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snowtv
New Participant
February 3, 2026
Question

Screen went dark when testing a Unity build

Hi there,

I'm testing a build of my Unity project on the Quest 3 (installed through the MQDH), and after a few minutes, the HMD just went dark (while the headset is on my head and with me actively testing my app) with what I believe is the "sleep mode" sound effect (the "shooooo" sound like you are moving away). If I press the Meta button on my right controller, the screen lights back up, and I can resume.

I tested running the Horizon World to rule out the proximity sensor's problem, and I stayed in a world for 30 minutes without the screen going dark.

I believe it might be some specific settings in my Unity project. Is it possible to log what's making my HMD go to sleep (that's what I'm assuming when the screen goes dark) and monitor it through ADB?

4 replies

meyukari
New Participant
February 4, 2026

After updating to V85, I encountered the same issue. Whenever I run any non-system app, the screen suddenly goes black and the device enters hibernation mode within a minute, requiring me to press the power button to wake it up. This completely disrupts my normal usage😅

snowtvAuthor
New Participant
February 5, 2026

Ok, thanks for the info. I just downloaded the Battle Talent demo from the store and played for 15 minutes without the screen going black.

BTW my Meta XR SDK packages in Unity remained v78.0.0, but I believe my MQDH, Link and Quest OS are up to date (not sure if MQDH and Link version matter though because I'm running standalone). Just checked my Quest 3 system version is v83.1034

I also want to add that the HMD also turns black even when I'm testing the project in Unity via the Link, but I didn't have this issue before.

amoebatron
New Participant
May 30, 2026

I had this issue. The solution (for me at least) was surprisingly simple:-

If Unity's Game View tab is not active or visible, then the Quest 3 headset will go dark. For example if you are editing in Scene view with the headset on your forehead while in Play mode, it's possible that this happens at the expense of Game View if both Scene View and Game view are tabs within the same panel (for example).

I have two screens, so I simply rearranged my workspace so that Game view was always visible on the second monitor, and I never had this problem again.

So in short, make sure that Game View is always active.

Hope this helps.

snowtvAuthor
New Participant
May 30, 2026

Yea if the game tab is not focused the rendering in the headset will just freeze. What I discovered is that I need to refocus the MQDH app to make it return from black screen, but that's not really a solution because your VR location will also change.

Plus, my question is about testing a standalone build on the headset, not testing it inside the editor. So your issue isn't really mine.

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