VkValidationFeatureEnableEXT(3)

# VkValidationFeatureEnableEXT(3) Manual Page

## Name

VkValidationFeatureEnableEXT - Specify validation features to enable

## C Specification

Possible values of elements of the VkValidationFeaturesEXT::`pEnabledValidationFeatures` array, specifying validation features to be enabled, are:

    // Provided by VK_EXT_validation_features
    typedef enum VkValidationFeatureEnableEXT {
        VK_VALIDATION_FEATURE_ENABLE_GPU_ASSISTED_EXT = 0,
        VK_VALIDATION_FEATURE_ENABLE_GPU_ASSISTED_RESERVE_BINDING_SLOT_EXT = 1,
        VK_VALIDATION_FEATURE_ENABLE_BEST_PRACTICES_EXT = 2,
        VK_VALIDATION_FEATURE_ENABLE_DEBUG_PRINTF_EXT = 3,
        VK_VALIDATION_FEATURE_ENABLE_SYNCHRONIZATION_VALIDATION_EXT = 4,
    } VkValidationFeatureEnableEXT;

## Description

- VK_VALIDATION_FEATURE_ENABLE_GPU_ASSISTED_EXT specifies that GPU-assisted validation is enabled. Activating this feature instruments shader programs to generate additional diagnostic data. This feature is disabled by default.

- VK_VALIDATION_FEATURE_ENABLE_GPU_ASSISTED_RESERVE_BINDING_SLOT_EXT specifies that the validation layers reserve a descriptor set binding slot for their own use. The layer reports a value for VkPhysicalDeviceLimits::`maxBoundDescriptorSets` that is one less than the value reported by the device. If the device supports the binding of only one descriptor set, the validation layer does not perform GPU-assisted validation. This feature is disabled by default.

- VK_VALIDATION_FEATURE_ENABLE_BEST_PRACTICES_EXT specifies that Vulkan best-practices validation is enabled. Activating this feature enables the output of warnings related to common misuse of the API, but which are not explicitly prohibited by the specification. This feature is disabled by default.

- VK_VALIDATION_FEATURE_ENABLE_DEBUG_PRINTF_EXT specifies that the layers will process `debugPrintfEXT` operations in shaders and send the resulting output to the debug callback. This feature is disabled by default.

- VK_VALIDATION_FEATURE_ENABLE_SYNCHRONIZATION_VALIDATION_EXT specifies that Vulkan synchronization validation is enabled. This feature reports resource access conflicts due to missing or incorrect synchronization operations between actions (Draw, Copy, Dispatch, Blit) reading or writing the same regions of memory. This feature is disabled by default.

## See Also

VK_EXT_validation_features, VkValidationFeaturesEXT

## Document Notes

For more information, see the Vulkan Specification.

This page is extracted from the Vulkan Specification. Fixes and changes should be made to the Specification, not directly.

## Copyright

Copyright 2014-2026 The Khronos Group Inc.

SPDX-License-Identifier: CC-BY-4.0