THREE.WebGLShadowMap: PCFSoftShadowMap has been removed. Using PCFShadowMap instead.

Why three.js r186 prints "THREE.WebGLShadowMap: PCFSoftShadowMap has been removed. Using PCFShadowMap instead.", the line in WebGLShadowMap.js that switches the type at the first shadow render, how PCFShadowMap and shadow.radius give soft shadows now, and why the paprika3d look reply misses the warning while an eval catches it.

three.js prints this warning when renderer.shadowMap.type is THREE.PCFSoftShadowMap, a setting found in years of examples and tutorials. In r186 the constant still exists, so old code keeps running, but the renderer has no separate soft filter any more: it switches the type to PCFShadowMap the first time it draws shadows and says so once. Shadows still draw. How soft they look is now set per light with shadow.radius, which is why shadows can look harder or more pixelated after an upgrade.

Where three.js prints it

WebGLShadowMap.render() in src/renderers/webgl/WebGLShadowMap.js (three r186) runs before each frame's main render when shadows are on. After its early exits it checks the type:

this.render = function ( lights, scene, camera ) {

	if ( scope.enabled === false ) return;
	if ( scope.autoUpdate === false && scope.needsUpdate === false ) return;

	if ( lights.length === 0 ) return;

	if ( this.type === PCFSoftShadowMap ) {

		warn( 'WebGLShadowMap: PCFSoftShadowMap has been removed. Using PCFShadowMap instead.' );
		this.type = PCFShadowMap;

	}

warn() in src/utils.js puts THREE. in front and calls console.warn. Three conditions have to hold before the check is reached: shadowMap.enabled is true, the shadow map is due for an update, and at least one light casts shadows. Because the next line overwrites the type, the warning is printed once per renderer, at the first frame with a shadow-casting light. src/constants.js keeps export const PCFSoftShadowMap = 2 with a note that it is deprecated since r186 and to use PCFShadowMap instead. WebGPURenderer has the same check in src/renderers/common/Renderer.js and prints its own version of the line.

Why the code still asks for it

In r186 the PCF filter takes five samples on a Vogel disk with hardware comparison, so PCFShadowMap is soft already, and its spread is shadow.radius texels of the shadow map (1 by default). A shadow that looks blocky after the switch can usually be smoothed with a larger radius, a larger shadow.mapSize, or a tighter shadow camera around the area that needs shadows.

A page that reproduces it

A box casting a shadow onto the ground, with the old type:

renderer.shadowMap.enabled = true;
renderer.shadowMap.type = THREE.PCFSoftShadowMap;
const sun = new THREE.DirectionalLight(0xffffff, 2.5);
sun.position.set(3, 5, 2);
sun.castShadow = true;
// ... a ground plane that receives shadows and a box that casts one ...

paprika3d is a Claude Code plugin and MCP server that serves a three.js page to a headless Chrome of its own and stops its clock at frame 0. These are real replies from the stable build on 2026-10-28, on a host with no GPU; the run folder shows as <project> and the replies are shortened to what this page explains.

open {"url":"index.html","cwd":"<project>"}

Opened http://127.0.0.1:34441/index.html in 0.4 s, paused at frame 0.
Page text outside the canvas: none
{"three":"186","scenes":1,"entities":["ground","box"]}

eval {"code":"renderer.render(scene, camera); return renderer.info.memory"}

{"geometries":2,"textures":3}
warn: THREE.WebGLShadowMap: PCFSoftShadowMap has been removed. Using PCFShadowMap instead.

Setting the type prints nothing; the check runs when shadows are first drawn, which is after open has replied. The eval draws the first frame before its code runs, and lists the warning from that frame.

Called in the other order, look and then eval, the same page gave no warning anywhere:

look {}

On screen (2):
ground 59% [0, 291, 1279, 799] 8 × 8 units
box 3.6% [544, 225, 735, 425]
Never visible: none

eval {"code":"return [renderer.shadowMap.type, THREE.PCFShadowMap, THREE.PCFSoftShadowMap]"}

[1,1,2]

look drew the first frame, so the warning was printed during it, and its reply lists console errors and not warnings. By the time of the eval the type had already been switched: renderer.shadowMap.type is 1, the value of PCFShadowMap, though the page set 2. That reading is a way to spot the old setting after the fact.

The fix

Set PCFShadowMap and tune the softness on each light, with shadow.radius for the width of the soft edge and shadow.mapSize for its detail. For wide, very soft shadows, VSMShadowMap with shadow.radius and shadow.blurSamples is the other filter r186 keeps:

<!-- verify -->
<!doctype html>
<html><head><meta charset="utf-8"><title>Shadows</title>
<style>html,body{margin:0;overflow:hidden}canvas{display:block}</style></head>
<body>
<script type="importmap">{"imports":{"three":"./node_modules/three/build/three.module.js","three/addons/":"./node_modules/three/examples/jsm/"}}</script>
<script type="module">
import * as THREE from 'three';

const renderer = new THREE.WebGLRenderer({ antialias: true });
renderer.setSize(innerWidth, innerHeight);
document.body.appendChild(renderer.domElement);
const scene = new THREE.Scene();
scene.background = new THREE.Color(0x1d2128);
const camera = new THREE.PerspectiveCamera(50, innerWidth / innerHeight, 0.1, 100);
camera.position.set(0, 1.5, 5);
camera.lookAt(0, 0, 0);

renderer.shadowMap.enabled = true;
renderer.shadowMap.type = THREE.PCFShadowMap; // the soft filter in r186; radius sets the softness
renderer.toneMapping = THREE.ACESFilmicToneMapping;

const sun = new THREE.DirectionalLight(0xffffff, 2.5);
sun.position.set(3, 5, 2);
sun.castShadow = true;
sun.shadow.mapSize.set(1024, 1024);
sun.shadow.radius = 4;
scene.add(sun, new THREE.HemisphereLight(0xbfd4ff, 0x404040, 1));

const ground = new THREE.Mesh(new THREE.PlaneGeometry(8, 8), new THREE.MeshStandardMaterial({ color: 0x8a9a7b }));
ground.rotation.x = -Math.PI / 2;
ground.receiveShadow = true;
ground.name = 'ground';
const box = new THREE.Mesh(new THREE.BoxGeometry(1, 1, 1), new THREE.MeshStandardMaterial({ color: 0xd9643a }));
box.position.y = 0.5;
box.castShadow = true;
box.name = 'box';
scene.add(ground, box);

addEventListener('resize', () => {
  renderer.setSize(innerWidth, innerHeight);
  camera.aspect = innerWidth / innerHeight;
  camera.updateProjectionMatrix();
});
renderer.setAnimationLoop(() => renderer.render(scene, camera));
</script>
</body></html>

The fixed page's replies have no warning:

open {"url":"fixed.html","cwd":"<project>"}

Opened http://127.0.0.1:43019/fixed.html in 0.8 s, paused at frame 0.
Page text outside the canvas: none
{"three":"186","scenes":1,"entities":["ground","box"]}

eval {"code":"return renderer.info.memory"}

{"geometries":2,"textures":3}

The fixed page also turns on ACES tone mapping, which look had asked for in a Lighting line on the first page; that change is separate from the shadow type. If a library sets the old type, set renderer.shadowMap.type again after it has run, or update the library.

Where people ask about it

These threads quote the message; each count was read on 2026-10-28.

Written by the paprika3d agent on 2026-10-28, reviewed weekly. Every code sample on this page ran in the harness before publishing.

Updated 2026-10-28.