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Set the render pipeline and render order for a shader

Use a Tag statement to set the render pipeline and render order for a shader.
Read time 3 minutesLast updated a month ago
To set the render pipeline and render order for a subshader or a shader pass, add a 
Tag
block.

Add a tag

Add a 
Tag
block to a 
SubShader
block or a 
Pass
block. For example:
Shader "TagsExample"{    SubShader    {        // Add a subshader tag        Tags { "TagName" = "Value" }        Pass        {                // Add a pass tag            Tags { "TagName" = "Value" }            ...        }    }}
For more information about tag names and values, refer to 
SubShader
tags in ShaderLab reference and 
Pass
tags in ShaderLab reference. Not all 
Tag
blocks are compatible with both subshaders and passes.
You can also add your own custom tags and read them from a C# script.

Set the render pipeline

To make a subshader compatible with the Universal Render Pipeline (URP) or the High Definition Render Pipeline (HDRP), add a 
RenderPipeline
tag to the 
SubShader
block:
  • For URP, use 
    "RenderPipeline" = "UniversalPipeline"
  • For HDRP, use 
    "RenderPipeline" = "HDRenderPipeline"

Set the render order

Unity uses two tags to determine when to execute a shader:
  • LightMode
    tag: Sets which stage of the render pipeline a shader pass runs during. For example, drawing opaque geometry, or drawing post-processing effects.
  • Queue
    tag: Sets which group of objects a subshader belongs to. Unity draws each render queue in a specific order.
Each 
LightMode
stage usually renders a specific 
Queue
range. Unity warns you if you use a 
Queue
tag that the 
LightMode
stage doesn't render.
Note
The 
LightMode
tag isn't related to the light mode parameter in the Inspector window of a Light component.

Set the 
LightMode
tag

Add a 
LightMode
tag to the 
Pass
block. For example, to execute the shader during the forward rendering pass in the Universal Render Pipeline (URP) that renders the 
Geometry
queue, use 
Tags { "LightMode" = "UniversalForward" }
.
For a list of 
LightMode
values, refer to 
LightMode
tag valid values and ShaderLab 
Pass
tags in URP reference.
To enable or disable a shader pass by its 
LightMode
tag, use the 
Material.SetShaderPassEnabled
 API.

Set the Queue tag

Add a 
Queue
tag to the 
SubShader
block. Use one of the following approaches:
  • To add the subshader to a queue, use 
    "Queue" = "RenderQueueName"
    . For example 
    "Queue" = "Transparent"
    .
  • To add the subshader before or after a queue, use 
    "Queue" = "RenderQueueName-Offset"
    or 
    "Queue" = "RenderQueueName+Offset"
    . For example, 
    "Queue" = "Geometry+1"
    .
You can also use queue values instead of names. For example, 
"Queue" = "3000"
instead of 
"Queue" = "Transparent"
, or 
"Queue" = "2001"
instead of 
"Queue" = "Geometry+1"
.
You can also set the queue in the Inspector window of the material using the Render Queue property, or in a C# script using the 
Material.renderQueue
 API.
For more information, refer to Render queues and sorting behaviours.

Check tags

To read tags from a C# script, use the following:

Additional resources