Unity has several preset levels of Quality settings and you might add more to your project. To accommodate different hardware specifications, you can switch between these levels and the associated URP Asset from C# scriptsA piece of code that allows you to create your own Components, trigger game events, modify Component properties over time and respond to user input in any way you like. More info
See in Glossary. The following examples show how to use API to change Quality setting levels and the active URP Asset, and how to change specific settings in the URP Asset at runtime.
Note: You should only change Quality settings and URP Asset settings at runtime at points where performance is not essential, such as during loading screens or on static menus. This is because these changes cause a temporary but significant performance impact.
Each quality level uses a URP Asset to control many of the specific graphics settings. You can assigning different URP Assets to each quality level and switch between them at runtime.
To use Quality settings to switch between URP Assets, ensure that the quality levels of your project are configured to use different URP Assets. The URP 3D Sample 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 has this configuration by default.
Create a URP Asset for each quality level. To do this, right-click in the Project window and select Create > Rendering > URP Asset (with Universal Renderer).
Note: These instructions are also valid for URP Assets that use the 2D Renderer.
Configure and name the new URP Assets as necessary.
Open the Quality section in the Project Settings (Edit > Project Settings > Quality).
Assign each URP Asset to a quality level. To do this, select a quality level from the Levels list, then go to Rendering > Render Pipeline Asset and choose the URP Asset you created for this quality level. Do this for each quality level.
The quality levels of your project are now ready to be used to change between URP Assets at runtime.
You can change the quality level Unity uses at runtime through the QualitySettings API. With the quality levels setup as shown previously, this enables you to switch between URP Assets as well as Quality settings presets.
In the following simple example, the C# script uses the system’s total Graphics Memory to determine the appropriate quality level without any input from the user when they open the built project.
Create a new C# script with the name QualityControls.
Open the QualityControls script and add the SwitchQualityLevel
method to the QualityControls
class.
using System.Collections; using System.Collections.Generic; using UnityEngine; public class QualityControls : MonoBehaviour { void Start() { } private void SwitchQualityLevel() { } }
Add a switch
statement in the SwitchQualityLevel
method to select the quality level with the QualitySettings.SetQualityLevel()
method as shown below.
Note: Each Quality level has an index that matches the level’s position in the list in the Quality section of the Project Settings window. The quality level at the top of the list has an index of 0. This index only counts quality levels which you specified as enabled for the target platform of any built version of your project.
using System.Collections; using System.Collections.Generic; using UnityEngine; public class QualityControls : MonoBehaviour { void Start() { } private void SwitchQualityLevel() { // Select Quality settings level (URP Asset) based on the size of the device's graphics memory switch (SystemInfo.graphicsMemorySize) { case <= 2048: QualitySettings.SetQualityLevel(1); break; case <= 4096: QualitySettings.SetQualityLevel(2); break; default: QualitySettings.SetQualityLevel(0); break; } } }
Add a call to the SwitchQualityLevel
method in the Start
method. This ensures that the quality level only changes when the scene first loads.
using System.Collections; using System.Collections.Generic; using UnityEngine; public class QualityControls : MonoBehaviour { void Start() { SwitchQualityLevel(); } private void SwitchQualityLevel() { // Select Quality settings level (URP Asset) based on the size of the device's graphics memory switch (SystemInfo.graphicsMemorySize) { case <= 2048: QualitySettings.SetQualityLevel(1); break; case <= 4096: QualitySettings.SetQualityLevel(2); break; default: QualitySettings.SetQualityLevel(0); break; } } }
Open the first scene that your built project loads on startup.
Create an empty GameObjectThe 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 and call it QualityController. To do this, right-click in the Hierarchy Window and select Create Empty.
Open the QualityController object in the InspectorA Unity window that displays information about the currently selected GameObject, asset or project settings, allowing you to inspect and edit the values. More info
See in Glossary.
Add the QualityControls script to the QualityController as a component.
Now when this scene loads, Unity runs the SwitchQualityLevel
method in the QualityControls script which detects the system’s total graphics memory and sets the quality level. The quality level sets the URP Asset as the active 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 Asset.
You can create more complex systems and sequences of checks to determine which quality level to use, but the fundamental process remains the same. When the project starts, run a script which uses QualitySettings.SetQualityLevel
to select a quality level and through that select the URP Asset for the project to use at runtime.
Did you find this page useful? Please give it a rating:
Thanks for rating this page!
What kind of problem would you like to report?
Thanks for letting us know! This page has been marked for review based on your feedback.
If you have time, you can provide more information to help us fix the problem faster.
Provide more information
You've told us this page needs code samples. If you'd like to help us further, you could provide a code sample, or tell us about what kind of code sample you'd like to see:
You've told us there are code samples on this page which don't work. If you know how to fix it, or have something better we could use instead, please let us know:
You've told us there is information missing from this page. Please tell us more about what's missing:
You've told us there is incorrect information on this page. If you know what we should change to make it correct, please tell us:
You've told us this page has unclear or confusing information. Please tell us more about what you found unclear or confusing, or let us know how we could make it clearer:
You've told us there is a spelling or grammar error on this page. Please tell us what's wrong:
You've told us this page has a problem. Please tell us more about what's wrong:
Thank you for helping to make the Unity documentation better!
Your feedback has been submitted as a ticket for our documentation team to review.
We are not able to reply to every ticket submitted.
When you visit any website, it may store or retrieve information on your browser, mostly in the form of cookies. This information might be about you, your preferences or your device and is mostly used to make the site work as you expect it to. The information does not usually directly identify you, but it can give you a more personalized web experience. Because we respect your right to privacy, you can choose not to allow some types of cookies. Click on the different category headings to find out more and change our default settings. However, blocking some types of cookies may impact your experience of the site and the services we are able to offer.
More information
These cookies enable the website to provide enhanced functionality and personalisation. They may be set by us or by third party providers whose services we have added to our pages. If you do not allow these cookies then some or all of these services may not function properly.
These cookies allow us to count visits and traffic sources so we can measure and improve the performance of our site. They help us to know which pages are the most and least popular and see how visitors move around the site. All information these cookies collect is aggregated and therefore anonymous. If you do not allow these cookies we will not know when you have visited our site, and will not be able to monitor its performance.
These cookies may be set through our site by our advertising partners. They may be used by those companies to build a profile of your interests and show you relevant adverts on other sites. They do not store directly personal information, but are based on uniquely identifying your browser and internet device. If you do not allow these cookies, you will experience less targeted advertising. Some 3rd party video providers do not allow video views without targeting cookies. If you are experiencing difficulty viewing a video, you will need to set your cookie preferences for targeting to yes if you wish to view videos from these providers. Unity does not control this.
These cookies are necessary for the website to function and cannot be switched off in our systems. They are usually only set in response to actions made by you which amount to a request for services, such as setting your privacy preferences, logging in or filling in forms. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not then work. These cookies do not store any personally identifiable information.