Unable to assign a World Partition Landscape to any Data Layer in Unreal Engine 5.4.4, All UI methods for assigning a Landscape to a Data Layer are blocked or missing

Development World Creation
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Hello Unreal community,

I’ve run into a complete roadblock while trying to assign a World Partition Landscape to an Editor Data Layer in Unreal Engine 5.4.4 (Version: 5.4.4-35576357+++UE5+Release-5.4).

My goal is simple: I want to use an Editor Data Layer to easily toggle the visibility of my landscape. This is for editor organization and to improve performance while I’m working on other parts of the level. However, every possible method to do this has failed.

Here is a detailed breakdown of everything I have tried:

Attempt 1: Assigning the Landscape Proxies Directly

First, I tried to assign the individual streaming proxies to the Data Layer.

  • Action: I opened the World Partition Editor, selected the landscape proxy cells, right-clicked on my Editor Data Layer, and tried to add them.

  • Result: The “Add Selected Actor(s)…” button was grayed out and unclickable. The error message was “Selection Contains Non-User Managed Actors”.

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Attempt 2: Assigning the Main Landscape Actor (via Context Menu)

Next, I tried assigning the parent Landscape actor itself, thinking it would apply to its children.

  • Action: I selected the main Landscape actor in the World Outliner and right-clicked the Data Layer.

  • Result: Exactly the same as above. The button was disabled with the “Selection Contains Non-User Managed Actors” error, even though the main Landscape actor should be user-managed.

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Attempt 3: Assigning the Main Landscape Actor (via Details Panel)

To bypass the context menu, I tried assigning the Data Layer directly in the actor’s properties.

  • Action: I selected the main Landscape actor and went to its Details panel. I found the Data Layers array property.

  • Result: The + (Add Element) button for the array was grayed out and completely unclickable. The UI prevents any modification here.

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Attempt 4: Assigning the Data Layer During Landscape Creation

Finally, I thought the only way must be to assign it when the landscape is first created.

  • Action: I deleted my landscape and went to Landscape Mode to create a new one.

  • Result: The Data Layer property/dropdown, which appears in many tutorials, is completely missing from the “Create New Landscape” panel. There is no option to assign it at creation.

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My Question for the Community

After exhausting every possible UI method, it seems like the ability to assign a World Partition Landscape to a Data Layer has been either removed or is fundamentally broken in UE 5.4.4-35576357+++UE5+Release-5.4

  1. Is this a known bug, or was this functionality intentionally removed?

  2. What is the new, correct workflow in UE 5.4 for controlling the editor visibility of an entire World Partition landscape for organizational purposes?

I’m completely stuck, as the old workflows are no longer possible. Any help or insight would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!