Summary
When using World Partition HLOD with Instancing layer type, the Hierarchical LOD Coloration viewport visualization mode does not display the expected blue color for HLOD proxy actors when the source meshes have Nanite enabled.
According to the official UE5 documentation, moving the camera away from actors assigned to an HLOD Layer should display the HLOD proxy mesh in blue. However, in our testing, Nanite-enabled meshes only display as grey regardless of camera distance, while non-Nanite meshes correctly transition to blue.
Please select what you are reporting on:
Creative
What Type of Bug are you experiencing?
Assets
Steps to Reproduce
Create a World Partition level
Create an HLOD Layer asset with Layer Type = Instancing
Place a Static Mesh actor in the level and assign it to the HLOD Layer
Enable Nanite Support on the Static Mesh asset
Build HLODs (Build → Build HLODs)
In the viewport, change View Mode → Level of Detail Coloration → Hierarchical LOD Coloration
Move the camera far away from the actor
Result: The mesh displays as grey — no blue color appears, even at maximum distance.
Expected Result
Nanite-enabled meshes assigned to an HLOD Instancing layer should display blue in Hierarchical LOD Coloration view mode when the HLOD proxy is active (camera is far enough away), consistent with the behavior of non-Nanite meshes and as described in the official documentation.
Observed Result
Nanite-enabled meshes display as grey in Hierarchical LOD Coloration view mode at all camera distances. There is no visual indication that the HLOD proxy is active.
Platform(s)
HLOD Layer Type: Instancing
World Partition: Enabled
Nanite: Enabled on source Static Mesh actors
Additional tech stack: Lumen, Mega Lights, Hardware Ray Tracing
Additional Notes
We searched the official documentation and community forums extensively, but found no mention of this behavior — neither as a known limitation nor as expected behavior for Nanite meshes.
The official Nanite documentation states: “Some visualization view modes do not yet support displaying Nanite meshes” — however, it does not specify which view modes are affected, and does not mention Hierarchical LOD Coloration specifically.
The HLOD system appears to be functioning correctly at runtime (verified via wp.Runtime.ToggleDrawRuntimeHash2D), but the editor-side visualization is broken or unsupported for Nanite meshes.
Question for Epic: Is this a known limitation of the Hierarchical LOD Coloration view mode with Nanite meshes? If so, is there an alternative way to visually verify that HLOD Instancing is correctly applied to Nanite-enabled actors in the editor?