Tags and layers in Unity

Introduction

Tags and layers help you organize and identify objects in your game easily. They let you group objects for interaction, collision, or special effects.

When you want to detect if the player touched an enemy or a collectible.

When you want to make certain objects ignore collisions with others.

When you want to apply effects only to specific groups of objects.

When you want to find or filter objects quickly in your scripts.

When you want to control rendering or physics behavior by grouping objects.

Syntax

Unity

gameObject.tag = "TagName";
int layer = gameObject.layer;
gameObject.layer = LayerMask.NameToLayer("LayerName");

Tags are strings you assign to objects to identify them.

Layers are numbers used mainly for collision and rendering rules.

Examples

Check if the object has the tag "Enemy" before acting.

Unity

if (gameObject.tag == "Enemy") {
    // Do something
}

Assign the tag "Collectible" to this object.

Unity

gameObject.tag = "Collectible";

Set the object's layer to "Ignore Raycast" so it won't be detected by raycasts.

Unity

gameObject.layer = LayerMask.NameToLayer("Ignore Raycast");

Sample Program

This script sets the object's tag to "Player" and layer to "Default". Then it checks the tag and prints both tag and layer to the console.

Unity

using UnityEngine;

public class TagLayerExample : MonoBehaviour
{
    void Start()
    {
        // Assign tag and layer
        gameObject.tag = "Player";
        gameObject.layer = LayerMask.NameToLayer("Default");

        // Check tag
        if (gameObject.tag == "Player")
        {
            Debug.Log($"This object is tagged as: {gameObject.tag}");
        }

        // Show layer number
        Debug.Log($"This object is on layer: {gameObject.layer}");
    }
}

Important Notes

Tags must be created first in Unity's Tag Manager before assigning.

Layers are limited to 32 slots; use them wisely for collision and rendering rules.

Use tags for identification and layers for physics or rendering control.

Summary

Tags help identify objects by name.

Layers help group objects for collisions and rendering.

Use tags and layers together to organize your game objects effectively.