GarbageCollector.GCMode

Description

Set and get global garbage collector operation mode.

Setting the global operation mode changes the garbage collector behaviour for the entire application.

Not supported on the WebGL platform and in the Editor.

It is recommended that you only change the garbage collector operation mode on the application level and do not change it in third party libraries.

Subscribe to the GarbageCollector.GCModeChanged event to get notified when the garbage collector mode is changed.

Disabling the Garbage Collector Disabling the garbage collector by assigning GarbageCollector.Mode.Disabled completely disables the garbage collector. This means that the garbage collector thread will never stop your application to perform a collection. Also, calling System.GC.Collect() will have no effect and will not start a collection. Disabling the garbage collector has to be done with great care, as continuous allocations after disabling the garbage collector will result in a continuous increase in memory usage.

It is recommended that you only disable the garbage collector for long lived allocations. For example, in a game you should allocate all required memory for a level and then disable the garbage collector to avoid overhead during the level. After the level is completed and all memory is released, the garbage collector can then be enabled again and System.GC.Collect() can be called to reclaim memory before loading the next level.

See Also: GarbageCollector.Mode.Enabled, GarbageCollector.Mode.Disabled.

using System;
using UnityEngine;
using UnityEngine.Scripting;

[InitializeOnLoad]
public class GarbageCollectorExample
{
    static GarbageCollectorExample()
    {
        // Listen on garbage collector mode changes.
        GarbageCollector.GCModeChanged += (GarbageCollector.Mode mode) =>
        {
            Debug.Log("GCModeChanged: " + mode);
        };
    }

    static void LogMode()
    {
        Debug.Log("GCMode: " + GarbageCollector.GCMode);
    }

    static void EnableGC()
    {
        GarbageCollector.GCMode = GarbageCollector.Mode.Enabled;
        // Trigger a collection to free memory.
        GC.Collect();
    }

    static void DisableGC()
    {
        GarbageCollector.GCMode = GarbageCollector.Mode.Disabled;
    }
}