Jagged Edges in Games
Stair-stepped outlines on geometry
Also known as: Aliasing · Jaggies · Jagged edges Unreal · Jagged edges Unity · Anti-aliasing not working · Staircase edges
Quick answer
Jagged, stair-stepped edges are aliasing, and the fix is to turn on anti-aliasing and give it enough resolution to work with. Pick a method that suits your renderer: MSAA in forward rendering, TAA or TSR in deferred engines such as Unreal Engine 5, SMAA or FXAA as cheap options, and DLSS or FSR as upscaling anti-aliasing. Raising the render resolution or screen percentage also reduces jaggies.
How to fix it
Check the project's anti-aliasing setting first, since it may be off in the editor or in a quality preset. Thin geometry and high-contrast details alias most, so make fences, wires and foliage a little thicker or use cards with soft edges. For stills and portfolio renders, increase the render samples or render at a higher resolution and scale down. In viewports, make sure the viewport's own anti-aliasing is on.
