Best Minecraft Shaders

18 January, 2023

After playing Minecraft for a decade, Minecraft shading is the second most popular way to fall in love with the voxel worlds. If my current build starts to feel a bit dull or I feel like I need some inspiration, switching on a great set shaders is a great way to get the job done. With this in mind, I will help you set up some of the best Minecraft shading tools. Installing them is as easy as with all other Minecraft modding.

Before you scroll down, here are the prerequisites for installing Minecraft Shaders. These only work with the Java Edition. Fortunately, all players have both versions of Minecraft through the launcher. Minecraft RTX is a great alternative to Bedrock Edition if you want similar lighting effects.

All these shader packs require that you install Optifine (or in some cases Iris) as a graphics mod. Continue reading if you don't find this information useful. For a quick explanation on how to install Optifine and individual shading packs, scroll down to the bottom.

Another quick aside: Most shader packs allow for tons of customization options, such as the speed at which water animates, how much ambient fog is present, and the exact RGB values for lighting for each day. These shaders can be used to do a lot of things if you know what you are doing. I'll focus on how they look to those who want to just install and start playing right away.

The best Minecraft Shaders

What are the best Minecraft Shaders in 2022

Sildur's Vibrant Shaders and SEUS Renewed are the best Minecraft shaders currently available.

Below are our top Minecraft shader choices.

Sildur's Shaders

Don't scroll if you want your Minecraft world looking stunning right now. Sildur's shaders are stunning right out of the box. They have bright colors, soft shadows and god rays.

Sildur recommends Iris (explained further below), but the Vibrant Shaders look great through Optifine as of 2022 with no need to make any settings changes. Sildur's enhanced default shaders are great for those who don't have a powerful PC. They will boost your game with shadows, god rays, and other effects without straining your system.

BSL Shaders

BSL is my favorite shader pack. It's a nice alternative to Sildur, which has its very powerful colors. It's great for building screenshots and is easy on the eyes while you play. BSL still receives regular updates and fixes as of 2022. You can be sure that this version will continue to be relevant for many years. BSL works well for my needs, even though I have just installed it again. However, you can find answers to most common questions and problems in BSL's FAQ section.

SEUS Renewed

SEUS shaders have been a long-time favorite of Minecraft players, and for good reasons. Sonic Ether's shader packs are bright and clear by default. They are not as saturated in color as Sildur's. SEUS has a very realistic feel, with crisp days and dark night.

Tip: If the ground appears strangely shadowy, open Options > Video Settings > Shaders. Make sure Normal Map is on.

Complementary Shaders

Complementary is built on BSL shaders and its creator claims it aims to provide "the most hassle-free experience possible." True to its name, I didn't feel the need for any Complementary settings to be changed. It has a realistic feel, perhaps even more than SEUS.

Chocapic's Shaders

Chocapic's shaders try to maintain high quality even at low settings. They come with different files for Ultra, Medium, High and Extreme. In my screenshots, I am using the Medium pack. You can see that it still looks great, but doesn't have the same intense lighting effects on torch as some of the other options.

Tip: If you see a lot of bright white light in your sky, go to Options >Video Settings > Details and toggle clouds off.

Project LUMA

Project LUMA, the successor to the popular shader pack KUDA is now called "Playing Minecraft without the effects distracting from the gameplay." This is evident in how LUMA works underwater and in the rain. While other shader packs add a lot more atmosphere and fog effects to make the underwater experience more moody, LUMA is very clear. This shader pack is great if you love to play underwater. LUMA has not been updated since 2019, but it still works well in 2022.

Sora Shaders

The Sora shader packs are another pack that is gameplay-focused, but doesn't have a high contrast. This screenshot shows that the pack has brighter shadows and a more gameplay-focused feel. Sora also boasts its many color profiles, which can be toggled between in its settings to achieve a different look.

Vanilla Plus

Vanilla Plus is a pack that reduces the shader experience to shadows and godrays. This pack does not contain water or realistic clouds. This is vanilla Minecraft, but slightly prettier. This shader pack has fewer effects, which is a bonus. Even those with basic rigs, PC gamers deserve beautiful mining experiences. Vanilla Plus has a "Fancy Profile" in its settings, which includes pretty, reflective water.

How to install Minecraft Shaders

Installing shaders these days is quite simple. Almost all these packs require the graphics mod Optifine which can be downloaded from its website. Some recommend using the Iris mod, but most of these packs do not support it.

- Open Minecraft Launcher and run the Minecraft version you intend to play at least once. - Download the corresponding version from Optifine.
Double-click the.jar file to install Optifine.
- Go back to your launcher and select "Optifine" for the installation you wish to play.
- In your Minecraft menu select Options > Video Settings > Shaders. Shaders Folder
- Alternatively, you can find this folder manually at C:Users[Yourname]AppDataRoaming.minecraftshaderpacks
- Place the.zip shader pack that you downloaded into this "shaderpacks” folder
- Select any shader pack from the Shaders menu
Version compatibility is not something you need to worry about if you use shaderpacks. While new game versions can sometimes cause problems, you are more restricted by the version of Optifine that you use. Fortunately, Optifine updates very quickly after major Minecraft version changes.