Animator doesn't run when offscreen
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jellejurre
Animator doesn't run when offscreen. See video attached.
To test this I used a setup where the state transition is the thing that is supposed to update offscreen, which should always happen. Note that the avatar isnt distance culled.
IsAnimatorEnabled also isn't set to false in this use case, leading me to think this is unintentional.
If this is intentional it should be communciated to the community clearer.
Note: Only tested on PC, unsure about other platforms
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GumboIsland
This ruling contradicts the VRChat documentation on IsAnimatorEnabled and VRChat Performance Options. Disabling animators was avoided before, but was implemented in 2025.1.1 and given a parameter to allow creators to work around the potential desync issues. There is no current way for creators to work around turned-around culling, because the IsAnimatorEnabled parameter does not enable.
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peepymou
I'm pretty sure this was incorrectly closed since there is still an issue with "IsAnimatorEnabled" not reading the correct value. I would create a new post focused on the issue of the parameter not updating correctly.
Tupper - VRChat Head of Community
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This is intended behavior. Animators are expensive to run, so we cull any that you can't see. When culled, animators do not run.
You should design your animators so that they are deterministic, meaning the animator will always resolve to the correct state based solely on the current values of its parameters, regardless of animation history or transitions. This ensures that when the animator resumes after being culled, it will resolve to the appropriate state automatically.
Animators that rely on transitional state (e.g. timing-based transitions, trigger chaining, or entry-to-next logic) can desynchronize when culled, since those transitions are not processed while off-screen. If you need a particular state to be active under specific conditions, drive it directly with parameters and use direct transitions.
GumboIsland
This issue also occurs on Android (Tested on Quest)