The Meta XR plugin is required to customize Unreal Engine for developing Meta Horizon OS applications. You already should have installed the plugin before creating your new project. If you haven’t, see Installing the Meta XR Plugin.

You only need to install the Meta XR plugin once and this section assumes that you’ve either installed the Meta XR Plugin separately, or as part of installing Unreal Engine from the Oculus-VR fork of the Unreal source code (the recommended path). However, you need to set it up and enable it, for each project you create.

Only a few specific plugin settings are discussed here. For information on all available settings, see Meta XR Plugin Settings.

Setup the Meta XR plugin for your project

Setting up the Meta XR Plugin takes four steps:

Enable the Meta XR plugin

Configure the Meta XR plugin

Configure the Meta XR Project Setup Tool

Configure the Meta XR Platform window

Enable the Meta XR plugin

Even if you’ve installed Unreal Engine from the Oculus-VR fork of the Unreal source code (which automatically installs the appropriate Meta plugin), you still need to enable it for each project. As with above, this is for Unreal Engine version 5.x.

To enable the Meta XR plugin:

In the Unreal Editor, go to Edit and select Plugins.

Screenshot of Unreal editor Edit > Plugins

In the list of All Plugins, under Installed, select Virtual Reality.

Screenshot of Virtual Reality plugins list

Select Meta XR Plugin to enable it. If the Oculus VR plugin is displayed, do not enable it when using Unreal 5.x because it is deprecated.

Note: If you do not see the Meta XR plugin, refer to Installing the Meta XR Plugin. Do not install the Oculus VR plugin for Unreal Engine versions earlier than UE 5.x.

Select Restart Editor when prompted.

Configure the Meta XR plugin

Configuring the Meta XR plugin will enable you to set up many of the default behaviors of your project to suit your specific needs. These include things like setting up the splash screen, the color space, and rendering options.

To configure the Meta XR plugin

Ensure that your project is loaded in Unreal Engine and the plugin is enabled.

In the Unreal Editor, go to Editor and select Project Settings.

Screenshot of Unreal editor Edit > Project Settings

Under Plugins in the left nav, select Meta XR.

Screenshot of Unreal editor Meta XR plugin settings

Configure the plugin as appropriate for the needs of your project.

Note: You can configure a number of settings. For more information on your options, see Meta XR Plugin Settings.

Select an appropriate OpenXR backend. See Choosing an OpenXR Backend.

Select Restart Editor if prompted.

Configure the Meta XR Project Setup Tool

The Meta XR Project Setup Tool can help you set up parts of your project to target the specific devices you’re developing for.

To configure the Meta XR Project Setup Tool for your project:

Load your project in Unreal Engine and make sure the Meta XR plugin is enabled.

In the Unreal Editor, go to Editor and select Project Settings.

Under Plugins in the left nav, select Meta XR.

In the Plugins - Meta XR window, under General Meta XR, select Launch Meta XR Project Setup Tool.

Select the tab for the type of device that you’re targeting.

If there are any required or recommended rules, click Apply All.

Restart the editor after applying settings.

Note: You may need to restart the editor more than once.

Configure the Meta XR Platform window

The Meta XR Platform window helps you configure the settings of your project to fit the needs for developing Meta Horizon OS applications, including setting a number of device-specific defaults such as the APK file path (Meta Quest) and the Rift build directory (Oculus Rift).

To configure the Meta XR Platform window for your project”

Load your project in Unreal Engine and make sure the Meta XR plugin is enabled.

In the Unreal Editor, go to Editor and select Project Settings.

Under Plugins in the left nav, select Meta XR.

In the Plugins - Meta XR window, under General Meta XR, select Launch Meta XR Platform Window.