Performance Tips

intermediate performance

Volumetric Fog & Mist 2 (URP) · Troubleshooting & FAQ

Performance Optimization

Volumetric Fog uses an optimized ray-marching algorithm. The following settings have the biggest impact on performance, ordered from most to least effective.

High Impact

Setting	Location	Recommendation
Downscaling	Volumetric Fog Manager	Increase to 1.5–2.0 to render fog at lower resolution. This is the single most impactful optimization.
Raymarch Quality	Fog Profile	Reduce to lower the number of texture samples per pixel.
Raymarch Min Step	Fog Profile	Increase to reduce sample count. Causes less accurate fog with more artifacts.
Max Distance	Fog Profile	Reduce and use Max Distance FallOff to smooth the fade. Combine with Distant Fog for background haze.
MAX_ITERATIONS	Volumetric Fog Manager > Shader Options	Default is 500. Reduce for small fog areas. This is a maximum cap — actual iterations are usually lower.

Medium Impact

Setting	Location	Recommendation
Detail Noise	Fog Profile	Disable to remove an extra Texture3D sample per ray-march step.
Shadow Max Distance	Fog Profile	Reduce to limit shadow computation range.
Native Lights	Fog Profile	Switch to Fast Point Lights for better performance (up to 16 point lights, no shadows).
Depth Texture Mode	URP Renderer	Set to Force Prepass for mobile and VR.
Fog Voids	Scene	Replace with Fog of War if using many voids.

Low Impact

Setting	Location	Recommendation
Depth / Height Gradients	Fog Profile	These add small texture samples. Negligible on PC but may affect mobile.
Final Texture Size	Fog Profile > Noise	Reduce the noise texture resolution for mobile devices.
Render Scale	URP Asset	Reduce overall framebuffer resolution. Especially useful on high-DPI mobile screens.
Constant Density	Fog Profile	Enable for a smooth, noise-free fog that skips noise computation entirely.

Alternative Approaches

Distant Fog — a fast noise-free fog option that can replace or complement volumetric fog. Set volumetric Density to 0 to use Distant Fog alone.
Dynamic Fog & Mist — lighter alternative for simple atmospheric haze without ray-marching.
Update Mode — set to When Fog Volume is Visible or When Camera is Inside Area to skip updates on off-screen volumes.

Tip: Always use the latest version of the asset. Each release includes performance improvements and optimizations.

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