Error: unity hdrp directional light not working

What's Causing This Error

Several factors can cause a directional light to malfunction in Unity's High Definition Render Pipeline (HDRP):

1. Layer and Volume Issue: The light may not be affecting the layers that your objects are on, or it might not be included in the scene's lighting volume.
2. Incorrect Settings: Directional lights have multiple settings that can affect their operation, such as intensity, color, and shadow settings. Incorrectly configured parameters can lead to visibility issues.
3. Shader Graph Problems: If you're using Shader Graph with HDRP, the shaders might not be set up correctly to receive lighting information.
4. Render Pipeline Configuration: The HDRP Asset may be misconfigured or outdated. A missing or incorrect HDRP Asset can cause various rendering issues.
5. Scene View vs. Game View: Sometimes, what you see in the Scene view does not match the Game view due to different settings or camera configurations.
6. Graphics API Compatibility: There could be compatibility issues between HDRP and the chosen Graphics API on your platform.

Solution - Here's How To Resolve It

To resolve issues with a directional light not working in HDRP, follow these steps:

1. Check Volumes and Layers: Ensure that the light is set to affect the correct layers by checking its Culling Mask. Also, check that your scene has an HDRP Volume with the necessary profiles for lighting.
2. Review Light Settings: Double-check the light's intensity, range, mode, shadows, and other relevant settings. Set the light's intensity to a value that's appropriate for HDRP, which often requires higher values than the Standard pipeline.
3. Shader Graph Verification: If you're using custom shaders, make sure that they are compatible with HDRP and properly set up to work with its lighting system.
4. Update HDRP Asset: Verify that the HDRP Asset is correctly set up in Graphics Settings and that it is up-to-date.
5. Compare Views: Check both the Scene and Game views for discrepancies, adjusting camera settings as needed to ensure consistency.
6. API Compatibility Check: Confirm that your Graphics API settings in Player Settings are compatible with HDRP. Switching to a different supported API might resolve the issue.

By following these troubleshooting steps, you should be able to resolve most issues related to a directional light not working in Unity's HDRP.