Parameters

intermediate concepts

Scene Setup

These options configure how Global Snow integrates with your URP deferred rendering pipeline.

Parameter	Description
Sun	Directional light used for relief and occlusion calculations. Auto-detected if not set.
Show Snow In Scene View	Renders the snow effect in the Scene View for live editing without entering Play mode.
Add Snow To Grass	When enabled, snow is applied to terrain grass objects.
Profile	Optional GlobalSnowProfile asset. Assign to load/save complete snow configurations.

Quality

Snow appearance and detail level.

Parameter	Description
Snow Quality	Flat Shading: fastest, no normal mapping. Normal Mapping: moderate detail. Relief Mapping: highest quality with parallax depth.
Snow Amount	Overall snow intensity. Range 0-2. Values above 1 increase coverage beyond default.
Snow Tint	Tint color applied to the snow surface.
Smoothness	Snow surface glossiness. Range 0-1, default 0.9.
Snow Normals Strength	Strength of the normal map detail on the snow. Range 0-2.
Relief Amount	Intensity of the relief/parallax effect. Range 0.05-0.3. Only visible with Relief Mapping quality.
Noise Tex Scale	Tiling scale of the noise texture that adds natural variation to the snow surface. Lower values produce larger, smoother patterns; higher values produce finer grain. Default 0.1.

Coverage

Controls where snow appears in the scene.

How snow coverage works: Global Snow applies snow by modifying the GBuffers during the deferred rendering pass. A top-down (zenithal) camera captures a depth map to determine which surfaces are exposed to sky - surfaces occluded by objects above them (roofs, bridges) will not receive snow. The Layer Mask controls which objects can receive snow. The Zenithal Mask controls which objects participate in the top-down occlusion pass. The Coverage Mask and GlobalSnowIgnoreCoverage component provide additional per-area and per-object control.

Exclusion Mechanisms Comparison

Mechanism	Scope	Use Case
Layer Mask	Entire layers	Exclude categories of objects from receiving snow (UI, VFX, characters).
Zenithal Mask	Entire layers	Exclude layers from the top-down occlusion pass (particles, transparent VFX).
Coverage Mask	World area (texture)	Artistic control: paint snow on/off in specific zones, paths, or regions.
GlobalSnowIgnoreCoverage	Per-object	Fine-grained control: exclude or force-include individual objects regardless of their layer.
Default Exclusion Layer	Internal	Used internally during exclusion rendering. Must be an unused layer (default 27). Do not assign objects to it.

Parameter	Description
Layer Mask	Controls which objects can receive snow. Objects on layers not included in this mask are excluded from snow coverage. Note: objects on Layer 0 (Default) are never excluded by this mask. Default: all layers.
Zenithal Mask	Controls which layers participate in the top-down depth pass that determines occlusion. Objects on excluded layers will not block snow on surfaces below them. Exclude particle systems and transparent VFX here for better performance. Default: all layers.
Use Zenithal Coverage	Enables the top-down depth coverage system. Disable only for flat scenes without overhangs.
Show Coverage Gizmo	Displays the coverage area in the Scene View.
Coverage Resolution	Zenithal depth texture resolution: 1 = 512px, 2 = 1024px, 3 = 2048px, 4 = 4096px. Higher values give sharper occlusion at a GPU cost.
Coverage Extension	Coverage area size around the camera: 1 = 512m, 2 = 1024m, 3 = 2048m, 4 = 4096m.
Coverage Update Method	Every Frame: recalculates each frame. Discrete: updates on camera movement. Manual: call `UpdateSnowCoverage()` from script. Disabled: no updates.
Coverage Depth Debug	Displays the zenithal depth buffer for debugging coverage issues.
Minimum Altitude	World-space Y value where snow starts. Default -10. No maximum - snow covers everything above this.
Altitude Scatter	Randomness in the altitude boundary. Range 0-250, default 20.
Altitude Blending	Smoothing of the altitude transition. Range 0-500, default 25.
Vegetation Offset	Additional altitude offset (in meters) applied to the minimum altitude for grass and trees only. Use to make vegetation show snow earlier or later than the rest of the scene. Default 0.
Ground Coverage	Amount of snow applied to surfaces beneath opaque objects (areas that would normally be occluded by the zenithal pass). Useful for adding snow under overhangs or covered areas. Range 0-0.5, default 0.
Ground Coverage Randomization	Randomization of ground coverage distribution. Range 0-2, default 0.5.
Grass Coverage	Snow coverage on terrain grass. Range 0-1, default 0.75.
Billboard Coverage	Snow coverage on tree billboard LODs. Range 0-2, default 1.4.

Slope

Controls how snow is removed from steep surfaces.

Parameter	Description
Slope Threshold	Slope angle above which snow is removed. Higher values allow snow on steeper surfaces. Range 0-1, default 0.7.
Slope Sharpness	Sharpness of the slope-based removal transition. Range 0-1, default 0.5.
Slope Noise	Noise applied to slope-based snow edges. Range 0-1, default 0.5.

Appearance

Visual properties of the snow surface.

Parameter	Description
Glitter Strength	Sparkle/glitter effect intensity. Default 0.75.
Occlusion	Enables ambient occlusion on the snow surface. Default enabled.
Occlusion Intensity	Strength of snow ambient occlusion. Range 0.01-5, default 1.5.
Max Exposure	Maximum brightness of the snow. Range 0-2, default 0.85.
Subsurface Scattering	Light bleeding through snow edges. Range 0-1, default 0.25. Creates a translucent ice-like appearance.
Subsurface Scattering Color	Tint color for the subsurface scattering effect. Default is a pale blue.
Preserve GI	Retains existing global illumination on snow-covered surfaces instead of replacing it with flat snow lighting.
Minimum GI Ambient	Minimum ambient GI level on snow when Preserve GI is enabled. Range 0-1, default 0.2.

Coverage Mask

Paint snow on or off using a texture-based mask.

Parameter	Description
Coverage Mask	Enables the coverage mask system.
Coverage Mask Texture	Alpha texture controlling snow placement. White = snow, black = no snow.
World Size	Size of the mask area in world units.
World Center	Center position of the mask in world coordinates.
Fill Outside	When enabled, areas outside the mask bounds receive full snow. Default enabled.

Exclusion

Fine-grained control over which objects are excluded from snow.

Parameter	Description
Default Exclusion Layer	Layer number used internally for excluded objects during rendering. Choose an unused layer. Default 27.
Exclusion Bias	Depth bias for the exclusion mask. Increase if exclusion borders show artifacts. Default 0.99.
Exclusion Double Sided	Enable for double-sided objects to be properly excluded.
Default Exclusion Cut Off	Alpha cutoff for excluded semi-transparent objects. Range 0-1.
Use Fast Mask Shader	Uses an optimized mask shader for exclusions. Disable for objects with vertex-animated custom shaders. Default enabled.

Snowfall

Falling snow particle system.

Parameter	Description
Snowfall	Enables the snowfall particle system. Default enabled.
Snowfall Intensity	Density of falling snowflakes. Range 0.001-1, default 0.1.
Snowfall Speed	Falling speed of snowflakes. Default 1.
Snowfall Wind	Wind effect on falling snowflakes. Range 0-2.
Snowfall Distance	Maximum rendering distance for particles. Range 10-200, default 100.
Snowfall Use Illumination	Snowflakes are affected by scene lighting.
Snow Dust Intensity	Wind-driven dust particles near ground level. Range 0-1. Set to 0 to disable.
Snow Dust Vertical Offset	Height offset for the dust emitter. Range 0-2, default 0.5.

Camera Frost

Screen-space frost overlay for cold environments.

Parameter	Description
Camera Frost	Enables the frost overlay. Default enabled.
Frost Intensity	Overall intensity. Range 0.001-1.5, default 0.35.
Frost Spread	How far frost extends from screen edges. Range 1-5, default 1.2.
Frost Distortion	Refraction distortion through frost. Range 0-1, default 0.25.
Frost Tint Color	Tint color for the frost overlay.

Footprints

Human-shaped footprint stamps on the snow surface.

Parameter	Description
Footprints	Enables footprint stamps.
Footprints Texture	Custom footprint texture. Uses a default shape if not set.
Auto FPS	Generates footprints automatically based on character movement.
Duration	Seconds before footprints fade. Range 1-240, default 60.
Scale	Size multiplier. Range 0.04-1, default 1.
Obscurance	Darkening intensity of footprint stamps. Range 0.05-0.5, default 0.1.

Terrain Marks

Collision-driven snow deformation trails.

Parameter	Description
Terrain Marks	Enables terrain mark deformation.
Duration	Seconds before marks fade. Range 1-240, default 180.
Default Size	Default mark stamp size. Range 0-1, default 0.25.
Roof Min Distance	Minimum distance from overhead geometry to allow marks (prevents marks under roofs). Default 0.5.
Auto FPS	Generates marks automatically from character controller movement.
View Distance	Maximum visibility distance for marks. Range 0-1024, default 200.
Step Max Distance	Maximum distance between consecutive automatic marks. Default 20.
Rotation Threshold	Minimum rotation change to trigger a new mark. Default 3.
Texture Size	Resolution of the internal decal texture for terrain marks: 512, 1024, 2048, 4096 or 8192. Default 2048. Higher values allow finer detail but use more memory.

Mask Editor

Paint snow coverage directly in the Scene View.

Parameter	Description
Mask Editor Enabled	Activates the Scene View painting tools.
Texture Resolution	Resolution of the mask texture. Default 1024.
Brush Mode	Add or remove snow with the brush.
Brush Width	Brush size in pixels. Range 1-128, default 20.
Brush Fuzziness	Edge softness of the brush. Range 0-1, default 0.5.
Brush Opacity	Brush opacity per stroke. Range 0-1, default 0.25.

Ground Check

Detection method for automatic footprint and terrain mark placement.

Parameter	Description
Ground Check	None: disabled. Character Controller: uses the assigned controller. Ray Cast: casts a ray downward.
Character Controller	Reference to the character controller for automatic mark generation.
Ground Distance	Maximum distance to ground for placement checks. Default 1.

Next Steps

Snow Surface - URP-exclusive deformable snow mesh component.
Additional Topics - moving objects, coverage masks, profile lerping.
Scripting Support (C#) - runtime API reference.

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