Project Settings

DreamShader's project-wide configuration is a UDeveloperSettings object with 13 properties.

The class is Config=Engine, DefaultConfig, so values live in the project's DefaultEngine.ini, not in a per-user file. They are shared by everyone who checks the project out.

The 13 settings

Rows in bold carry an explicit DisplayName; the others show the name Unreal derives from the property identifier, which drops a leading b from booleans. The ini keys are the raw C++ identifiers, b prefix included — bAutoCompileOnSave, not AutoCompileOnSave.

EDreamShaderDefaultBackend

How a per-file Backend setting overrides this is on Backend.

The mapping maps

The three Mappings entries extend the value spellings accepted by the three enum settings. They are empty by default: the built-in alias tables are rebuilt on demand during resolution and are never materialized into these maps, so an empty panel does not mean "no aliases".

The complete built-in tables are on Enum Values.

Panel tooltips

The editor's own wording, verbatim.

Default Compiler Backend:

How DreamShader materializes a source file that does not specify Settings = { Backend = "..." }. ThinCustom (the default) builds the material graph on a hidden per-material base and emits a lightweight, memory-only material instance of it -- full feature surface, no visible per-material asset. Graph builds a visible UMaterial node graph. Instance is a deprecated alias for ThinCustom.

Show In-Memory Materials In Content Browser:

When enabled, the memory-only DreamShader materials appear in the Content Browser like unsaved assets. Disabled by default: the source files are the intended authoring surface, and hiding the materials also prevents accidental Save actions from materializing them to disk.

Material Instance Subfolder:

Subfolder, relative to the parent material's folder, where the Material Content Browser creates new material instances. Leave empty to create them alongside the parent.

Where else these are surfaced

Notes

• There is no in-memory on/off toggle. The editor always generates in memory — source files are the authoring surface — and materialization to disk happens at cook, through the commandlet, or through an explicit action. Default Compiler Backend replaced the old In-Memory toggle in since 1.5.0.
• GeneratedShaderDirectory is only consulted while the virtual shader directory is unmapped. If a mapping already exists for this project, the existing mapping wins over the setting until the editor restarts.
• The built-in shader library path setting was removed in 1.3.8; no replacement exists.

Example

<Project>/Config/DefaultEngine.ini, showing every scalar property at its default value:

[/Script/DreamShader.DreamShaderSettings]
SourceDirectory=(Path="DShader")
GeneratedShaderDirectory=(Path="Intermediate/DreamShader/GeneratedShaders")
DefaultBackend=ThinCustom
bShowInMemoryMaterialsInContentBrowser=False
bAutoCompileOnSave=True
SaveDebounceSeconds=0.250000
bVerboseLogs=False
bExportDecompiledLayout=True
bOpenInNewWindow=True
InstanceSubfolder=Instances

The three mapping maps are container properties; edit them in the Project Settings panel and let the editor write them back.

Next

• Backend — how Default Compiler Backend is overridden per file
• Enum Values — the built-in tables the mapping maps extend
• In-memory Materials — what "memory-only" means in practice
• Editor Tools — the Tools menu entries and the Material Content Browser