Shader block in ShaderLab reference

Important: The Built-In Render Pipeline is deprecated and will be made obsolete in a future release.
It remains supported, including bug fixes and maintenance, through the full Unity 6.7 LTS lifecycle.
For more information on migration, refer to Migrating from the Built-In Render Pipeline to the Universal Render Pipeline and Render pipeline feature comparison.

A ShaderA program that runs on the GPU. More info
See in Glossary object is a Unity-specific concept; it is a wrapper for shader programs and other information. It lets you define multiple shader programs in the same file, and tell Unity how to use them.

A Shader objectAn instance of the Shader class, a Shader object is container for shader programs and GPU instructions, and information that tells Unity how to use them. Use them with materials to determine the appearance of your scene. More info
See in Glossary has a nested structure; it organizes information into structures called SubShaders and Passes.

Inside the Shader block, you can:

Define material properties, using the Properties block. See ShaderLab: defining material properties.
Define one or more SubShaders, using the SubShader block. See ShaderLab: defining a SubShader.
Assign a custom editor, which determines how the shader asset appears in the Unity Editor. Optionally, you can assign different custom editors for different render pipelinesA 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. See ShaderLab: assigning custom editors.
Assign a fallback Shader object, using the Fallback block. See ShaderLab: assigning a fallback.

Render pipeline compatibility

Feature name	Universal Render Pipeline (URP)	High Definition Render Pipeline (HDRP)	Custom SRP	Built-in Render Pipeline
ShaderLab: Shader block	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes

Syntax

Signature	Function
`Shader "<name>"` `{` `<optional: Material properties>` `<One or more SubShader definitions>` `<optional: custom editor>` `<optional: fallback>` `}`	Defines a Shader object with a given name.

Additional resources

Define a Shader object in ShaderLab

Shader in ShaderLab reference

Properties block reference in ShaderLab