Why does my URP 2D Light bake produce no static lighting?

2D Lights set to Volumetric or with Quality Low may not bake properly. Set the Light to Static, ensure Light Blend Style supports baking, and confirm sprites are using Sprite-Lit-Default material so they accept baked lighting.

How do I configure Light Blend Style in URP 2D?

In the 2D Renderer Data, expand Light Blend Styles. Each style has a name, blend mode (Multiply/Additive/etc), and mask channels. Lights pick a style; sprite materials must reference the same style indices to receive.

Should I bake or use real-time 2D lights?

Real-time is more flexible and looks correct as content moves. Bake only static decoration lighting where performance demands it. For most 2D games, real-time with appropriate quality is fine.

Fix: Unity URP 2D Light Bake Static Failing

Quick answer: Set the 2D Light to Static, sprites to Sprite-Lit-Default, and confirm Light Blend Style indices align between Light and material. For most games, prefer real-time 2D lights; reserve bake for performance-critical static scenes.

Here is how to fix Unity URP 2D Light static baking failing to apply lighting to sprites. Sprite material, light blend style, and light type must all align.

The Symptom

You add a Light 2D, mark it Static, expecting baked lighting. Sprites in the area are unlit or improperly lit.

What Causes This

Sprite uses unlit material. Sprite-Default does not respond to 2D Lights at all.

Wrong Light Blend Style. Lights pick blend style by index; sprites pick by name. Mismatch leaves sprite ignoring the light.

Light is volumetric. Volumetric lights interact differently and may not bake to sprites.

The Fix

Step 1: Material to Sprite-Lit-Default. Select the SpriteRenderer; assign Sprite-Lit-Default (or a custom Sprite Lit shader graph).

Step 2: Confirm Light Blend Style match. 2D Renderer Data → Light Blend Styles. Default style 0 is Multiply. Light’s Blend Style index = sprite’s Renderer Light Mask layer.

Step 3: Light Type and Static flag.

Light 2D:
  Light Type:    Point or Global
  Light Order:   0
  Color:         FFE4B5
  Intensity:     1.0
  Falloff:       0.5
  Use Normal Map: optional

Step 4: For real-time use, prefer that. Static bake in URP 2D is limited; real-time lights handle moving content cleanly and modern GPUs run them cheap. Use real-time unless profiling shows a problem.

Step 5: Verify with a Global Light 2D test. Add a Global Light 2D at intensity 1.0. If sprites get even basic lighting, the pipeline is wired up correctly. If not, sprite material or renderer data is the issue.

“Sprite-Lit material. Matching blend style. Real-time over static unless you measure a need.”

Related Issues

For 2D Light not affecting sprites, see 2D Light URP. For ShadowCaster2D, see ShadowCaster2D.

Lit material. Matching blend style. Real-time first. Lights apply.