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Android R8 Optimization & Obfuscation

This guide explains how to enable Android R8 code shrinking, optimization, and obfuscation in your Godot project to comply with Google Play Console requirements.

Overview

Starting in recent Google Play Console updates, apps are evaluated against app optimization thresholds:

App optimization is below our threshold: Obfuscation (10%)
Percentages under 25% in any category of your app may impact your visibility and publishing capabilities on Google Play.

Why does this happen?

The Google Mobile Ads (GMA) Next-Gen SDK moves runtime execution logic (Kotlin coroutines, Jetpack libraries, UI rendering) directly into your app's DEX bytecode. This causes DEX bytecode to expand significantly (~91 MB DEX across up to 11 classes.dex files).

Because Godot's Android export template disables minification (minifyEnabled false) by default to protect C++/JNI bindings, none of this DEX code is obfuscated, causing your app's obfuscation ratio to drop below the 25% threshold.

The Poing Godot AdMob plugin provides an automated Project Setting to configure R8 optimization:

  1. Open your project in the Godot Editor.
  2. Navigate to Project > Project Settings > Admob > General > Android.
  3. Enable Enable R8 Optimization.
admob/general/android/enable_r8_optimization = true

When exporting a Release build with an Android build template (android/build/), the export plugin automatically:

  • Enables minifyEnabled true and shrinkResources false in your release build configuration.
  • Configures proguardFiles to reference your proguard-rules.pro.
  • Ensures essential Godot Engine core classes, singletons, and native JNI methods are preserved.

Embedded Consumer Rules (AAR)

The Poing Godot AdMob plugin packages embedded consumer ProGuard rules (consumer-rules.pro) directly inside its Android .aar library binaries.

When R8 runs during your Gradle release build, Gradle automatically merges the plugin's rules to protect:

  • All AdMob plugin classes (com.poingstudios.godot.admob.**).
  • All GodotPlugin subclasses and methods annotated with @UsedByGodot.
  • All native JNI methods (native <methods>;).

You do not need to manually add -keep rules for the AdMob plugin in your project's proguard-rules.pro.

Manual Configuration

If you manage your own custom Android Gradle build without using the plugin's automatic setting, follow these steps:

1. Enable Minification in Gradle

Open android/build/build.gradle (or android/build/app/build.gradle) and update the release block under buildTypes:

buildTypes {
    release {
        minifyEnabled true
        shrinkResources false
        proguardFiles getDefaultProguardFile('proguard-android.txt'), 'proguard-rules.pro'
        // ... signing and other existing configurations
    }
}

2. Configure Godot ProGuard Rules

Open android/build/proguard-rules.pro (or android/build/app/proguard-rules.pro) and add the following rules to preserve the Godot engine runtime:

# Godot Engine Core
-keep class org.godotengine.** { *; }
-keepclassmembers class org.godotengine.** { *; }
-keep class com.godot.** { *; }
-keepclassmembers class com.godot.** { *; }
-keep class * extends org.godotengine.godot.plugin.GodotPlugin { *; }
-keepclassmembers class * extends org.godotengine.godot.plugin.GodotPlugin {
    @org.godotengine.godot.plugin.UsedByGodot <methods>;
}

# Standard Android JNI
-keepclasseswithmembernames class * {
    native <methods>;
}
-keep public class * extends android.app.Activity
-keep public class * extends android.app.Application
-keep public class * extends android.app.Service

# Suppress harmless warnings from Kotlin metadata and optional mediation dependencies
-dontwarn kotlin.Metadata
-dontwarn com.android.billingclient.**
-dontwarn com.bytedance.sdk.**
-dontwarn com.tiktok.**
-dontwarn jp.maio.sdk.**
-dontwarn ru.ok.tracer.**

Engine Native Support

In newer versions of Godot Engine where the native export option (gradle_build/minification) is available in the Android Export Preset, you can enable minification directly from the Godot Export dialog. The plugin's embedded consumer rules will continue to protect AdMob components automatically.