vkCmdSetColorWriteEnableEXT(3)

# vkCmdSetColorWriteEnableEXT(3) Manual Page

## Name

vkCmdSetColorWriteEnableEXT - Enable or disable writes to a color attachment dynamically for a command buffer

## C Specification

To dynamically enable or disable writes to a color attachment, call:

    // Provided by VK_EXT_color_write_enable
    void vkCmdSetColorWriteEnableEXT(
        VkCommandBuffer                             commandBuffer,
        uint32_t                                    attachmentCount,
        const VkBool32*                             pColorWriteEnables);

## Parameters

- `commandBuffer` is the command buffer into which the command will be recorded.

- `attachmentCount` is the number of VkBool32 elements in `pColorWriteEnables`.

- `pColorWriteEnables` is a pointer to an array of per target attachment boolean values specifying whether color writes are enabled for the given attachment.

## Description

This command sets the color write enables for subsequent drawing commands when drawing using shader objects, or when the graphics pipeline is created with VK_DYNAMIC_STATE_COLOR_WRITE_ENABLE_EXT set in VkPipelineDynamicStateCreateInfo::`pDynamicStates`. Otherwise, this state is specified by the VkPipelineColorWriteCreateInfoEXT::`pColorWriteEnables` values used to create the currently active pipeline.

Valid Usage

- VUID-vkCmdSetColorWriteEnableEXT-None-04803
  The `colorWriteEnable` feature must be enabled

- VUID-vkCmdSetColorWriteEnableEXT-attachmentCount-06656
  `attachmentCount` must be less than or equal to the `maxColorAttachments` member of `VkPhysicalDeviceLimits`

Valid Usage (Implicit)

- VUID-vkCmdSetColorWriteEnableEXT-commandBuffer-parameter
  `commandBuffer` must be a valid VkCommandBuffer handle

- VUID-vkCmdSetColorWriteEnableEXT-pColorWriteEnables-parameter
  `pColorWriteEnables` must be a valid pointer to an array of `attachmentCount` VkBool32 values

- VUID-vkCmdSetColorWriteEnableEXT-commandBuffer-recording
  `commandBuffer` must be in the recording state

- VUID-vkCmdSetColorWriteEnableEXT-commandBuffer-cmdpool
  The `VkCommandPool` that `commandBuffer` was allocated from must support VK_QUEUE_GRAPHICS_BIT operations

- VUID-vkCmdSetColorWriteEnableEXT-videocoding
  This command must only be called outside of a video coding scope

- VUID-vkCmdSetColorWriteEnableEXT-attachmentCount-arraylength
  `attachmentCount` must be greater than `0`

Host Synchronization

- Host access to `commandBuffer` must be externally synchronized

- Host access to the `VkCommandPool` that `commandBuffer` was allocated from must be externally synchronized

Command Properties

Command Buffer Levels | Render Pass Scope | Video Coding Scope | Supported Queue Types | Command Type
--- | --- | --- | --- | ---
Primary Secondary | Both | Outside | VK_QUEUE_GRAPHICS_BIT | State

Conditional Rendering

vkCmdSetColorWriteEnableEXT is not affected by conditional rendering

## See Also

VK_EXT_color_write_enable, VkBool32, VkCommandBuffer

## Document Notes

For more information, see the Vulkan Specification.

This page is extracted from the Vulkan Specification. Fixes and changes should be made to the Specification, not directly.

## Copyright

Copyright 2014-2026 The Khronos Group Inc.

SPDX-License-Identifier: CC-BY-4.0