Quality settings tab reference

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To configure the levels of graphical quality that Unity uses to render your project for different platforms, go to Edit > Project Settings > Quality.

A higher quality usually results in a lower frame rate. It’s best to use lower quality on mobile devices and older platforms, to avoid having a detrimental effect on gameplay.

The Quality tab contains the following sections:

• A: The matrix of quality levels and build platforms in this project.
• B: The active build platform.
• C: The active quality level.
• D: The configuration of the active quality level.

Quality levels matrix

Property	Description
Levels	Lists the quality levels in the project, and the platforms they apply to when Unity builds your project. To make a quality level active in the Editor and the configuration section, select it to highlight it. To apply a quality level to a build platform, enable the checkbox under the platform. To rename a level, under Current Active Quality Level, select Name. To delete a quality level, select the trashcan icon next to the quality level.
Default	Sets the default quality level for each platform. The checkbox for the default platform displays green.
Add Quality Level	Adds a quality level by duplicating the highlighted quality level.

Configuration section

The configuration section contains the following sections:

• Rendering
• TexturesAn image used when rendering a GameObject, Sprite, or UI element. Textures are often applied to the surface of a mesh to give it visual detail. More info
  See in Glossary
• ParticlesA small, simple image or mesh that is emitted by a particle system. A particle system can display and move particles in great numbers to represent a fluid or amorphous entity. The effect of all the particles together creates the impression of the complete entity, such as smoke. More info
  See in Glossary
• TerrainThe landscape in your scene. A Terrain GameObject adds a large flat plane to your scene and you can use the Terrain’s Inspector window to create a detailed landscape. More info
  See in Glossary
• ShadowsA UI component that adds a simple outline effect to graphic components such as Text or Image. It must be on the same GameObject as the graphic component. More info
  See in Glossary
• Async Asset Upload
• Level of DetailThe Level Of Detail (LOD) technique is an optimization that reduces the number of triangles that Unity has to render for a GameObject when its distance from the Camera increases. More info
  See in Glossary
• Meshes

Rendering

Property	Description
Render PipelineA series of operations that take the contents of a Scene, and displays them on a screen. Unity lets you choose from pre-built render pipelines, or write your own. More info See in Glossary	Sets the Render Pipeline Asset to use at this quality level.
PixelThe smallest unit in a computer image. Pixel size depends on your screen resolution. Pixel lighting is calculated at every screen pixel. More info See in Glossary Light Count	Sets the maximum number of per-pixel lights if you use a forward rendering pathThe technique that a render pipeline uses to render graphics. Choosing a different rendering path affects how lighting and shading are calculated. Some rendering paths are more suited to different platforms and hardware than others. More info See in Glossary. For more information, refer to Per-pixel and per-vertex lights.
Anti Aliasing	Smooths edges using multisample anti-aliasing (MSAA). The higher the antialiasingA technique for decreasing artifacts, like jagged lines (jaggies), in images to make them appear smoother. See in Glossary level, the smoother the appearance of the edges of polygons, but the more processing time needed on the GPU. MSAA is supported only in forward rendering paths. For the dropdown options, refer to Anti Aliasing dropdown.
Realtime Reflection Probes	Indicates whether to update reflection probesA rendering component that captures a spherical view of its surroundings in all directions, rather like a camera. The captured image is then stored as a Cubemap that can be used by objects with reflective materials. More info See in Glossary at runtime.
Resolution Scaling Fixed DPI Factor	Increases or decreases the screen resolution of the device. For more information, refer to Android Player settings and iOS Player settings.
VSyncVertical synchronization (VSync) is a display setting that caps a game’s frame rate to match the refresh rate of a monitor, to prevent image tearing. See in Glossary Count	Synchronizes rendering with the refresh rate of the display device to avoid tearing artifacts. For the dropdown options, refer to VSync Count dropdown.
Realtime GI CPU Usage	Controls how much CPU capacity Unity can use to calculate Enlighten Realtime Global Illumination. Higher settings make the system react faster to changes in lighting. For more information, refer to Realtime GI CPU Usage dropdown This property is available in the Quality window only if your project uses the Universal Render Pipeline (URP) or the High Definition Render Pipeline (HDRP). For the Built-In Render Pipeline, refer to graphics settings.

Anti Aliasing dropdown

Value	Description
Disabled	Disables MSAA.
2x Multi Sampling	Samples twice per pixel.
4x Multi Sampling	Samples four times per pixel.
8x Multi Sampling	Samples eight times per pixel.

VSync Count dropdown

Value	Description
Don’t Sync	Disables synchronizing rendering with the display device.
Every V Blank	Synchronizes rendering so that Unity switches frames every time the display isn’t updating.
Every Second V Blank	Synchronizes rendering so that Unity switches frames every second time the display isn’t updating.

Realtime GI CPU Usage dropdown

Value	Description
Low	Limits EnlightenA lighting system by Geomerics used in Unity for Enlighten Realtime Global Illumination. More info See in Glossary Realtime Global IlluminationA group of techniques that model both direct and indirect lighting to provide realistic lighting results. See in Glossary to a low amount of CPU capacity.
Medium	Limits Enlighten Realtime Global Illumination to a medium amount of CPU capacity.
High	Limits Enlighten Realtime Global Illumination to a high amount of CPU capacity.
Unlimited	Uses no CPU capacity limit for Enlighten Realtime Global Illumination. Note: Some platforms have their own limit on how many CPU threads or cores Unity can use. For example, Android might limit Unity to one less than the total number of CPUs, or to only little CPUs on devices with big/little CPUs. For more information, refer to Android thread configuration

Textures

Property	Description
Global Mipmap Limit	Limits the mipmap resolution level that Unity uses when it renders textures. To use lower resolutions that require less GPU memory and processing time, set this property to a higher mipmap level. For the dropdown options, refer to Global Mipmap Limit dropdown. This property only affects textures with a texture shape of 2D or 2D Array.
Mipmap Limit Groups	Lists the custom groups that you can add textures to so they override the Global Mipmap Limit. Use Mipmap Limit Groups to allocate more memory for important textures, and less memory for less important textures. For more information, refer to Mipmap Limit Groups properties This property affects only textures with a texture shape of 2D or 2D Array.
Anisotropic Textures	Controls which textures use anisotropic filtering, which improves the visual quality when you view a texture at a steep angle. Anisotropic filtering increases rendering time. For dropdown options, refer to Anisotropic Textures dropdown.
Mipmap Streaming	Limits the size of textures in GPU memory by using mipmap streaming. Disable this setting to reduce processing time. For dropdown options, refer to Mipmap Streaming dropdown.

Global Mipmap Limit dropdown

For more information about mipmaps and mipmap limits, refer to Mipmaps.

Value	Description
0: Full Resolution	Uses no limit for texture resolution. Unity can use mipmap level 0, which is the full resolution of the texture.
1: Half Resolution	Limits the highest resolution to mipmap level 1, which is half resolution.
2: Quarter Resolution	Limits the highest resolution to mipmap level 2, which is quarter resolution.
3: Eighth Resolution	Limits the highest resolution to mipmap level 3, which is eighth resolution.

Mipmap Limit Groups properties

To create a new group, select the Add (+) button. To delete a group, select the Remove (−) button. If you delete a group, a dialog appears that checks if you want to remove the textures from the group and reimport them. You can’t undo this.

The dropdown for each group contains the following options.

Group property	Description
Offset Global Mipmap Limit: –3	Allows the textures in this group to use eight times the resolution of Global Mipmap Limit. This results in Unity using higher resolution textures and more memory. For example, if Global Mipmap Limit is 3: Eighth Resolution, Unity limits this group of textures to 0: Full Resolution.
Offset Global Mipmap Limit: –2	Allows the textures in this group to use four times the resolution of Global Mipmap Limit.
Offset Global Mipmap Limit: –1	Allows the textures in this group to use two times the resolution of Global Mipmap Limit.
Use Global Mipmap Limit	Uses Global Mipmap Limit for the textures in this group.
Offset Global Mipmap Limit: +1	Limits the textures in this group to half the resolution of Global Mipmap Limit. This results in Unity using lower resolution textures and less memory. For example, if Global Mipmap Limit is 1: Half Resolution, Unity limits this group of textures to 2: Quarter Resolution.
Offset Global Mipmap Limit: +2	Limits the textures in this group to a quarter of the resolution of Global Mipmap Limit.
Offset Global Mipmap Limit: +3	Limits the textures in this group to an eighth of the resolution of Global Mipmap Limit.
Override Global Mipmap Limit: Full Resolution	Limits the textures in this group to mipmap level 0, which is full resolution.
Override Global Mipmap Limit: Half Resolution	Limits the textures in this group to mipmap level 1, which is half resolution.
Override Global Mipmap Limit: Quarter Resolution	Limits the textures in this group to mipmap level 2, which is quarter resolution.
Override Global Mipmap Limit: Eighth Resolution	Limits the textures in this group to mipmap level 3, which is eighth resolution.

Open the More (⋮) menu for additional properties.

Additional property	Description
Identify textures	Selects all the textures that belong to the group in the Project window. For more information about adding textures to a Mipmap Limit Group, refer to Texture Import Settings window reference.
Duplicate Group	Duplicate the group.
Rename Group	Rename the group. If you rename a group, a dialog appears that checks if you want to reassign the textures from the old group to the new group, and reimport them. You can’t undo this.

Anisotropic Textures dropdown

For more detail about anisotropic texture filtering levels, refer to the Texture-anisoLevel API.

Value	Description
Disabled	Disables anisotropic filtering.
Per Texture	Uses the Aniso LevelThe anisotropic filtering (AF) level of a texture. Allows you to increase texture quality when viewing a texture at a steep angle. Good for floor and ground textures. More info See in Glossary each texture is set to in its texture import settings.
Forced On	Uses anisotropic filtering for all textures.

Mipmap Streaming dropdown

Property	Description
Add All Cameras	Indicates whether to use mipmap streaming for all active cameras in the project. If you disable this setting, Unity calculates mipmap streaming only for cameras that have a Streaming Controller component. For more information, refer to Configure mipmap streaming.
Memory Budget	Limits the total amount of memory for loaded textures, in MB. The default is 512 MB. For more information, refer to Set the memory budget for textures.
Renderers Per Frame	Limits how many renderers mipmap streaming processes per frame. A lower number decreases the processing time on the CPU, but increases texture loading times. The default is 512.
Max Level Reduction	Sets the number of mipmap levels that the mipmap streaming system can discard if it reaches the Memory Budget. The default is 2. This value is also the mipmap level that the mipmap streaming system initially loads at startup. For example, when Max Level Reduction is set to 2, Unity skips mipmap level 0 and 1 on first load. For more information, refer to Set the memory budget for textures.
Max IO Requests	Limits the maximum number of file requests the mipmap streaming system makes at any one time. Lower values avoid the system trying to load too many textures if the sceneA Scene contains the environments and menus of your game. Think of each unique Scene file as a unique level. In each Scene, you place your environments, obstacles, and decorations, essentially designing and building your game in pieces. More info See in Glossary changes quickly, but reduce how quickly the system reacts to texture changes. The default is 1024, which is high enough to prevent any limit outside the Async Upload pipeline and the file system itself.

Particles

Property	Description
Soft Particles	Indicates whether to fade particles as they approach the edges of opaque GameObjectsThe fundamental object in Unity scenes, which can represent characters, props, scenery, cameras, waypoints, and more. A GameObject’s functionality is defined by the Components attached to it. More info See in Glossary. For more information, refer to Soft particlesParticles that create semi-transparent effects like smoke, fog or fire. Soft particles fade out as they approach an opaque object, to prevent intersections with the geometry. More info See in Glossary. This property is only available if your project uses the Built-In Render Pipeline. For the Universal Render Pipeline, refer to Universal Render Pipeline asset reference for URP.
Particle Raycast Budget	Sets the maximum number of raycasts to use for particle systemA component that simulates fluid entities such as liquids, clouds and flames by generating and animating large numbers of small 2D images in the scene. More info See in Glossary collisions if CollisionA collision occurs when the physics engine detects that the colliders of two GameObjects make contact or overlap, when at least one has a Rigidbody component and is in motion. More info See in Glossary Quality is set to Medium or Low. For more information, refer to Particle collisions.

Terrain

Property	Description
BillboardsA textured 2D object that rotates so that it always faces the Camera. More info See in Glossary Face CameraA component which creates an image of a particular viewpoint in your scene. The output is either drawn to the screen or captured as a texture. More info See in Glossary Position	Enable this option to force billboards to face the camera while rendering instead of the camera plane. This produces a better, more realistic image, but is more expensive to render.
Use Legacy Details Distribution	Enable this option to use the previously supported scattering algorithm that often resulted in overlapping details. Included for backward compatibility with Terrains authored in Unity 2022.1 and earlier.
Terrain Setting Overrides	Various override settings that, when enabled, override the value of all active terrains (except those with the “Ignore Quality Settings” setting enabled). For more information about these settings, see Terrain Settings.
Pixel Error	Value set to Terrain Pixel Error. See Terrain Settings.
Base Map Dist.	Value set to Terrain Basemap Distance. See Terrain Settings.
Detail Density Scale	Value set to Terrain Density Scale. See Terrain Settings.
Detail Distance	Value set to Terrain Detail Distance. See Terrain Settings.
Tree Distance	Value set to Terrain Tree Distance. See Terrain Settings.
Billboard Start	Value set to Terrain Billboard Start. See Terrain Settings.
Fade Length	Value set to Terrain Fade Length. See Terrain Settings.
Max MeshThe main graphics primitive of Unity. Meshes make up a large part of your 3D worlds. Unity supports triangulated or Quadrangulated polygon meshes. Nurbs, Nurms, Subdiv surfaces must be converted to polygons. More info See in Glossary Trees	Value set to Terrain Max Mesh Trees. See Terrain Settings.

Shadows

Property	Description
ShadowmaskA Texture that shares the same UV layout and resolution with its corresponding lightmap. More info See in Glossary Mode	Controls when Unity uses baked shadows and real-time shadows if you set Lighting Mode to Shadowmask. For the dropdown options, refer to Shadowmask mode dropdown.

The following properties are only available if your project uses the Built-In Render Pipeline. For the Universal Render Pipeline, refer to Universal Render Pipeline asset reference for URP.

Property	Description
Shadows	Identifies whether to render soft or hard shadows, or no shadows.
Shadow Resolution	Controls the visual fidelity of shadows. The higher the resolution, the greater the processing overhead, and the memory used on the GPU.
Shadow Projection	Controls the quality and stability of shadows from the directional light. For the dropdown settings, refer to Shadows Projection dropdown.
Shadow Distance	Sets the distance away from the camera where Unity no longer renders shadows, in meters.
Shadow Near Plane Offset	Sets how far to pull back the near clip plane of a shadow map. Use this setting to fix distorted shadows cast by large triangles. For more information, refer to Shadow pancaking.
Shadow Cascades	Choose the number of shadow cascades to use. A higher number of shadow cascades results in higher-quality shadows but a longer processing time. For more information, refer to Shadow cascades.
Cascade splits	Controls the distance where each shadow cascade starts and ends. To adjust the distances, select and drag the vertical lines between each pair of cascades. This property is only available if you set Shadow Cascades to Two Cascades or Four Cascades. For more information, refer to Shadow cascades.

Shadowmask mode dropdown

For more information, refer to Lighting Mode.

Value	Description
Shadowmask	Casts baked shadows from static GameObjects at all distances.
Distance ShadowmaskA version of the Shadowmask lighting mode that includes high quality shadows cast from static GameObjects onto dynamic GameObjects. More info See in Glossary	Casts baked shadows only from static GameObjects beyond the distance set in Shadow Distance. Other GameObjects cast real-time shadows.

Shadows Projection dropdown

Value	Description
Close Fit	Renders higher resolution shadows that might sometimes wobble slightly if the camera moves.
Stable Fit	Renders lower resolution shadows that don’t wobble.

Async Asset Upload

For more information about the asynchronous upload pipeline, refer to Texture and mesh loading.

Property	Description
Time Slice	Sets the amount of CPU time in ms per frame Unity spends uploading buffered texture and mesh data to the GPU.
Buffer Size	Sets the size in MB of the asynchronous upload buffer Unity uses to stream texture and mesh data to the GPU.
Persistent Buffer	Indicates whether the upload buffer persists when there’s nothing left to upload.

Level of Detail

For more information, refer to Simplifying distant meshes with level of detail (LOD).

Property	Description
LOD Bias	Adjusts the detail level of GameObjects by scaling the distances where Unity transitions between different level of detail (LOD) meshes. A LOD Bias value between 0 and 1 results in Unity selecting lower-quality LODs at closer distances than normal. A value of 1 or more results in Unity selecting lower-quality LODs at farther distances than normal, so GameObjects retain higher quality for longer. For example, if you set LOD Bias to 2, a transition to a lower-quality LOD level that usually happens at 50% distance now happens at 25% distance (50% / 2 = 25%).
Maximum LOD Level	Sets the lowest LOD level the project uses. Unity removes LOD meshes below the Maximum LOD level from the build, which makes the build smaller, and reduces memory use at runtime. If you have different quality levels that use different Maximum LOD Level values, Unity uses the smallest value. For example, if any quality level uses a Maximum LOD Level of 0, Unity includes all LOD levels in the build.
LOD Cross Fade	Smooths the transition between LOD meshes by fading between two LOD levels using a dithering pattern. This property is only available if your project uses the Built-In Render Pipeline. For the Universal Render Pipeline, refer to Universal Render Pipeline asset reference for URP.

Meshes

Property	Description
Skin Weights	Sets the number of bones that can affect a vertex during an animation. For more information, refer to Skinned Mesh Renderer component reference.