The engine crashes when a single-layer water material is connected to PDO


Is it not allowed to use dither in this material?

Hey! I’m just confirming that Pixel Depth Offset (PDO) is not supported with the Single Layer Water shading model in Unreal Engine. Connecting it can cause the engine to crash it’s a known limitation.

This shading model is optimized for performance and doesn’t support advanced features like PDO, WPO, or complex blending.

Conclusion:
There is no official list explicitly stating that Pixel Depth Offset (PDO) is incompatible with Single Layer Water, but:

  • The official docs do not mention PDO support for this shading model.
  • Community reports confirm it can cause crashes when used with it.
  • Other shading models (like Preintegrated Skin) list PDO explicitly — Single Layer Water does not.

So, it’s strongly recommended not to use PDO with Single Layer Water materials. Stick to supported features for stability.

Official references:

Single Layer Water – Epic Docs

If you need fading or blending, try using Translucent materials or simulate edges using SceneDepthWithoutWater with custom math but don’t plug it into PDO on water.

If you’re still facing challenges or have new questions, feel free to share.

Thank you for your reply!

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