Unity 6.3 — DOTS / Entities (ECS)

Last verified: 2026-02-13 Status: Production-Ready (Entities 1.3+, Unity 6.3 LTS) Package: com.unity.entities (Package Manager)

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Overview

DOTS (Data-Oriented Technology Stack) is Unity's high-performance ECS (Entity Component System) framework. It's designed for games with massive scale (1000s-10,000s of entities).

Use DOTS for:

• RTS games (1000s of units)
• Simulations (crowds, traffic, physics)
• Procedural content generation
• Performance-critical systems

DON'T use DOTS for:

• Small games (overhead not worth it)
• Gameplay requiring frequent structural changes
• Heavy use of UnityEngine APIs (MonoBehaviour is easier)

⚠️ Knowledge Gap: Entities 1.0+ (Unity 6) is a complete rewrite from 0.x. Many tutorials for Entities 0.x are now outdated.

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Installation

Install via Package Manager

1. Window > Package Manager
2. Unity Registry > Search "Entities"
3. Install:
   • Entities (ECS core)
   • Burst (LLVM compiler)
   • Jobs (auto-installed)
   • Mathematics (SIMD math)

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Core Concepts

1. Entity

• Lightweight ID (int)
• No behavior, just an identifier

2. Component

• Data only (no methods)
• Struct implementing IComponentData

3. System

• Logic that operates on components
• Struct implementing ISystem

4. Archetype

• Unique combination of component types
• Entities with same components share archetype

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Basic ECS Pattern

Define Component

using Unity.Entities;
using Unity.Mathematics;

// ✅ Component: Data only, no methods
public struct Position : IComponentData {
    public float3 Value;
}

public struct Velocity : IComponentData {
    public float3 Value;
}

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Define System

using Unity.Entities;
using Unity.Burst;

// ✅ System: Logic that processes entities
[BurstCompile]
public partial struct MovementSystem : ISystem {
    [BurstCompile]
    public void OnUpdate(ref SystemState state) {
        float deltaTime = SystemAPI.Time.DeltaTime;

        // Query all entities with Position + Velocity
        foreach (var (transform, velocity) in
            SystemAPI.Query<RefRW<Position>, RefRO<Velocity>>()) {

            transform.ValueRW.Value += velocity.ValueRO.Value * deltaTime;
        }
    }
}

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Create Entities

using Unity.Entities;
using Unity.Mathematics;

public partial class EntitySpawner : SystemBase {
    protected override void OnUpdate() {
        var em = EntityManager;

        // Create entity
        Entity entity = em.CreateEntity();

        // Add components
        em.AddComponentData(entity, new Position { Value = float3.zero });
        em.AddComponentData(entity, new Velocity { Value = new float3(1, 0, 0) });
    }
}

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Hybrid ECS (MonoBehaviour + ECS)

Baker (Convert GameObject to Entity)

using Unity.Entities;
using UnityEngine;

public class PlayerAuthoring : MonoBehaviour {
    public float speed;
}

public class PlayerBaker : Baker<PlayerAuthoring> {
    public override void Bake(PlayerAuthoring authoring) {
        var entity = GetEntity(TransformUsageFlags.Dynamic);

        AddComponent(entity, new Position { Value = authoring.transform.position });
        AddComponent(entity, new Velocity { Value = new float3(authoring.speed, 0, 0) });
    }
}

How it works:

1. Add PlayerAuthoring to GameObject in editor
2. Baker automatically converts to Entity at runtime
3. Entity has Position + Velocity components

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Queries

Query All Entities with Components

foreach (var (position, velocity) in
    SystemAPI.Query<RefRW<Position>, RefRO<Velocity>>()) {

    position.ValueRW.Value += velocity.ValueRO.Value * deltaTime;
}

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Query with Entity

foreach (var (position, velocity, entity) in
    SystemAPI.Query<RefRW<Position>, RefRO<Velocity>>().WithEntityAccess()) {

    // Access entity ID
    Debug.Log($"Entity: {entity}");
}

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Query with Filters

// Only entities with "Enemy" tag
foreach (var position in
    SystemAPI.Query<RefRW<Position>>().WithAll<EnemyTag>()) {
    // Process enemies only
}

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Jobs (Parallel Execution)

IJobEntity (Parallel Foreach)

using Unity.Entities;
using Unity.Burst;

[BurstCompile]
public partial struct MovementJob : IJobEntity {
    public float DeltaTime;

    // Execute runs in parallel for each entity
    void Execute(ref Position position, in Velocity velocity) {
        position.Value += velocity.Value * DeltaTime;
    }
}

[BurstCompile]
public partial struct MovementSystem : ISystem {
    public void OnUpdate(ref SystemState state) {
        var job = new MovementJob {
            DeltaTime = SystemAPI.Time.DeltaTime
        };
        job.ScheduleParallel(); // Parallel execution
    }
}

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Burst Compiler (Performance)

Enable Burst

using Unity.Burst;

[BurstCompile] // 10-100x faster than regular C#
public partial struct MySystem : ISystem {
    [BurstCompile]
    public void OnUpdate(ref SystemState state) {
        // Burst-compiled code
    }
}

Burst Restrictions:

• No managed references (classes, strings, etc.)
• Only blittable types (structs, primitives, Unity.Mathematics types)
• No exceptions

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Entity Command Buffers (Structural Changes)

Deferred Structural Changes

using Unity.Entities;

public partial struct SpawnSystem : ISystem {
    public void OnUpdate(ref SystemState state) {
        var ecb = new EntityCommandBuffer(Allocator.Temp);

        // Defer entity creation (don't modify during iteration)
        foreach (var spawner in SystemAPI.Query<Spawner>()) {
            Entity newEntity = ecb.CreateEntity();
            ecb.AddComponent(newEntity, new Position { Value = spawner.SpawnPos });
        }

        ecb.Playback(state.EntityManager); // Apply changes
        ecb.Dispose();
    }
}

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Dynamic Buffers (Array-Like Components)

Define Dynamic Buffer

public struct PathWaypoint : IBufferElementData {
    public float3 Position;
}

Use Dynamic Buffer

// Add buffer to entity
var buffer = EntityManager.AddBuffer<PathWaypoint>(entity);
buffer.Add(new PathWaypoint { Position = new float3(0, 0, 0) });
buffer.Add(new PathWaypoint { Position = new float3(10, 0, 0) });

// Query buffer
foreach (var buffer in SystemAPI.Query<DynamicBuffer<PathWaypoint>>()) {
    foreach (var waypoint in buffer) {
        Debug.Log(waypoint.Position);
    }
}

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Tags (Zero-Size Components)

Define Tag

public struct EnemyTag : IComponentData { } // Empty component = tag

Use Tag for Filtering

// Only process entities with EnemyTag
foreach (var position in
    SystemAPI.Query<RefRW<Position>>().WithAll<EnemyTag>()) {
    // Enemy-specific logic
}

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System Ordering

Explicit Ordering

[UpdateBefore(typeof(PhysicsSystem))]
public partial struct InputSystem : ISystem { }

[UpdateAfter(typeof(PhysicsSystem))]
public partial struct RenderSystem : ISystem { }

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Performance Patterns

Chunk Iteration (Maximum Performance)

public void OnUpdate(ref SystemState state) {
    var query = SystemAPI.QueryBuilder().WithAll<Position, Velocity>().Build();

    var chunks = query.ToArchetypeChunkArray(Allocator.Temp);
    var positionType = state.GetComponentTypeHandle<Position>();
    var velocityType = state.GetComponentTypeHandle<Velocity>(true); // Read-only

    foreach (var chunk in chunks) {
        var positions = chunk.GetNativeArray(ref positionType);
        var velocities = chunk.GetNativeArray(ref velocityType);

        for (int i = 0; i < chunk.Count; i++) {
            positions[i] = new Position {
                Value = positions[i].Value + velocities[i].Value * deltaTime
            };
        }
    }

    chunks.Dispose();
}

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Migration from MonoBehaviour

// ❌ OLD: MonoBehaviour (OOP)
public class Enemy : MonoBehaviour {
    public float speed;
    void Update() {
        transform.position += Vector3.forward * speed * Time.deltaTime;
    }
}

// ✅ NEW: DOTS (ECS)
public struct EnemyData : IComponentData {
    public float Speed;
}

[BurstCompile]
public partial struct EnemyMovementSystem : ISystem {
    public void OnUpdate(ref SystemState state) {
        float dt = SystemAPI.Time.DeltaTime;
        foreach (var (transform, enemy) in
            SystemAPI.Query<RefRW<LocalTransform>, RefRO<EnemyData>>()) {
            transform.ValueRW.Position += new float3(0, 0, enemy.ValueRO.Speed * dt);
        }
    }
}

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Debugging

Entities Hierarchy Window

Window > Entities > Hierarchy

• Shows all entities and their components
• Filter by archetype, component type

Entities Profiler

Window > Analysis > Profiler > Entities

• System execution times
• Memory usage per archetype

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Sources

• https://docs.unity3d.com/Packages/com.unity.entities@1.3/manual/index.html
• https://docs.unity3d.com/Packages/com.unity.burst@1.8/manual/index.html
• https://learn.unity.com/tutorial/entity-component-system