# Light component reference Lights determine the shading of an object and the shadows it casts. This page contains information on Light components in the Universal Render Pipeline (URP). For a general introduction to lighting in Unity and examples of common lighting workflows, see [the Lighting section of the Unity Manual](https://docs.unity3d.com/Manual/LightingOverview.html). ## Properties The Light Inspector includes the following groups of properties:  * [General](#General) * [Shape](#Shape) * [Emission](#Emission) * [Rendering](#Rendering) * [Shadows](#Shadows) ### <a name="General"></a>General | Property:| Function: | |:---|:---| | __Type__| The current type of light. Possible values are __Directional__, __Point__, __Spot__ and __Area__.| | __Mode__| Specify the [Light Mode](https://docs.unity3d.com/Manual/LightModes.html) used to determine if and how a light is "baked". Possible modes are __Realtime__, __Mixed__ and __Baked__.| ### <a name="Shape"></a>Shape | Property:| Function: | |:---|:---| | __Spot Angle__| Define the angle (in degrees) at the base of a spot light’s cone (__Spot__ light only). | ### <a name="Emission"></a>Emission | Property:| Function: | |:---|:---| | __Color__| Use the color picker to set the color of the emitted light. | | __Intensity__| Set the brightness of the light. The default value for a __Directional__ light is 0.5. The default value for a __Point__, __Spot__ or __Area__ light is 1. | | __Indirect Multiplier__| Use this value to vary the intensity of indirect light. Indirect light is light that has bounced from one object to another. The __Indirect Multiplier__ defines the brightness of bounced light calculated by the global illumination (GI) system. If you set __Indirect Multiplier__ to a value lower than __1,__ the bounced light becomes dimmer with every bounce. A value higher than __1__ makes light brighter with each bounce. This is useful, for example, when a dark surface in shadow (such as the interior of a cave) needs to be brighter in order to make detail visible. | | __Range__| Define how far the light emitted from the center of the object travels (__Point__ and __Spot__ lights only). | | **Cookie** | The RGB texture this Light projects into the scene. Use cookies to create silhouettes or patterned illumination. The texture format to use depends on the type of Light:<br/> • Directional: 2D texture<br/> • Spot: 2D texture<br/> • Point: [cubemap texture](https://docs.unity3d.com/Manual/class-Cubemap.html)<br/><br/>**Note**: URP doesn't support light cookies for Area lights.<br/><br/>For more information about light cookies, see [Cookies](https://docs.unity3d.com/Manual/Cookies.html). | | **Cookie Size** | The per-axis scale Unity applies to the cookie texture. Use this property to set the size of the cookie.<br/><br/>This property is available only if you set **Type** to **Directional** and assign a texture to **Cookie**. | | **Cookie Offset** | The per-axis offset Unity applies to the cookie texture. Use this property to move the cookie without moving the light itself. You can also animate this property to scroll the cookie. <br/><br/>This property is available only if you set **Type** to **Directional** and assign a texture to **Cookie**. | ## <a name="Rendering"></a>Rendering | Property:| Function: | |:---|:---| | __Render Mode__| Use this drop-down to set the rendering priority of the selected Light. This can affect lighting fidelity and performance (see *Performance Considerations,* below). | | Auto| The rendering method is determined at run time, depending on the brightness of nearby lights and the current [Quality](https://docs.unity3d.com/Manual/class-QualitySettings.html) settings. | | Important| The light is always rendered at per-pixel quality. Use __Important__ mode only for the most noticeable visual effects (for example, the headlights of a player’s car). | | Not Important| The light is always rendered in a faster, vertex/object light mode. | | __Culling Mask__| Use this to selectively exclude groups of objects from being affected by the Light. For more information, see [Layers](https://docs.unity3d.com/Manual/Layers.html).| ## <a name="Shadows"></a>Shadows | Property:| Function: | |:---|:---| | __Shadow Type__| Determine whether this Light casts Hard Shadows, Soft Shadows, or no shadows at all. See the page [Lights](https://docs.unity3d.com/Manual/class-Light.html) for information on hard and soft shadows. | | Baked Shadow Angle| If __Type__ is set to __Directional__ and __Shadow Type__ is set to __Soft Shadows__, this property adds some artificial softening to the edges of shadows and gives them a more natural look. | | Baked Shadow Radius| If __Type__ is set to __Point__ or __Spot__ and __Shadow Type__ is set to __Soft Shadows__, this property adds some artificial softening to the edges of shadows and gives them a more natural look. | | Realtime Shadows| These properties are available when __Shadow Type__ is set to __Hard Shadows__ or __Soft Shadows__. Use these properties to control real-time shadow rendering settings. | | Strength| Use the slider to control how dark the shadows cast by this Light are, represented by a value between 0 and 1. This is set to 1 by default. | | Bias| Controls whether to use shadow bias settings from the URP Asset, or whether to define custom shadow bias settings for this Light. Possible values are **Use Pipeline Settings** or **Custom**.| | Depth| Controls the distance at which the shadows will be pushed away from the light. Useful for avoiding false self-shadowing artifacts. This property is visible only when **Bias** is set to **Custom**.| | Normal| Controls the distance at which the shadow casting surfaces will be shrunk along the surface normal. Useful for avoiding false self-shadowing artifacts. This property is visible only when **Bias** is set to **Custom**.| | Near Plane| Use the slider to control the value for the near clip plane when rendering shadows, defined as a value between 0.1 and 10. This value is clamped to 0.1 units or 1% of the light’s __Range__ property, whichever is lower. This is set to 0.2 by default. | ## Preset When using Preset of Light Component, only a subset of properties are supported. Unsupported properties are hidden.