinate system is rotated. This property affects coordinate conversion, the node’s frame, drawing, and hit testing. Its descendants are similarly scaled.                                                                                                        |
|``doc://com.apple.spritekit/documentation/SpriteKit/SKNode/alpha``                                                                      |If the node is rendered using a blend mode, the alpha value is multiplied into any alpha value before the blend operation takes place. The descendants are similarly affected.                                                                                                 |
|``doc://com.apple.spritekit/documentation/SpriteKit/SKNode/isHidden``                                                                   |If a node is hidden, the node and its descendants are not rendered.                                                                                                                                                                                                            |
|``doc://com.apple.spritekit/documentation/SpriteKit/SKNode/speed``                                                                      |The speed at which a node processes actions is multiplied by this value. The descendants are similarly affected.                                                                                                                                                               |

The net effect is that a child node is rendered based not only on its own properties but also on the properties of its ancestors.

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