Why do my smoke particles draw in wrong order?

Default Sort Mode for Output Particle Quad varies. Set explicitly to Sort By Distance for back-to-front transparency. Pick Sort By Lifetime for trail-style effects.

What's Sorting Priority for?

Per-output ordering across emitters in the same VisualEffect. Higher priority renders later (on top). Use to layer fire-on-smoke or sparks-over-trail.

Should opaque particles also sort?

Opaque particles use depth buffer, sort isn't needed for visibility. But for visual consistency with later transparent passes, sort by distance produces more predictable layering.

Fix: Unity VFX Graph Quad Output Sort Mode Wrong

Quick answer: Output Particle Quad → Sort Mode = Sort By Distance for transparent particles. Set Sorting Priority to layer multiple emitters within the system.

Smoke and embers in the same VFX. Embers sometimes draw behind smoke instead of in front. Sort Mode unset.

The Symptom

Transparent particles render with wrong depth ordering. Effect inconsistent depending on viewing angle.

The Fix

Output Particle Quad (Smoke):
  Sort Mode:           Sort By Distance
  Sorting Priority:    0

Output Particle Quad (Embers):
  Sort Mode:           Sort By Distance
  Sorting Priority:    1      // renders after smoke

Sort By Distance sorts particles within the output back-to-front each frame. Sorting Priority determines order across outputs in the same system.

Sort Modes

None: insertion order. Cheapest; bad for transparency.
By Distance: back-to-front. Standard for smoke/glow.
By Lifetime: oldest first. Trail-style effects.
By Camera (auto): frame-by-frame distance. Same as By Distance but rebuilt each frame.
Custom: feed your own sort key.

Verifying

Render the system at multiple camera angles. Particles should layer consistently. Hard to say definitively without a side-by-side, but sudden flickering when rotating indicates wrong sort.

“Sort By Distance for transparent. Sorting Priority for layering. Order holds.”

Related Issues

For VFX Graph events, see VFX events. For VFX Graph mesh attribute, see mesh attribute.

Sort by distance. Priority for layers.