How to install shaders in Minecraft

Guide, how to put shaders in Minecraft using OptiFine

What are shaders

Shaders as a technology are instructions for a video card that describe everything related to lighting in games: the play of light and shadow, glare, even just changing the brightness of textures from a light source. Minecraft also has them, but they are primitive. If you put third-party, the graphics are improved many times over. Shaders enhance water, shadows and light, reflections, add textures for clouds and sunbeams. However, shaders use a lot of video card resources, weak systems, the Minecraft client with shaders may simply not pull or lose a lot of FPS.

It was and is in the context of shaders

How to install them without Forge

The first way is to simply patch your Minecraft using the Optifine app. Works on newer versions too.

1. Download the OptiFine.jar file . Preview versions can be downloaded by clicking on the Preview versions link .
2. Start it with Java. If it doesn’t work, try opening an OS command shell:
   • terminal for Linux and Mac OS,
   • Command Prompt or PowerShell for Windows.

Then enter the command java -jar <name of the .jar file> .

3. The installer should open. If you changed the Minecraft installation folder, change the path in the Folder field and click Install. If everything is default, just click Install. The version you are installing OptiFine on must already be installed through the game launcher.

OptiFine Installer

4. If everything goes right, a ready profile with the required version of OptiFine will appear in the launcher.

Installing with Forge

The second is to put the same .jar file as an external mod for Forge. Works on versions up to 1.12.2 only.

1. Put Forge.
2. Download the OptiFine.jar file .
3. Move the .jar file to the / mods folder inside the game profile. Compatible with both Minecraft regular launcher profiles and Twitch launcher profiles.
4. Start the client. Attention, some mods are incompatible with OptiFine.

Shader setup is already in the game

• Go to Settings> Graphics Settings …> Shaders. From this menu, you can select the shaders found by the game in the profile folder, the shaderpacks / subfolder. You can go to it from that interface using the “Shaders folder” button. Changing shaders is a difficult task for a computer, especially when switching from no shaders to shaders.

Shaders window in graphics settings

• Shaders can be configured using the menu on the right:
  • Antialiasingis antialiasing. Loads the game heavily.
  • Normal map and reflection mapare needed for some shaders to work. Better not to disconnect.
  • Render qualityis a huge improvement in game rendering. Loads the game heavily if 2x.
  • Shadow quality– Allocation of more resources for rendering shadows.
  • Arm Depth– Changes the arm’s distance from the camera.
  • From hands, Art. lighting – needs to be changed for some shader sets to work properly.
• Some settings of OptiFine itself are incompatible with shaders. Let’s mark them in the screenshots.

Performance settings

Quality settings

It’s all. Shaders can be downloaded by simply requesting it in a search engine. Shaders are supplied as a .zip archive. The OptiFine mod, if properly configured, can not only load shaders, but also greatly expand the graphics settings of Minecraft – you can lighten the graphics to a minimum, or you can improve even more. Plus, OptiFine itself optimizes the game even without thoughtful tweaking. Good game!