Lighting and Environment in Decentraland

Point Lights

Emit light in all directions from a position:

typescript

import { engine, Transform, LightSource } from '@dcl/sdk/ecs'
import { Vector3, Color3 } from '@dcl/sdk/math'

const light = engine.addEntity()
Transform.create(light, { position: Vector3.create(8, 3, 8) })

LightSource.create(light, {
  type: LightSource.Type.Point({}),
  color: Color3.White(),
  intensity: 16000  // candela
})

Colored Point Light

typescript

LightSource.create(light, {
  type: LightSource.Type.Point({}),
  color: Color3.create(1, 0.5, 0),  // Warm orange
  intensity: 16000,
  range: 15  // Maximum distance in meters
})

Defaults (from the protocol):

active

true,

color

white,

intensity

16000 candela,

range

-1 (auto),

shadow

false.

color

Color3

(RGB, each 0–1).

Spot Lights

Emit a cone of light in a direction:

typescript

import { Quaternion } from '@dcl/sdk/math'

const spotlight = engine.addEntity()
Transform.create(spotlight, {
  position: Vector3.create(8, 4, 8),
  rotation: Quaternion.fromEulerDegrees(-90, 0, 0)  // Point downward
})

LightSource.create(spotlight, {
  type: LightSource.Type.Spot({ innerAngle: 25, outerAngle: 45 }),
  color: Color3.White(),
  intensity: 16000
})

```
innerAngle
```
— full-brightness cone angle (degrees). Default
```
21.8
```
. Min
```
0
```
, max
```
179
```
.
```
outerAngle
```
— outer fade angle (degrees). Default
```
30
```
. Max
```
179
```
.
```
innerAngle
```
cannot exceed
```
outerAngle
```
— if it does, the engine clamps them to the same value.
The light direction follows the entity's forward vector (set via Transform rotation).
```
type
```
is a discriminated union. To read/mutate spot params at runtime, narrow first:
```
if (comp.type?.$case === 'spot') { comp.type.spot.innerAngle = 30 }
```

Shadows

Enable shadows on point or spot lights:

typescript

LightSource.create(spotlight, {
  type: LightSource.Type.Spot({ innerAngle: 25, outerAngle: 45 }),
  shadow: true,
  intensity: 800
})

Note: shadows are only rendered for spot lights, not point lights.

shadow

is a top-level boolean on the component (not inside

Spot

Point

Shadow Mask Textures (Gobos)

Project a pattern through the light:

typescript

const maskedLight = LightSource.getMutable(spotlight)
maskedLight.shadowMaskTexture = Material.Texture.Common({
  src: 'assets/Images/lightmask1.png'
})

Set
```
shadowMaskTexture = undefined
```
to remove the mask again.
The mask projects light shape (e.g. a window pattern) — simulating caustics/soft shadows. Used on spot lights.

Toggling Lights

typescript

// Toggle on/off
const lightData = LightSource.getMutable(light)
lightData.active = !lightData.active

Light Limits

A scene may create many lights (the engine test scene spawns ~9 across 2 parcels); the renderer decides how many render.
Depending on the player's quality settings, between ~4 and ~10 lights render at once. If the scene has more than that, only the closest lights to the player are rendered.
Up to ~3 shadow-casting lights render at once.
The renderer auto-culls lights based on quality settings and proximity.
Intensity is in candela (lumens/m² at 1m, i.e. lumens/4π). Default
```
16000
```
.
```
range
```
default is
```
-1
```
→ auto-computed as
```
intensity^0.25
```
(fourth root, in meters). Set an explicit
```
range
```
to override — this also limits a light's influence and saves performance.
Spread lights out so few are near the player at once (only the closest ones render).

SkyboxTime (Day/Night Cycle)

Use SkyboxTime for atmosphere — nighttime scenes with point lights create dramatic environments.

Fixed Time in scene.json

Set a permanent time of day without code. Two valid locations:

json

// Genesis City scene — top-level
{ "skyboxConfig": { "fixedTime": 43200 } }

// World — inside worldConfiguration
{ "worldConfiguration": { "name": "my-name.dcl.eth", "skyboxConfig": { "fixedTime": 36000 } } }

Time values (seconds since midnight, full day = 86400): 0 = midnight, 21600 = 6 AM, 43200 = noon, 64800 = 6 PM (dusk), 86400 = full day.

Precedence (verified against the engine test scenes):

worldConfiguration.skyboxConfig.fixedTime

wins over top-level

skyboxConfig.fixedTime

; either JSON value is in turn overridden at runtime by a

SkyboxTime

component on

engine.RootEntity

Read Current World Time

typescript

import { getWorldTime } from '~system/Runtime'

executeTask(async () => {
  const time = await getWorldTime({})
  console.log('Seconds since midnight:', time.seconds)
})

Change Time Dynamically

typescript

import { engine, SkyboxTime, TransitionMode } from '@dcl/sdk/ecs'

// Set time of day (must target the root entity)
SkyboxTime.create(engine.RootEntity, { fixedTime: 43200 })  // Noon

// Change with transition direction
SkyboxTime.createOrReplace(engine.RootEntity, {
  fixedTime: 64800,  // Dusk (6 PM)
  transitionMode: TransitionMode.TM_BACKWARD  // TM_FORWARD (0, default) or TM_BACKWARD (1)
})

// Remove the component to hand control back to global/world time
SkyboxTime.deleteFrom(engine.RootEntity)

```
transitionMode
```
(optional) sets the animation direction when the time changes. Default
```
TM_FORWARD
```
.
The component must live on
```
engine.RootEntity
```
. Deleting it reverts to the scene.json/world time (or the global day/night cycle).

Day/Night Cycle System

typescript

let currentTime = 43200
const CYCLE_SPEED = 100  // Time units per second

function dayNightCycle(dt: number) {
  currentTime = (currentTime + CYCLE_SPEED * dt) % 86400
  SkyboxTime.createOrReplace(engine.RootEntity, {
    fixedTime: currentTime
  })
}

engine.addSystem(dayNightCycle)

Realm Info

Detect which realm (server) the player is connected to:

typescript

import { getRealm } from '~system/Runtime'

executeTask(async () => {
  const realm = await getRealm({})
  console.log('Realm:', realm.realmInfo?.realmName)
  console.log('Network:', realm.realmInfo?.networkId)
  console.log('Base URL:', realm.realmInfo?.baseUrl)
})

Emissive Materials (Glow Effects)

For a visual glow without casting light on surroundings:

typescript

import { engine, Material } from '@dcl/sdk/ecs'
import { Color4, Color3 } from '@dcl/sdk/math'

// Self-illuminated material (emissiveColor uses Color3, not Color4)
Material.setPbrMaterial(entity, {
  albedoColor: Color4.create(0, 0, 0, 1),
  emissiveColor: Color3.create(0, 1, 0),  // Green glow
  emissiveIntensity: 2.0
})

Note: emissive materials don't illuminate other surrounding entities, they just have a glow effect on them.

Combining Emissive + LightSource

For an object that both glows visually and casts light:

typescript

// Visual glow on the mesh
Material.setPbrMaterial(bulb, {
  emissiveColor: Color3.create(1, 0.9, 0.7),
  emissiveIntensity: 1.5
})

// Actual light emission
LightSource.create(bulb, {
  type: LightSource.Type.Point({}),
  color: Color3.create(1, 0.9, 0.7),
  intensity: 200,
  range: 10
})

Shadow Quality

shadow

is a top-level optional boolean on the LightSource component (default

false

). There is no shadow-type enum — quality is automatic and distance-based.

Spot({...})

accepts only

innerAngle?

and

outerAngle?

typescript

import { LightSource } from '@dcl/sdk/ecs'

// Spot light with shadows enabled
LightSource.create(spotEntity, {
  type: LightSource.Type.Spot({ innerAngle: 25, outerAngle: 45 }),
  shadow: true,  // top-level boolean
  intensity: 800
})

Constraints:

Shadows are only supported for spot lights; point lights do not cast shadows.
Max 3 shadow-casting lights rendered at a time — disable
```
shadow
```
on lights that don't need it. Spot lights with shadows suit dramatic effects such as flashlights.
Shadow quality/culling is automatic, based on the light's distance from the player. Exact distances vary by light type and the player's quality settings; general rule:

Distance from player	Result
< 10 m	Soft shadows (high quality)
10–20 m	Hard shadows (low quality)
> 20 m	No shadows rendered

The light itself keeps illuminating at much larger distances — it is only disabled when the player is more than 160 m away (10 parcels). This makes LightSource suitable for large-scale setups like stage lighting at live events, where most of the audience is far from the fixtures.
Lights only render while the player is standing inside the scene; outside, they are not rendered.

Need advanced material effects? See the advanced-rendering skill for metallic, roughness, transparency, texture maps, texture tweens, and texture modes.

Gotchas

```
range
```
left unset (
```
-1
```
) is auto-derived from intensity as
```
intensity^0.25
```
— small intensities give surprisingly short range. Set
```
range
```
explicitly for predictable falloff.
```
shadow
```
only affects spot lights; setting it on a point light has no effect.
Animating a light's direction: put a
```
Tween
```
/
```
TweenSequence
```
(Rotate mode) on the light entity — the beam follows the entity's forward vector.
```
SkyboxTime
```
on
```
RootEntity
```
overrides any scene.json
```
fixedTime
```
;
```
deleteFrom
```
reverts to it.

Example scenes

Engine-team test scenes (real API, exercised against the engine):

https://github.com/decentraland/sdk7-test-scenes/tree/main/scenes/0,4-dynamic-lights — point & spot LightSource: toggle active, color, range, intensity, spot inner/outer angle at runtime, shadow-mask (gobo) swapping, and tweened light rotation.
https://github.com/decentraland/sdk7-test-scenes/tree/main/scenes/2,0-skybox-scene-json — fixed skybox time via top-level
```
skyboxConfig.fixedTime
```
; reads it back with
```
getSceneInformation
```
.
https://github.com/decentraland/sdk7-test-scenes/tree/main/scenes/3,0-skybox-world-json — fixed skybox time via
```
worldConfiguration.skyboxConfig.fixedTime
```
(World variant); demonstrates the worldConfiguration-wins precedence.
https://github.com/decentraland/sdk7-test-scenes/tree/main/scenes/2,1-skybox-sdk-scene-a and https://github.com/decentraland/sdk7-test-scenes/tree/main/scenes/3,1-skybox-sdk-scene-b — runtime
```
SkyboxTime
```
on
```
RootEntity
```
with
```
TransitionMode
```
, plus
```
deleteFrom
```
to return to global time.

lighting-environment

NPX Install

SKILL.md Content

Lighting and Environment in Decentraland

Point Lights

Colored Point Light

Spot Lights

Shadows

Shadow Mask Textures (Gobos)

Toggling Lights

Light Limits

SkyboxTime (Day/Night Cycle)

Fixed Time in scene.json

Read Current World Time

Change Time Dynamically

Day/Night Cycle System

Realm Info

Emissive Materials (Glow Effects)

Combining Emissive + LightSource

Shadow Quality

Gotchas

Example scenes