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Shading language

Introduction

Godot uses a shading language similar to GLSL ES 3.0. Most datatypes and functions are supported, and the few remaining ones will likely be added over time.

If you are already familiar with GLSL, the Godot Shader Migration Guide is a resource that will help you transition from regular GLSL to Godot’s shading language.

Data types

Most GLSL ES 3.0 datatypes are supported:

Casting

Just like GLSL ES 3.0, implicit casting between scalars and vectors of the same size but different type is not allowed. Casting of types of different size is also not allowed. Conversion must be done explicitly via constructors.

Example:

float a = 2; // invalid
float a = 2.0; // valid
float a = float(2); // valid

Default integer constants are signed, so casting is always needed to convert to unsigned:

int a = 2; // valid
uint a = 2; // invalid
uint a = uint(2); // valid

Members

Individual scalar members of vector types are accessed via the “x”, “y”, “z” and “w” members. Alternatively, using “r”, “g”, “b” and “a” also works and is equivalent. Use whatever fits best for your needs.

For matrices, use the m[column][row] indexing syntax to access each scalar, or m[idx] to access a vector by row index. For example, for accessing the y position of an object in a mat4 you use m[3][1].

Constructing

Construction of vector types must always pass:

// The required amount of scalars
vec4 a = vec4(0.0, 1.0, 2.0, 3.0);
// Complementary vectors and/or scalars
vec4 a = vec4(vec2(0.0, 1.0), vec2(2.0, 3.0));
vec4 a = vec4(vec3(0.0, 1.0, 2.0), 3.0);
// A single scalar for the whole vector
vec4 a = vec4(0.0);

Construction of matrix types requires vectors of the same dimension as the matrix. You can also build a diagonal matrix using matx(float) syntax. Accordingly, mat4(1.0) is an identity matrix.

mat2 m2 = mat2(vec2(1.0, 0.0), vec2(0.0, 1.0));
mat3 m3 = mat3(vec3(1.0, 0.0, 0.0), vec3(0.0, 1.0, 0.0), vec3(0.0, 0.0, 1.0));
mat4 identity = mat4(1.0);

Matrices can also be built from a matrix of another dimension. There are two rules:

1. If a larger matrix is constructed from a smaller matrix, the additional rows and columns are set to the values they would have in an identity matrix. 2. If a smaller matrix is constructed from a larger matrix, the top, left submatrix of the larger matrix is used.

mat3 basis = mat3(MODEL_MATRIX);
mat4 m4 = mat4(basis);
mat2 m2 = mat2(m4);

Swizzling

It is possible to obtain any combination of components in any order, as long as the result is another vector type (or scalar). This is easier shown than explained:

vec4 a = vec4(0.0, 1.0, 2.0, 3.0);
vec3 b = a.rgb; // Creates a vec3 with vec4 components.
vec3 b = a.ggg; // Also valid; creates a vec3 and fills it with a single vec4 component.
vec3 b = a.bgr; // "b" will be vec3(2.0, 1.0, 0.0).
vec3 b = a.xyz; // Also rgba, xyzw are equivalent.
vec3 b = a.stp; // And stpq (for texture coordinates).
float c = b.w; // Invalid, because "w" is not present in vec3 b.
vec3 c = b.xrt; // Invalid, mixing different styles is forbidden.
b.rrr = a.rgb; // Invalid, assignment with duplication.
b.bgr = a.rgb; // Valid assignment. "b"'s "blue" component will be "a"'s "red" and vice versa.

Precision

It is possible to add precision modifiers to datatypes; use them for uniforms, variables, arguments and varyings:

lowp vec4 a = vec4(0.0, 1.0, 2.0, 3.0); // low precision, usually 8 bits per component mapped to 0-1
mediump vec4 a = vec4(0.0, 1.0, 2.0, 3.0); // medium precision, usually 16 bits or half float
highp vec4 a = vec4(0.0, 1.0, 2.0, 3.0); // high precision, uses full float or integer range (default)

Using lower precision for some operations can speed up the math involved (at the cost of less precision). This is rarely needed in the vertex processor function (where full precision is needed most of the time), but is often useful in the fragment processor.

Some architectures (mainly mobile) can benefit significantly from this, but there are downsides such as the additional overhead of conversion between precisions. Refer to the documentation of the target architecture for further information. In many cases, mobile drivers cause inconsistent or unexpected behavior and it is best to avoid specifying precision unless necessary.

Arrays

Arrays are containers for multiple variables of a similar type.

Local arrays

Local arrays are declared in functions. They can use all of the allowed datatypes, except samplers. The array declaration follows a C-style syntax: [const] + [precision] + typename + identifier + [array size].

void fragment() {
    float arr[3];
}

They can be initialized at the beginning like:

float float_arr[3] = float[3] (1.0, 0.5, 0.0); // first constructor
int int_arr[3] = int[] (2, 1, 0); // second constructor
vec2 vec2_arr[3] = { vec2(1.0, 1.0), vec2(0.5, 0.5), vec2(0.0, 0.0) }; // third constructor
bool bool_arr[] = { true, true, false }; // fourth constructor - size is defined automatically from the element count

You can declare multiple arrays (even with different sizes) in one expression:

float a[3] = float[3] (1.0, 0.5, 0.0),
b[2] = { 1.0, 0.5 },
c[] = { 0.7 },
d = 0.0,
e[5];

To access an array element, use the indexing syntax:

float arr[3];
arr[0] = 1.0; // setter
COLOR.r = arr[0]; // getter

Arrays also have a built-in function .length() (not to be confused with the built-in length() function). It doesn’t accept any parameters and will return the array’s size.

float arr[] = { 0.0, 1.0, 0.5, -1.0 };
for (int i = 0; i < arr.length(); i++) {
    // ...
}

Note

If you use an index either below 0 or greater than array size - the shader will crash and break rendering. To prevent this, use length(), if, or clamp() functions to ensure the index is between 0 and the array’s length. Always carefully test and check your code. If you pass a constant expression or a number, the editor will check its bounds to prevent this crash.

Global arrays

You can declare arrays at global space like:

shader_type spatial;
const lowp vec3 v[1] = lowp vec3[1] ( vec3(0, 0, 1) );
void fragment() {
  ALBEDO = v[0];
}

Note

Global arrays have to be declared as global constants, otherwise they can be declared the same as local arrays.

Constants

Use the const keyword before the variable declaration to make that variable immutable, which means that it cannot be modified. All basic types, except samplers can be declared as constants. Accessing and using a constant value is slightly faster than using a uniform. Constants must be initialized at their declaration.

const vec2 a = vec2(0.0, 1.0);
vec2 b;
a = b; // invalid
b = a; // valid

Constants cannot be modified and additionally cannot have hints, but multiple of them (if they have the same type) can be declared in a single expression e.g

const vec2 V1 = vec2(1, 1), V2 = vec2(2, 2);

Similar to variables, arrays can also be declared with const.

const float arr[] = { 1.0, 0.5, 0.0 };
arr[0] = 1.0; // invalid
COLOR.r = arr[0]; // valid

Constants can be declared both globally (outside of any function) or locally (inside a function). Global constants are useful when you want to have access to a value throughout your shader that does not need to be modified. Like uniforms, global constants are shared between all shader stages, but they are not accessible outside of the shader.

shader_type spatial;
const float PI = 3.14159265358979323846;

Constants of the float type must be initialized using . notation after the decimal part or by using the scientific notation. The optional f post-suffix is also supported.

float a = 1.0;
float b = 1.0f; // same, using suffix for clarity
float c = 1e-1; // gives 0.1 by using the scientific notation

Constants of the uint (unsigned int) type must have a u suffix to differentiate them from signed integers. Alternatively, this can be done by using the uint(x) built-in conversion function.

uint a = 1u;
uint b = uint(1);

Structs

Structs are compound types which can be used for better abstraction of shader code. You can declare them at the global scope like:

struct PointLight {
    vec3 position;
    vec3 color;
    float intensity;
};

After declaration, you can instantiate and initialize them like:

void fragment()
{
    PointLight light;
    light.position = vec3(0.0);
    light.color = vec3(1.0, 0.0, 0.0);
    light.intensity = 0.5;
}

Or use struct constructor for same purpose:

PointLight light = PointLight(vec3(0.0), vec3(1.0, 0.0, 0.0), 0.5);

Structs may contain other struct or array, you can also instance them as global constant:

shader_type spatial;
...
struct Scene {
    PointLight lights[2];
};
const Scene scene = Scene(PointLight[2](PointLight(vec3(0.0, 0.0, 0.0), vec3(1.0, 0.0, 0.0), 1.0), PointLight(vec3(0.0, 0.0, 0.0), vec3(1.0, 0.0, 0.0), 1.0)));
void fragment()
{
    ALBEDO = scene.lights[0].color;
}

You can also pass them to functions:

shader_type canvas_item;
...
Scene construct_scene(PointLight light1, PointLight light2) {
    return Scene({light1, light2});
}
void fragment()
{
    COLOR.rgb = construct_scene(PointLight(vec3(0.0, 0.0, 0.0), vec3(1.0, 0.0, 0.0), 1.0), PointLight(vec3(0.0, 0.0, 0.0), vec3(1.0, 0.0, 1.0), 1.0)).lights[0].color;
}

Operators

Godot shading language supports the same set of operators as GLSL ES 3.0. Below is the list of them in precedence order:

Flow control

Godot Shading language supports the most common types of flow control:

// `if` and `else`.
if (cond) {
} else {
}
// Ternary operator.
// This is an expression that behaves like `if`/`else` and returns the value.
// If `cond` evaluates to `true`, `result` will be `9`.
// Otherwise, `result` will be `5`.
int result = cond ? 9 : 5;
// `switch`.
switch (i) { // `i` should be a signed integer expression.
    case -1:
        break;
    case 0:
        return; // `break` or `return` to avoid running the next `case`.
    case 1: // Fallthrough (no `break` or `return`): will run the next `case`.
    case 2:
        break;
    //...
    default: // Only run if no `case` above matches. Optional.
        break;
}
// `for` loop. Best used when the number of elements to iterate on
// is known in advance.
for (int i = 0; i < 10; i++) {
}
// `while` loop. Best used when the number of elements to iterate on
// is not known in advance.
while (cond) {
}
// `do while`. Like `while`, but always runs at least once even if `cond`
// never evaluates to `true`.
do {
} while (cond);

Keep in mind that in modern GPUs, an infinite loop can exist and can freeze your application (including editor). Godot can’t protect you from this, so be careful not to make this mistake!

Also, when comparing floating-point values against a number, make sure to compare them against a range instead of an exact number.

A comparison like if (value == 0.3) may not evaluate to true. Floating-point math is often approximate and can defy expectations. It can also behave differently depending on the hardware.

Don’t do this.

float value = 0.1 + 0.2;
// May not evaluate to `true`!
if (value == 0.3) {
    // ...
}

Instead, always perform a range comparison with an epsilon value. The larger the floating-point number (and the less precise the floating-point number), the larger the epsilon value should be.

const float EPSILON = 0.0001;
if (value >= 0.3 - EPSILON && value <= 0.3 + EPSILON) {
    // ...
}

See floating-point-gui.de for more information.

Discarding

Fragment and light functions can use the discard keyword. If used, the fragment is discarded and nothing is written.

Beware that discard has a performance cost when used, as it will prevent the depth prepass from being effective on any surfaces using the shader. Also, a discarded pixel still needs to be rendered in the vertex shader, which means a shader that uses discard on all of its pixels is still more expensive to render compared to not rendering any object in the first place.

Functions

It is possible to define functions in a Godot shader. They use the following syntax:

ret_type func_name(args) {
    return ret_type; // if returning a value
}
// a more specific example:
int sum2(int a, int b) {
    return a + b;
}

You can only use functions that have been defined above (higher in the editor) the function from which you are calling them. Redefining a function that has already been defined above (or is a built-in function name) will cause an error.

Function arguments can have special qualifiers:

• in: Means the argument is only for reading (default).

• out: Means the argument is only for writing.

• inout: Means the argument is fully passed via reference.

• const: Means the argument is a constant and cannot be changed, may be combined with in qualifier.

Example below:

void sum2(int a, int b, inout int result) {
    result = a + b;
}

Note

Unlike GLSL, Godot’s shader language does not support function overloading. This means that a function cannot be defined several times with different argument types or numbers of arguments. As a workaround, use different names for functions that accept a different number of arguments or arguments of different types.

Varyings

To send data from the vertex to the fragment (or light) processor function, varyings are used. They are set for every primitive vertex in the vertex processor, and the value is interpolated for every pixel in the fragment processor.

shader_type spatial;
varying vec3 some_color;
void vertex() {
    some_color = NORMAL; // Make the normal the color.
}
void fragment() {
    ALBEDO = some_color;
}
void light() {
    DIFFUSE_LIGHT = some_color * 100; // optionally
}

Varying can also be an array:

shader_type spatial;
varying float var_arr[3];
void vertex() {
    var_arr[0] = 1.0;
    var_arr[1] = 0.0;
}
void fragment() {
    ALBEDO = vec3(var_arr[0], var_arr[1], var_arr[2]); // red color
}

It’s also possible to send data from fragment to light processors using varying keyword. To do so you can assign it in the fragment and later use it in the light function.

shader_type spatial;
varying vec3 some_light;
void fragment() {
    some_light = ALBEDO * 100.0; // Make a shining light.
}
void light() {
    DIFFUSE_LIGHT = some_light;
}

Note that varying may not be assigned in custom functions or a light processor function like:

shader_type spatial;
varying float test;
void foo() {
    test = 0.0; // Error.
}
void vertex() {
    test = 0.0;
}
void light() {
    test = 0.0; // Error too.
}

This limitation was introduced to prevent incorrect usage before initialization.

Interpolation qualifiers

Certain values are interpolated during the shading pipeline. You can modify how these interpolations are done by using interpolation qualifiers.

shader_type spatial;
varying flat vec3 our_color;
void vertex() {
    our_color = COLOR.rgb;
}
void fragment() {
    ALBEDO = our_color;
}

There are two possible interpolation qualifiers:

Uniforms

Passing values to shaders is possible. These are global to the whole shader and are called uniforms. When a shader is later assigned to a material, the uniforms will appear as editable parameters in it. Uniforms can’t be written from within the shader.

shader_type spatial;
uniform float some_value;
uniform vec3 colors[3];

You can set uniforms in the editor in the material. Or you can set them through GDScript:

material.set_shader_parameter("some_value", some_value)
material.set_shader_parameter("colors", [Vector3(1, 0, 0), Vector3(0, 1, 0), Vector3(0, 0, 1)])

Note

The first argument to set_shader_parameter is the name of the uniform in the shader. It must match exactly to the name of the uniform in the shader or else it will not be recognized.

Any GLSL type except for void can be a uniform. Additionally, Godot provides optional shader hints to make the compiler understand for what the uniform is used, and how the editor should allow users to modify it.

shader_type spatial;
uniform vec4 color : source_color;
uniform float amount : hint_range(0, 1);
uniform vec4 other_color : source_color = vec4(1.0);
uniform sampler2D image : source_color;

It’s important to understand that textures that are supplied as color require hints for proper sRGB->linear conversion (i.e. source_color), as Godot’s 3D engine renders in linear color space.

Full list of hints below:

GDScript uses different variable types than GLSL does, so when passing variables from GDScript to shaders, Godot converts the type automatically. Below is a table of the corresponding types:

bvec2_input: int = (int(bx)) | (int(by) << 1)

Note

Be careful when setting shader uniforms from GDScript, no error will be thrown if the type does not match. Your shader will just exhibit undefined behavior.

Uniforms can also be assigned default values:

shader_type spatial;
uniform vec4 some_vector = vec4(0.0);
uniform vec4 some_color : source_color = vec4(1.0);

If you need to make multiple uniforms to be grouped in the specific category of an inspector, you can use a group_uniform keyword like:

group_uniforms MyGroup;
uniform sampler2D test;

You can close the group by using:

group_uniforms;

The syntax also supports subgroups (it’s not mandatory to declare the base group before this):

group_uniforms MyGroup.MySubgroup;

Global uniforms

Sometimes, you want to modify a parameter in many different shaders at once. With a regular uniform, this takes a lot of work as all these shaders need to be tracked and the uniform needs to be set for each of them. Global uniforms allow you to create and update uniforms that will be available in all shaders, in every shader type (canvas_item, spatial, particles, sky and fog).

Global uniforms are especially useful for environmental effects that affect many objects in a scene, like having foliage bend when the player is nearby, or having objects move with the wind.

To create a global uniform, open the Project Settings then go to the Shader Globals tab. Specify a name for the uniform (case-sensitive) and a type, then click Add in the top-right corner of the dialog. You can then edit the value assigned to the uniform by clicking the value in the list of uniforms:

Adding a global uniform in the Shader Globals tab of the Project Settings

After creating a global uniform, you can use it in a shader as follows:

shader_type canvas_item;
global uniform vec4 my_color;
void fragment() {
    COLOR = my_color.rgb;
}

Note that the global uniform must exist in the Project Settings at the time the shader is saved, or compilation will fail. While you can assign a default value using global uniform vec4 my_color = ... in the shader code, it will be ignored as the global uniform must always be defined in the Project Settings anyway.

To change the value of a global uniform at run-time, use the RenderingServer.global_shader_parameter_set method in a script:

RenderingServer.global_shader_parameter_set("my_color", Color(0.3, 0.6, 1.0))

Assigning global uniform values can be done as many times as desired without impacting performance, as setting data doesn’t require synchronization between the CPU and GPU.

You can also add or remove global uniforms at run-time:

RenderingServer.global_shader_parameter_add("my_color", RenderingServer.GLOBAL_VAR_TYPE_COLOR, Color(0.3, 0.6, 1.0))
RenderingServer.global_shader_parameter_remove("my_color")

Adding or removing global uniforms at run-time has a performance cost, although it’s not as pronounced compared to getting global uniform values from a script (see the warning below).

Warning

While you can query the value of a global uniform at run-time in a script using RenderingServer.global_shader_parameter_get("uniform_name"), this has a large performance penalty as the rendering thread needs to synchronize with the calling thread.

Therefore, it’s not recommended to read global shader uniform values continuously in a script. If you need to read values in a script after setting them, consider creating an autoload where you store the values you need to query at the same time you’re setting them as global uniforms.

Per-instance uniforms

Note

Per-instance uniforms are only available in spatial (3D) shaders.

Sometimes, you want to modify a parameter on each node using the material. As an example, in a forest full of trees, when you want each tree to have a slightly different color that is editable by hand. Without per-instance uniforms, this requires creating a unique material for each tree (each with a slightly different hue). This makes material management more complex, and also has a performance overhead due to the scene requiring more unique material instances. Vertex colors could also be used here, but they’d require creating unique copies of the mesh for each different color, which also has a performance overhead.

Per-instance uniforms are set on each GeometryInstance3D, rather than on each Material instance. Take this into account when working with meshes that have multiple materials assigned to them, or MultiMesh setups.

shader_type spatial;
// Provide a hint to edit as a color. Optionally, a default value can be provided.
// If no default value is provided, the type's default is used (e.g. opaque black for colors).
instance uniform vec4 my_color : source_color = vec4(1.0, 0.5, 0.0, 1.0);
void fragment() {
    ALBEDO = my_color.rgb;
}

After saving the shader, you can change the per-instance uniform’s value using the inspector:

Setting a per-instance uniform’s value in the GeometryInstance3D section of the inspector

Per-instance uniform values can also be set at run-time using set_instance_shader_parameter<class_GeometryInstance3D_method_set_instance_shader_parameter> method on a node that inherits from GeometryInstance3D:

$MeshInstance3D.set_instance_shader_parameter("my_color", Color(0.3, 0.6, 1.0))

When using per-instance uniforms, there are some restrictions you should be aware of:

• Per-instance uniforms do not support textures, only regular scalar and vector types. As a workaround, you can pass a texture array as a regular uniform, then pass the index of the texture to be drawn using a per-instance uniform.

• There is a practical maximum limit of 16 instance uniforms per shader.

• If your mesh uses multiple materials, the parameters for the first mesh material found will “win” over the subsequent ones, unless they have the same name, index and type. In this case, all parameters are affected correctly.

• If you run into the above situation, you can avoid clashes by manually specifying the index (0-15) of the instance uniform by using the instance_index hint:

instance uniform vec4 my_color : source_color, instance_index(5);

Built-in variables

A large number of built-in variables are available, like UV, COLOR and VERTEX. What variables are available depends on the type of shader (spatial, canvas_item or particle) and the function used (vertex, fragment or light). For a list of the built-in variables that are available, please see the corresponding pages:

• Spatial shaders

• Canvas item shaders

• Particle shaders

• Sky shaders

• Fog shaders

Built-in functions

A large number of built-in functions are supported, conforming to GLSL ES 3.0. When vec_type (float), vec_int_type, vec_uint_type, vec_bool_type nomenclature is used, it can be scalar or vector.