How to Add Lights to Unreal Engine

This guide teaches you how to add lights to Unreal Engine using the latest 2026 tools and workflows. You’ll learn to place, adjust, and optimize lighting for realistic and stylized scenes with confidence.

Key Takeaways

• Understand light types: Directional, Point, Spot, and Sky lights each serve unique purposes in scene illumination.
• Use real-time lighting effectively: Leverage Lumen for dynamic global illumination without baking in most cases.
• Optimize performance: Balance visual quality with frame rate by managing light complexity and shadow settings.
• Master light placement: Position lights strategically to enhance mood, depth, and realism in your environments.
• Adjust light properties: Tweak intensity, color, temperature, and shadows to match your artistic vision.
• Leverage lighting modes: Choose between Stationary, Movable, and Static based on performance and visual needs.
• Troubleshoot common issues: Fix dark scenes, flickering shadows, and performance drops with proven solutions.

Introduction: Why Lighting Matters in Unreal Engine

Lighting is one of the most powerful tools in your Unreal Engine toolkit. Whether you’re building a photorealistic cityscape, a moody horror game, or a vibrant animated world, how you use light can make or break the atmosphere. In 2026, Unreal Engine 5.4 and 5.5 have refined lighting workflows, making it easier than ever to create stunning visuals with minimal effort—especially thanks to Lumen, the real-time global illumination system.

This guide will walk you through how to add lights to Unreal Engine from scratch. You’ll learn about different light types, how to place and configure them, and how to optimize your scene for performance without sacrificing quality. By the end, you’ll be able to light any environment like a pro, whether you’re working on a game, a cinematic, or a virtual production.

Getting Started: Setting Up Your Scene

Before adding lights, make sure your project is set up correctly. Open Unreal Engine and either create a new project or open an existing one. For best results, use a project template that supports Lumen—such as the “Games” or “Film/TV” template with ray tracing enabled.

Enable Lumen for Real-Time Lighting

Lumen is Unreal Engine’s dynamic global illumination system. It calculates realistic lighting and reflections in real time, eliminating the need to bake lighting in many cases. To enable Lumen:

• Go to Edit > Project Settings > Rendering.
• Under Global Illumination, set Dynamic Global Illumination Method to Lumen.
• Under Reflections, set Reflection Method to Lumen.
• Ensure Ray Tracing is enabled if your hardware supports it (RTX 3000 series or newer recommended).

With Lumen active, your lights will interact naturally with surfaces, casting soft shadows and bouncing light realistically—no baking required.

Set Up Your Level

Start with a basic level. You can use the default “Default Level” or create a simple environment using geometry brushes or imported assets. Make sure your scene has surfaces for light to bounce off—walls, floors, and objects all affect how light behaves.

Tip: Use the Place Actors panel (press Tab or go to the Modes panel) to quickly add geometry like cubes, spheres, or planes for testing lighting.

Adding Your First Light: The Directional Light

The Directional Light simulates sunlight or moonlight. It casts parallel rays across your entire scene, making it ideal for outdoor environments or large indoor spaces with consistent lighting.

How to Add a Directional Light

1. In the Place Actors panel, search for “Directional Light”.
2. Drag it into your scene.
3. Position it above your level—height doesn’t matter since it affects the whole scene.
4. Rotate it to control the angle of the light (e.g., 45 degrees for a midday sun).

Adjusting Directional Light Settings

Select the Directional Light and open the Details panel. Key settings to tweak:

• Intensity: Controls brightness. Start with 5.0 for daylight, lower for overcast or indoor use.
• Light Color: Use a warm white (e.g., RGB 255, 244, 229) for sunlight or cool blue for moonlight.
• Temperature: Set to 5500–6500K for natural daylight. Lower values (3000K) give a warm, sunset feel.
• Cast Shadows: Enable this to see shadows. With Lumen, shadows are soft and dynamic.
• Light Function: Optional. Use a material to create effects like god rays or flickering.

Example: For a sunrise scene, set the light at a low angle (10–20 degrees), use a warm orange color, and reduce intensity to 3.0.

Using Point Lights for Local Illumination

A Point Light emits light in all directions from a single point—like a light bulb or candle. It’s perfect for indoor lighting, lamps, or accent lighting.

Adding a Point Light

1. In the Place Actors panel, search for “Point Light”.
2. Drag it into your scene near where you want illumination (e.g., above a table).
3. Adjust its position using the transform tools (W for move, E for rotate, R for scale).

Configuring Point Light Properties

In the Details panel:

• Intensity: Start with 1000–3000 lumens. Higher values brighten the area quickly.
• Attenuation Radius: Controls how far the light reaches. Increase for broader coverage.
• Light Color: Use warm white (2700K) for cozy interiors or cool white (4000K) for offices.
• Cast Shadows: Enable for realism. Lumen handles soft shadows automatically.
• Source Radius: Affects shadow softness. Larger values = softer shadows.

Tip: Use multiple Point Lights with lower intensity to avoid harsh hotspots. Overlap them slightly for even coverage.

Spot Lights for Focused Beams

A Spot Light shines light in a cone shape—ideal for flashlights, stage lights, or security beams. It’s directional and adjustable.

Placing a Spot Light

1. Search for “Spot Light” in the Place Actors panel.
2. Drag it into your scene.
3. Rotate it to aim the beam (use the cone gizmo in the viewport).
4. Adjust the position to control where the light hits.

Customizing Spot Light Settings

Key settings in the Details panel:

• Intensity: Similar to Point Lights—start at 1500–2500 lumens.
• Inner Cone Angle: The bright center of the beam (e.g., 30 degrees).
• Outer Cone Angle: The edge of the light (e.g., 45 degrees). The area between inner and outer is a fade.
• Source Radius: Affects shadow softness. Larger = softer edges.
• IES Profile: Optional. Load an IES texture for realistic light distribution (e.g., streetlights).

Example: For a flashlight, set a narrow cone (20° inner, 30° outer), high intensity (3000), and enable shadows.

Sky Lights for Ambient Illumination

The Sky Light captures the environment’s surroundings and uses it to illuminate your scene. It’s essential for realistic outdoor lighting and reflections.

Adding a Sky Light

1. Search for “Sky Light” in the Place Actors panel.
2. Drag it into your scene. It affects the entire level automatically.
3. No need to position it—just ensure it’s enabled.

Configuring Sky Light

In the Details panel:

• Source Type: Choose “Sky Atmosphere” (default) or “Cubemap” for custom HDRIs.
• Intensity: Usually 1.0. Increase for brighter ambient light.
• Recapture: Click this if you change the sky or time of day to update lighting.
• Lower Hemisphere Is Solid Color: Enable for indoor scenes to avoid dark floors.

Tip: Pair Sky Light with a Sky Atmosphere and Exponential Height Fog for realistic outdoor lighting.

Understanding Light Mobility: Static, Stationary, Movable

Unreal Engine offers three mobility types for lights. Choosing the right one affects performance and visual quality.

Static Lights

These are baked into lightmaps and don’t change at runtime. Best for non-moving objects in performance-critical games.

• Pros: Very fast, low GPU cost.
• Cons: Can’t move or change; requires baking.
• Use Case: Static architecture, fixed lamps.

Stationary Lights

Can be moved or have color/intensity changed at runtime, but shadows are partially baked.

• Pros: Flexible, good performance.
• Cons: Limited dynamic range; baking required.
• Use Case: Lights that might change color (e.g., neon signs).

Movable Lights

Fully dynamic—can move, change, and cast real-time shadows. Best with Lumen.

• Pros: Maximum flexibility, real-time updates.
• Cons: Higher performance cost.
• Use Case: Moving vehicles, interactive lights, cinematic scenes.

In 2026, with Lumen, most developers use Movable lights for dynamic scenes and Stationary for static ones to balance quality and performance.

Advanced Lighting Techniques

Once you’ve mastered the basics, try these advanced methods to elevate your scenes.

Using Light Functions

Light Functions let you apply materials to lights for effects like flickering, patterns, or animated textures.

• Create a material with emissive or masked textures.
• In the light’s Details panel, assign it under Light Function Material.
• Example: Use a noise texture to simulate flickering candlelight.

IES Profiles for Realism

IES (Illuminating Engineering Society) files describe how real-world lights distribute light.

• Download IES profiles from sites like Photometric Viewer.
• Import into Unreal as textures.
• Assign to Spot or Point Lights under IES Texture.
• Result: Accurate light falloff and beam shapes.

Light Propagation Volume (LPV) for Indirect Lighting

For scenes without Lumen (e.g., mobile), use LPV for baked indirect lighting.

• Enable in Project Settings > Rendering > Lighting.
• Add an LPV Volume to your level.
• Bake lighting using Build > Build Lighting.

Note: Lumen makes LPV less necessary in 2026, but it’s still useful for specific platforms.

Optimizing Lighting Performance

Great lighting shouldn’t tank your frame rate. Follow these tips to keep your game smooth.

Limit the Number of Dynamic Lights

Each Movable light adds GPU cost. Use only what you need. Replace multiple Point Lights with one brighter one when possible.

Adjust Shadow Quality

In Project Settings > Rendering > Shadows:

• Lower Shadow Map Resolution for distant objects.
• Use Cascaded Shadow Maps (CSM) for Directional Lights outdoors.
• Disable shadows on small or distant lights.

Use Light Culling

Unreal automatically culls lights outside the camera view. Ensure Light Culling is enabled in project settings.

Profile with GPU Visualizer

Press Ctrl+Shift+, then type r.GPUVisualizer 1 to see lighting costs. Identify expensive lights and optimize them.

Troubleshooting Common Lighting Issues

Even experts run into lighting problems. Here’s how to fix the most common ones.

Scene Is Too Dark

• Check if Lumen is enabled.
• Increase light intensity or add more lights.
• Ensure Sky Light is active and not set to black.
• Verify that Auto Exposure isn’t underexposing the scene (adjust in Post Process Volume).

Flickering Shadows

• Increase Source Radius on lights for softer shadows.
• Adjust Shadow Bias in light settings to prevent shadow acne.
• Ensure lights aren’t too close to geometry.

Performance Drops

• Reduce the number of Movable lights.
• Switch some lights to Stationary or Static.
• Lower shadow resolution or disable shadows on non-critical lights.
• Use Level of Detail (LOD) to simplify lighting at a distance.

Lights Not Updating in Real Time

• Ensure lights are set to Movable.
• Check that Real-Time is enabled in the viewport.
• Rebuild lighting if using baked methods.

Conclusion: Light Up Your World

Learning how to add lights to Unreal Engine is a game-changer for any creator. From simple Point Lights to dynamic Lumen-powered scenes, lighting brings your worlds to life. In 2026, Unreal Engine’s tools make it easier than ever to achieve professional-quality results—whether you’re building a game, a film, or a virtual experience.

Remember: start simple, experiment with settings, and always profile your performance. Use the right light for the job, leverage Lumen for realism, and don’t be afraid to tweak until it feels right. With practice, you’ll develop an eye for lighting that enhances mood, guides the player, and creates unforgettable visuals.

Now go light up your scene—your audience is waiting.