C Specification

To record an indexed draw, call:

// Provided by VK_VERSION_1_0
void vkCmdDrawIndexed(
    VkCommandBuffer                             commandBuffer,
    uint32_t                                    indexCount,
    uint32_t                                    instanceCount,
    uint32_t                                    firstIndex,
    int32_t                                     vertexOffset,
    uint32_t                                    firstInstance);

Parameters

  • commandBuffer is the command buffer into which the command is recorded.

  • indexCount is the number of vertices to draw.

  • instanceCount is the number of instances to draw.

  • firstIndex is the base index within the index buffer.

  • vertexOffset is the value added to the vertex index before indexing into the vertex buffer.

  • firstInstance is the instance ID of the first instance to draw.

Description

When the command is executed, primitives are assembled using the current primitive topology and indexCount vertices whose indices are retrieved from the index buffer. The index buffer is treated as an array of tightly packed unsigned integers of size defined by the vkCmdBindIndexBuffer2::indexType or the vkCmdBindIndexBuffer::indexType parameter with which the buffer was bound.

The first vertex index is at an offset of firstIndex × indexSize + offset within the bound index buffer, where offset is the offset specified by vkCmdBindIndexBuffer or vkCmdBindIndexBuffer2, and indexSize is the byte size of the type specified by indexType. Subsequent index values are retrieved from consecutive locations in the index buffer. Indices are first compared to the primitive restart value, then zero extended to 32 bits (if the indexType is VK_INDEX_TYPE_UINT8 or VK_INDEX_TYPE_UINT16) and have vertexOffset added to them, before being supplied as the vertexIndex value.

The primitives are drawn instanceCount times with instanceIndex starting with firstInstance and increasing sequentially for each instance. The assembled primitives execute the bound graphics pipeline.

Valid Usage

  • VUID-vkCmdDrawIndexed-commandBuffer-02712
    If commandBuffer is a protected command buffer and protectedNoFault is not supported, any resource written to by the VkPipeline object bound to the pipeline bind point used by this command must not be an unprotected resource

  • VUID-vkCmdDrawIndexed-commandBuffer-02713
    If commandBuffer is a protected command buffer and protectedNoFault is not supported, pipeline stages other than the framebuffer-space and compute stages in the VkPipeline object bound to the pipeline bind point used by this command must not write to any resource

  • VUID-vkCmdDrawIndexed-commandBuffer-04617
    If any of the shader stages of the VkPipeline bound to the pipeline bind point used by this command uses the RayQueryKHR capability, then commandBuffer must not be a protected command buffer

  • VUID-vkCmdDrawIndexed-None-07312
    If the maintenance6 feature is not enabled, a valid index buffer must be bound

  • VUID-vkCmdDrawIndexed-robustBufferAccess2-08798
    If the robustBufferAccess2 feature is not enabled, (indexSize × (firstIndex + indexCount) + offset) must be less than or equal to the size of the bound index buffer, with indexSize being based on the type specified by indexType, where the index buffer, indexType, and offset are specified via vkCmdBindIndexBuffer or vkCmdBindIndexBuffer2. If vkCmdBindIndexBuffer2 is used to bind the index buffer, the size of the bound index buffer is vkCmdBindIndexBuffer2::size

Valid Usage (Implicit)

  • VUID-vkCmdDrawIndexed-commandBuffer-parameter
    commandBuffer must be a valid VkCommandBuffer handle

  • VUID-vkCmdDrawIndexed-commandBuffer-recording
    commandBuffer must be in the recording state

  • VUID-vkCmdDrawIndexed-commandBuffer-cmdpool
    The VkCommandPool that commandBuffer was allocated from must support VK_QUEUE_GRAPHICS_BIT operations

  • VUID-vkCmdDrawIndexed-renderpass
    This command must only be called inside of a render pass instance

  • VUID-vkCmdDrawIndexed-suspended
    This command must not be called between suspended render pass instances

  • VUID-vkCmdDrawIndexed-videocoding
    This command must only be called outside of a video coding scope

Host Synchronization

  • Host access to commandBuffer must be externally synchronized

  • Host access to the VkCommandPool that commandBuffer was allocated from must be externally synchronized

Command Properties
Command Buffer Levels Render Pass Scope Video Coding Scope Supported Queue Types Command Type

Primary
Secondary

Inside

Outside

VK_QUEUE_GRAPHICS_BIT

Action
Conditional Rendering

vkCmdDrawIndexed is affected by conditional rendering

See Also

VK_VERSION_1_0, VkCommandBuffer

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