# Enable GPU instancing for a prebuilt material

> Make sure meshes and shaders are compatible with GPU instancing.

To enable GPU instancing for a [prebuilt materials](/engine/6000.3/manual/materials-and-shaders/built-in.md), follow these steps:

1. Select the material in the **Project** window.
2. In the **Advanced Options** section of the Editor window, enable **Enable GPU Instancing**.

> **Note:**
>
> If you use the Universal Render Pipeline (URP) or High Definition Render Pipeline (HDRP), the recommended best practice is to use the [SRP Batcher](/engine/6000.3/manual/analysis/graphics-performance-profiling/in-urp/reduce-draw-calls-urp/srpbatcher/srpbatcher.md) instead, which is enabled by default. GPU instancing works only if you [disable the SRP Batcher](/engine/6000.3/manual/analysis/graphics-performance-profiling/in-urp/reduce-draw-calls-urp/srpbatcher/srpbatcher-incompatible.md).

If multiple GameObjects use the same mesh and material, Unity now uses GPU instancing to render them in single draw calls. To check this, open the **Frame Debugger** and look for render passes called **Draw Mesh (Instanced)**.

If there's no **Enable GPU Instancing** property, the prebuilt shader doesn't support GPU instancing.

## Change the properties of instances

To change the properties of instances at runtime, for example to give each instance a different color or position, create a script to do the following:

1. Create a [MaterialPropertyBlock](/engine/6000.3/script-reference/unityengine/materialpropertyblock.md) with the property value for the instance.
2. Attach the script to the [Mesh Renderer](/engine/6000.3/manual/assets-and-media/asset-types/mesh/components-reference/class-mesh-renderer.md) component of the GameObject.

For more information, refer to [MaterialPropertyBlock](/engine/6000.3/script-reference/unityengine/materialpropertyblock.md).

## Create custom instances

To render multiple instances of a mesh in a script using GPU instancing, use one of the following APIs:

* [Graphics.RenderMeshInstanced](/engine/6000.3/script-reference/unityengine/graphics/rendermeshinstanced.md)
* [Graphics.RenderMeshIndirect](/engine/6000.3/script-reference/unityengine/graphics/rendermeshindirect.md)
* [Graphics.RenderMeshPrimitives](/engine/6000.3/script-reference/unityengine/graphics/rendermeshprimitives.md)

## Additional resources

* [Creating custom shaders that support GPU instancing in the Built-In Render Pipeline](/engine/6000.3/manual/analysis/graphics-performance-profiling/birp/gpu-instancing-shader.md)
* [Indirect & Procedural Rendering in Shader Graph](https://discussions.unity.com/t/indirect-procedural-rendering/1664601)