# \[FEATURE REQUEST\] Per-Material Shadow Casting Control for MegaLights 

**URL:** <https://forums.unrealengine.com/t/feature-request-per-material-shadow-casting-control-for-megalights/2855879>\
**Category:** Feedback & Requests\
**Tags:** unreal-engine\
**Created:** [November 14, 2026, 4:27pm UTC](https://forums.unrealengine.com/t/feature-request-per-material-shadow-casting-control-for-megalights/2855879 "2026-11-14T16:27:52Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 1\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Alex\_Herrington](https://d3kjluh73b9h9o.cloudfront.net/original/4X/2/8/5/28502927f1d97ba1051b3b47ccfe17233bf41ef0.png) [@Alex\_Herrington](https://forums.unrealengine.com/u/Alex_Herrington)\
**Post date:** [November 14, 2026, 4:27pm UTC](https://forums.unrealengine.com/t/feature-request-per-material-shadow-casting-control-for-megalights/2855879/1 "2026-11-14T16:27:53Z")

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I would like to request the ability to disable shadow casting for individual materials or material slots when using MegaLights.

Currently, shadow casting is controlled primarily at the Primitive Component level. This means that disabling `Cast Shadow` affects the entire Static Mesh, even when it contains multiple material slots.

This creates a limitation when working with combined meshes containing both opaque geometry and masked materials.

### Example Use Case

A single Static Mesh contains:

- Main opaque geometry that should cast shadows.

- Masked decals, labels, warning signs, or other decorative elements that should not cast shadows.

Ideally, I would like to disable shadow casting only for the masked material while preserving shadows from the rest of the mesh.

### Current Limitations

- Disabling `Cast Shadow` removes shadows from the entire component.

- `Shadow Pass Switch` does not solve the issue when MegaLights Screen Space Traces are involved.

- Disabling `MegaLightsScreenTraces` globally affects shadow quality and correctness across other materials and meshes.

- Separating decorative geometry into additional Static Mesh Components introduces unnecessary complexity and draw calls.

### Requested Feature

An individual material-level option such as:

`Cast Shadows: Enabled / Disabled`

This would allow selected materials or material slots to be excluded from MegaLights shadow evaluation without affecting other materials assigned to the same Static Mesh.

Ideally, this option should work consistently with both Hardware Ray Tracing and Screen Space Traces.

This would be especially useful for masked decals, foliage cards, transparent cutouts, and decorative geometry in complex modular environments.

Thank you for considering this request.