Unity-Technologies/UnityCsReference · error · ArgumentException

Non-development build cannot allow auto-connecting the profi

Error message

Non-development build cannot allow auto-connecting the profiler. Either add the Development build option, or remove the ConnectWithProfiler build option.

What it means

Thrown when BuildPlayer is called with BuildOptions.ConnectWithProfiler set but BuildOptions.Development is NOT set. Auto-connecting the profiler on launch requires the Development build's profiling transport and profiler hooks to be compiled into the player.

Source

Thrown at Editor/Mono/BuildPipeline/BuildPipeline.bindings.cs:249

            {
                if ((buildPlayerOptions.options & BuildOptions.AllowDebugging) != 0)
                {
                    throw new ArgumentException("Non-development build cannot allow debugging. Either add the Development build option, or remove the AllowDebugging build option.");
                }

                if ((buildPlayerOptions.options & BuildOptions.EnableCodeCoverage) != 0)
                {
                    throw new ArgumentException("Non-development build cannot allow code coverage. Either add the Development build option, or remove the EnableCodeCoverage build option.");
                }

                if ((buildPlayerOptions.options & BuildOptions.EnableDeepProfilingSupport) != 0)
                {
                    throw new ArgumentException("Non-development build cannot allow deep profiling support. Either add the Development build option, or remove the EnableDeepProfilingSupport build option.");
                }

                if ((buildPlayerOptions.options & BuildOptions.ConnectWithProfiler) != 0)
                {
                    throw new ArgumentException("Non-development build cannot allow auto-connecting the profiler. Either add the Development build option, or remove the ConnectWithProfiler build option.");
                }
            }
            else
            {
                if ((buildPlayerOptions.options & BuildOptions.EnableCodeCoverage) != 0)
                {
                    if (!BuildProfileModuleUtil.IsBuildTargetSupportedByCoverage(buildPlayerOptions.target))
                        throw new ArgumentException("Code coverage is unavailable for the selected build target. Remove the EnableCodeCoverage build option.");
                }
            }

            try
            {
                if (!BuildPlayerWindow.DefaultBuildMethods.IsBuildPathValid(buildPlayerOptions.locationPathName, out var msg))
                    throw new ArgumentException($"Invalid build path: '{buildPlayerOptions.locationPathName}'. {msg}");

                if (buildPlayerOptions.targetGroup == BuildTargetGroup.Standalone)
                {

View on GitHub (pinned to 225b0fbdb5)

Solutions

1. Add BuildOptions.Development to the options bitmask alongside ConnectWithProfiler.
2. Remove BuildOptions.ConnectWithProfiler if this is intended as a release build.
3. Use a pre-build validation function that enforces the Development dependency for all profiling-related flags.

Example fix

// before
var options = new BuildPlayerOptions
{
    options = BuildOptions.ConnectWithProfiler,
    target = BuildTarget.StandaloneWindows64
};
BuildPipeline.BuildPlayer(options);

// after
var options = new BuildPlayerOptions
{
    options = BuildOptions.Development | BuildOptions.ConnectWithProfiler,
    target = BuildTarget.StandaloneWindows64
};
BuildPipeline.BuildPlayer(options);

BuildOptions EnsureDevelopmentForDevOnlyFlags(BuildOptions options)
{
    BuildOptions devOnlyFlags = BuildOptions.AllowDebugging |
        BuildOptions.EnableCodeCoverage |
        BuildOptions.EnableDeepProfilingSupport |
        BuildOptions.ConnectWithProfiler;

    if ((options & devOnlyFlags) != 0 && (options & BuildOptions.Development) == 0)
        options |= BuildOptions.Development;
    return options;
}

// Before BuildPlayer:
options.options = EnsureDevelopmentForDevOnlyFlags(options.options);

When it happens

Trigger: Calling BuildPipeline.BuildPlayer with a BuildOptions bitmask containing ConnectWithProfiler without Development.

Common situations: Build scripts that enable profiler auto-connect for automated performance testing but omit the Development flag, or options copied from a profiling template where Development was stripped.

Related errors

• Non-development build cannot allow debugging. Either add the
• Non-development build cannot allow code coverage. Either add
• Non-development build cannot allow deep profiling support. E
• Code coverage is unavailable for the selected build target.
• Scene path "{0}" contains invalid directory separators.

AI-assisted analysis of Unity-Technologies/UnityCsReference@225b0fbdb5 (2026-08-13). Data as JSON: /api/errors/8d72c8fec540c17c. Report an issue: GitHub.