# How important are lod s in case of performance?

**URL:** <https://forums.unrealengine.com/t/how-important-are-lod-s-in-case-of-performance/293531>\
**Category:** Asset Creation\
**Tags:** precomputed-visibili, unreal-engine, question\
**Created:** [September 12, 2014, 2:23pm UTC](https://forums.unrealengine.com/t/how-important-are-lod-s-in-case-of-performance/293531 "2014-09-12T14:23:48Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 1

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Gygoracdes\_1](https://d3kjluh73b9h9o.cloudfront.net/original/4X/2/8/5/28502927f1d97ba1051b3b47ccfe17233bf41ef0.png) [@Gygoracdes\_1](https://forums.unrealengine.com/u/Gygoracdes_1)\
**Post date:** [September 12, 2014, 2:23pm UTC](https://forums.unrealengine.com/t/how-important-are-lod-s-in-case-of-performance/293531/1 "2014-09-12T14:23:48Z")

</div>

How much performance can I save with lods? Is there a quik answer?  
What is Base and auto lod?

Does Ue4 only have precomputed visibility it is the same as occlusion culling in unity?

Greetings

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Tim\_Hobson](https://d3kjluh73b9h9o.cloudfront.net/original/4X/2/8/5/28502927f1d97ba1051b3b47ccfe17233bf41ef0.png) [@Tim\_Hobson](https://forums.unrealengine.com/u/Tim_Hobson)\
**Post date:** [September 12, 2014, 8:13pm UTC](https://forums.unrealengine.com/t/how-important-are-lod-s-in-case-of-performance/293531/2 "2014-09-12T20:13:43Z")

</div>

Hi Gygoracdes,

UE uses both precomputed visiblity and occlusion culling.

LODs are always a good idea when you have a very populated scene. It doesn’t have to be set up for every object but is recommended for more detailed objects that you will not notice the details on further away.

The base is the LOD0 that is your mesh with the most detail. Auto LOD takes the distance settings into account when you have your LODs in place, so as you view them in the mesh viewer if you have other LODs imported it will auto load the next LOD level when you pull away or zoom into your mesh. You can adjust the distance values in the details panel in the mesh viewer as well.

If you have any other questions feel free to ask!

Tim

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![PowerDesign](https://d3kjluh73b9h9o.cloudfront.net/original/4X/2/8/5/28502927f1d97ba1051b3b47ccfe17233bf41ef0.png) [@PowerDesign](https://forums.unrealengine.com/u/PowerDesign)\
**Post date:** [April 15, 2015, 4:23am UTC](https://forums.unrealengine.com/t/how-important-are-lod-s-in-case-of-performance/293531/3 "2015-04-15T04:23:30Z")

</div>

“doesn’t have to be set up for every object”. In cases, even deleting distant meshes completely doesn’t result in much difference.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![TorQueMoD](https://d1ap1mz92jnks1.cloudfront.net/user_avatar/forums.unrealengine.com/torquemod/32/710746_2.png) [@TorQueMoD](https://forums.unrealengine.com/u/TorQueMoD)\
**Post date:** [October 31, 2017, 4:07am UTC](https://forums.unrealengine.com/t/how-important-are-lod-s-in-case-of-performance/293531/4 "2017-10-31T04:07:03Z")

</div>

I’m curious if having fewer or more LODs makes a difference? For example there’s a slider for Number of LODs… if I have 2 is it more efficient than 4?

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Luos](https://d1ap1mz92jnks1.cloudfront.net/user_avatar/forums.unrealengine.com/luos/32/918700_2.png) [@Luos](https://forums.unrealengine.com/u/Luos)\
**Post date:** [October 31, 2017, 11:57am UTC](https://forums.unrealengine.com/t/how-important-are-lod-s-in-case-of-performance/293531/5 "2017-10-31T11:57:02Z")

</div>

that depends on the scene, sometimes 4-5 is better, especially when you can see far into the background, or when you can zoom in really close. sometimes 1 or 2 LOD’s work fine.  
there is no set-in-stone rule for this.