# Access properties in combined meshes

> Use MaterialPropertyBlocks to change properties of combined meshes without breaking batching.

> **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](/engine/6000.6/manual/render-pipelines/universal-render-pipeline/introduction/installing-and-configuring-urp/upgrading-from-birp.md.md) and [Render pipeline feature comparison](/engine/6000.6/manual/render-pipelines/choose-a-render-pipeline/feature-comparison.md.md).

In the Built-in Render Pipeline, you can use a [MaterialPropertyBlock](/engine/6000.6/script-reference/unityengine/materialpropertyblock.md) to change material properties without breaking draw call batching. The CPU still needs to make some render-state changes, but using a `MaterialPropertyBlock` is faster than using multiple materials.

If your project uses a Scriptable Render Pipeline, don't use a `MaterialPropertyBlock` because they remove SRP Batcher compatibility for the material. Use different materials for the different properties instead.

> **Warning:**
>
> When you access shared material properties from a C# script, make sure to use [Renderer.sharedMaterial](/engine/6000.6/script-reference/unityengine/renderer/sharedmaterial.md) and not [Renderer.material](/engine/6000.6/script-reference/unityengine/renderer/material.md). `Renderer.material` creates a copy of the material and assigns the copy back to the Renderer. This stops Unity from batching the draw calls for that Renderer.

## Additional resources

* [Writing custom shaders in the Built-in Render Pipeline](/engine/6000.6/manual/materials-and-shaders/shaders/writing-shaders-birp.md)
* [Introduction to material properties](/engine/6000.6/manual/materials-and-shaders/shaders/writing-custom/shader-writing/writing-shader-change-properties/material-properties.md)