Why is my Stateless Niagara emitter spawn rate zero?

Stateless emitters in 5.4+ require explicit Spawn Stage configuration. Add Spawn Stage to the emitter, set Spawn Rate or Spawn Burst there. Legacy Spawn Per Second from regular emitters doesn't apply.

What is a Stateless emitter?

Performance-optimized emitter that doesn't carry per-particle state across frames. Lower memory; great for short-lived effects (sparks, dust). Limited compared to Stateful but cheap.

Convert Stateful to Stateless?

Right-click emitter → Convert to Stateless. Manual fix-up of modules; not all are compatible. Read the conversion warnings.

Fix: Niagara Stateless Emitter Spawn Rate Zero

Quick answer: Add a Spawn Stage to the Stateless emitter. Configure Spawn Rate inside that stage. Stateless doesn’t use the legacy Spawn Per Second slot.

Convert legacy emitter to Stateless. Spawn Per Second value preserved in inspector. Runs at zero in preview.

The Fix

Niagara Emitter (Stateless):
  Spawn Stage:
    + Spawn Rate (per-second):  100
    + Spawn Burst (instantaneous): 0
  Particle Defaults:
    Lifetime:  0.5s

// Stateless modules are restricted; check compatibility list

Stateless re-architected the emit pipeline. Configure inside Spawn Stage explicitly; legacy properties are inert.

Verifying

Particles emit at configured rate in preview. Stat Niagara confirms cheaper cost than equivalent Stateful.

“Spawn Stage configured. Stateless emits.”

Related Issues

For Niagara LOD, see LOD. For Niagara Data Channels, see data channels.

Spawn Stage. Stateless emits.