Photon Shaders

## Community

* Join my [discord server](https://discord.gg/ngEW66HScd) for questions, suggestions and development updates
* You can also [donate](https://ko-fi.com/sixthsurge) if you would like to say thanks

#### Frequently asked questions

1. “When will Photon be released for _new Minecraft version_?”
– Shader packs are generally not very dependent on MC versions; as long as Iris is available, Photon should just work.

## Features

* Fully revamped sky, lighting and water
* Detailed clouds with several layers and many different cloud types
* Immersive weather system providing different skies each day
* Voxel-based colored lighting (enabled with Ultra profile, requires Iris)
* Screen-space reflections
* Volumetric fog
* Soft shadows with variable-size penumbras
* Detailed ambient occlusion (GTAO)
* Camera effects: bloom, depth of field, motion blur
* Much improved image quality with TAA, FXAA and CAS
* Advanced temporal upscaling (disabled by default) for low end devices
* Extensive settings menu allowing you to customize every aspect of the shader
* Full labPBR resource pack support

## Compatibility

### Shader loaders
* [Iris](https://irisshaders.dev/download) (recommended)
* Iris is a modern shader loader with far better performance, mod compatibility and developer features than OptiFine
* Some features (Colored Lighting) will only work on Iris
* [OptiFine](https://optifine.net/home)

### GPU vendors
* Nvidia
* AMD
* Intel
* **NOT** compatible with Apple GPUs (Metal)

### Mods
* [Voxy](https://modrinth.com/mod/voxy)
* [Distant Horizons](https://modrinth.com/mod/distanthorizons)

## Showcase videos


## Acknowledgments

* Settings menu translations:
* [NakiriRuri](https://github.com/NakiriRuri) and [OrzMiku](https://github.com/Orzmiku) (Chinese)
* [Jmayk](https://github.com/Jmayk-dev) (Italian)
* [Timtaran](https://github.com/Timtaran) (Russian)
* [Emin](https://github.com/EminGT) – Shadow bias method from [Complementary Reimagined](https://www.complementary.dev/shaders/) (fully fixes peter panning and light leaking underground!)
* [DrDesten](https://github.com/DrDesten) – Depth tolerance calculation for SSR (helps to prevent false reflections)
* [Jessie](https://github.com/Jessie-LC) – f0 and f82 values for labPBR hardcoded metals
* [Sledgehammer Games](https://www.sledgehammergames.com/) – Bloom downsampling method used in Call of Duty Advanced Warfare (described [here](http://www.iryoku.com/next-generation-post-processing-in-call-of-duty-advanced-warfare))
* http://momentsingraphics.de/ – Blue noise texture
* [NASA Scientific Visualization Studio](https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/4851) – Galaxy image

Pegasus Shaders

If you follow me on [YouTube](https://m.youtube.com/@timetravelbeard3588?si=gBJoIsu4O9kolu_r), or play with any of my heavy shaders, you know I like to push the limits and do things that no one has done before. But those shaders are heavy!!

The aim of this shader is to mix some of the state of the art and never done before features of my hard to run shaders ‘[Icarus](https://www.patreon.com/timetravelbeard)’ and ‘[CTMPOMFIX](https://www.curseforge.com/minecraft/shaders/ctmpomfix-shader-chocapic13-shaders-edit)’, and the performance of my very fast Vanilla+ shader ‘[Simply Upscaled](https://modrinth.com/shader/simply-upscaled)’.

This is Pretty Early in development.

If you would like to support development, play with my more top-tier shaders ‘Icarus’, get early access to dev builds and new features, or just say thank you, please join [my Patreon](https://www.patreon.com/timetravelbeard).

If you would like support, to share screenshots, make requests, or join the community, please join [my discord](https://discord.gg/S6F4r6K5yU).

** ‘Vx’ versions (0.3.3 and up) get lower fps due to voxelizing for Colored Lighting. If you use 0.3.2 you will get better fps but not have Colored Lighting**


Current notable features:

-distant horizons support

-physics mod support

-photonics mod support (check alpha versions)

-crashing Beach waves (with physics mod and iris on 1.20.1 or higher)

-optional texture upscaling

-pbr

-speed (on lower presets)

-vanilla, cartoon, and realistic/fantasy styles

I hope you have fun!

Let me know what you think.


videos of what’s new:


– alpha versions aren’t tested on all hardware yet, please tell me about bugs or errors on discord.

discord: https://discord.gg/S6F4r6K5yU

Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/timetravelbeard

YouTube: https://m.youtube.com/@timetravelbeard3588?si=gBJoIsu4O9kolu_r

Orion Shaders

**[PLEASE DISABLE CLOUNDS IN VIDEO SETTINGS FOR BEST RESULTS]**

# Orion Shaders

## About
Orion Shaders is a high quality Minecraft Shaderpack to make your world have a more cinematic look and feel. It features beautiful lighting, heavy customization, realistic shadows, wavy water, realistic sky textures, and colorful block lighting to take your playing experience to the Next level!

## FEATURES
Check out the Changelog to find the list of features.

**TESTED ON IRIS + FABRIC 1.21.11 AS OF NOW.**

OPAL Shaders

# ABOUT

OPAL Shaders is a shaderpack for Minecraft Java Edition based on [BSL Shaders](https://bitslablab.com/bslshaders/) created by Capt Tatsu.
It aims to blend a fantasy atmosphere with natural colors and contrast while staying true to Minecraft’s original style.

If you’re using Iris, I recommend installing [LambDynamicLights](https://modrinth.com/mod/lambdynamiclights) mod for dynamic lights.

# AGREEMENT

### You’re allowed to:

– Use this shaderpack for taking and sharing screenshots and videos.
– Publish your heavily modified version of the pack if both OPAL and BSL shaders are clearly credited (including their authors) and the name of your edit is original.

### You’re not allowed to:

– Redistribute the shaderpack without my permission.
– Claim (and rename) my shaderpack (or its code) as your own.

Nuar

Nuar Shader is a shader that will
make a 60s movie out of your game.

![demo1](https://cdn.modrinth.com/data/cached_images/ecbceb6a779998c666a708b5de8374260d691406.png)

The shader makes your whole world black and white,
it’s great for feeling like a hero of old movies,
or taking beautiful screenshots.

# _INSTALL GUIDE:_
To make the shader work, you need to install the Optifine/[Iris](https://modrinth.com/mod/iris)(requires [Sodium](https://modrinth.com/mod/sodium))

After installation, download the shader archive and upload it to the shaderpacks folder in the minecraft root folder

![Nuar logo](https://cdn.modrinth.com/data/cached_images/b3a48dd09d15ade0a8651eb2f728641a19485fd2.png)

Nova Reimagined

# Nova Reimagined
### REQUIRES COMPANION MODS [NOVA REIMAGINED SNOW](https://modrinth.com/mod/nova-reimagined-snow) AND [SEASON CACHE](https://modrinth.com/mod/season-cache) TO PROPERLY ENABLE FULL SNOW SHADER SYSTEM

**A modified Minecraft shader pack based on Complementary Reimagined by EminGT.**

Nova Reimagined modifies and adds to Complementary Reimagined with a shader-driven surface snow system, cell shaded lighting model, per-time-of-day weather visuals, and more with a curated set of defaults tuned for a stylised, lightly cell-shaded aesthetic.

_**NOTE:** Should be compatible with Iris 1.6+ and Distant Horizons 2.45b+ unless specific changes break compatibility in the future. Should be compatible with Minecraft 1.21.X, though primarily built for and tested on 1.21.1. The more at-risk compatibility concern would be with the companion mod Nova Reimagined Snow, but that’s also relatively well guarded._

## Features

### Surface Snow System
![Panorama showcasing snow shader application](https://cdn.modrinth.com/data/Uzkg6HgX/images/a19ef7ad745113c6959620356b64cb26403d5945.jpeg)
Nova Reimagined’s centrepiece feature. Snow is painted directly onto terrain, paths, foliage, wood, and structural blocks in snowy biomes using a noise-driven pixel-locked pattern. Coverage fades naturally under tree canopies and near light sources, creating organic melt patterns rather than hard biome boundary lines. Up to four snow texture variants are resolved automatically from your active resource pack stack, so the snow appearance adapts to whatever resource pack you have installed. **[Requires the Nova Reimagined Snow companion mod,](https://modrinth.com/mod/nova-reimagined-snow)** and **[Season Cache.](https://modrinth.com/mod/season-cache)**

### Cell Shaded Lighting
![Scene of a house and orchard showing the cell shaded lighting system](https://cdn.modrinth.com/data/Uzkg6HgX/images/fb52508cdc083aee9e288200722aec1cbe477753.jpeg)
An optional cel-shaded lighting model that quantises block light into discrete bands, giving illuminated areas a stylised, hand-drawn quality. Band count, contrast, and ambient contribution are all tunable, making it possible to dial in anything from a subtle painterly warmth to a more pronounced cartoon look. Works alongside coloured lighting for fully coloured cel-shaded block light.

### Extended Dark Outline System
![Panorama showcasing the extended dark outline feature](https://cdn.modrinth.com/data/Uzkg6HgX/images/101201c7f543e17c04d6cb633bdaf3a336c8a539.jpeg)
A configurable dark outline pass that traces the edges of geometry, reinforcing Minecraft’s natural block silhouettes. Outline weight, fade distance, and fade range are all adjustable, letting you control how aggressively outlines appear at distance. Can be combined with the cel-shaded lighting for a cohesive illustrative style.

### Per-Time-of-Day And Per-Time-of-Day Weather Visuals
![Overlooking the harbor during snowfall.](https://cdn.modrinth.com/data/Uzkg6HgX/images/eed7b00157dea5730af379b5b8644998f4a37178.jpeg)
Dawn/Dusk, Day, and Night all have their own lighting and atmospherics profiles. Rain and storm conditions have fully independent visual profiles for day, dusk, and night. Ambient levels, light intensity, atmospheric fog, border fog brightness, cloud brightness, light warmth, and glare desaturation are all separately tunable across all six weather and time-of-day combinations. This allows storms to feel dramatically different depending on when they hit rather than applying a single flat weather filter over everything.

### Underwater Visuals
![An otter swims under the lake surface](https://cdn.modrinth.com/data/Uzkg6HgX/images/f243477c1e9b3a1f7209ec90a765179c3325ba2b.jpeg)
Underwater environments have dedicated colour and brightness controls for day, dusk, and night, along with independent settings for water fog, border fog, and light shafts. Water colour, foam intensity, texture detail, and refraction are all configurable, giving full control over how water looks from both above and below the surface.

### Distant Horizons LOD Fade and Overdraw Protection
![A calm inlet surrounded by trees.](https://cdn.modrinth.com/data/Uzkg6HgX/images/21cfa040a0d4137bdf62cdc2d2529a2b3a4dcfa8.jpeg)
To make the transition from vanilla render space to Distant Horizons LOD terrain smoothly fade in instead of pop in, LOD fade system with overdraw protection has been implemented and is fully configurable to make it work for your specific needs. This is probably one of the more visually impactful options should you be using Distant Horizons.

### Distant Horizons LOD Custom Texture Application
![The sun sets over the plains in spring.](https://cdn.modrinth.com/data/Uzkg6HgX/images/37409831175eda10e443cdb0985287b647c3c694.jpeg)
Similar to the snow shader, grass, stone, sand, and a handful of other block types can have their texture paths added to the configuration file so that the shader uses them to better match distant lands to your vanilla draw distance space. Grass specifically has per-season visual options in the settings to allow you to perfectly match colors across all seasons when using Serene Seasons. Exposure and general texture use options available for all blocks included, and the entire system can be disabled if preferred.

### SMAA Anti-Aliasing
![Peaceful pond on a sunny day.](https://cdn.modrinth.com/data/Uzkg6HgX/images/592516e93041c8ca351390d6bdad6aabac9d27ee.jpeg)
Subpixel Morphological Anti-Aliasing is available alongside TAA, providing sharp edge smoothing with less ghosting on moving geometry than temporal methods alone. SMAA and TAA can be used in combination or independently depending on your preference for sharpness versus stability.

### Alternative Tone Mappers
![A village at sunset.](https://cdn.modrinth.com/data/Uzkg6HgX/images/81e782a1ad82a4bb4742f722848336c849d1d546.jpeg)
In addition to the native Complementary tonemapper, Nova Reimagined includes a selection of alternative tonemapping operators. Each operator changes how colour and brightness are mapped to the display, giving meaningfully different looks ranging from filmic contrast curves to flatter, more neutral presentations. The native tonemapper’s brightness, contrast, saturation, and vibrance controls remain available regardless of which operator is selected.

### General Alterations and Additions
![Night approaches on a lake.](https://cdn.modrinth.com/data/Uzkg6HgX/images/3b7cc731b9b3bc846b92041fb854fbf6a9d0ce9b.jpeg)
Several other minor systems have been alterated or added as well. World Space Reflections and Advanced Color Tracing are fully independent. Depth Blur has been stabilized and modified to help sell visual planes. Atmospheric Fog is now comprised of general, and ground fogs. Cave detection and lighting has been changed. Probably more that my dad brain is forgetting lol. A lot…it’s a lot.


## Frequently Asked Questions

Q. Do I really need [Nova Reimagined Snow](https://modrinth.com/mod/nova-reimagined-snow) or [Season Cache](https://modrinth.com/mod/season-cache)?

Spoiler

A. Technically, no, but the snow shader will not work as intended without them. If you’re interested in all the other features and don’t care for the snow shader, you can ignore the companion mods but you’ll want to disable all the snow shader toggles and Distant Horizons texture options under the Materials section and Other section of the settings.

Q. What is the performance hit?

Spoiler

A. You can expect similar performance to Complementary Reimagined as most of what’s been added or modified doesn’t add much weight. Full winter scenes with Distant Horizons may be a bit heavier than without, but I wouldn’t expect it to cripple your framerate above not using the snow shader options.

There are several new toggles that can help get the most out of your performance, though, such as choosing where light shafts will render, which parts of the snow shader system to use, Distant Horizons overdraw protection, and more. Inherently built to look good without having to use PBR, you can also leave it and other heavy options off without losing the great visuals.

Q. Do I have to use the dark outline, cell shaded lighting, etc.? Can you toggle them?

Spoiler

A. You don’t have to at all! The outline, lighting, even individual snow shader per block category are exposed so you can make the shader pack work for your taste, your performance goals, and your resource packs. I made sure to expose as many toggles and sliders as I could within reason to put the power in your hands to do what you want and need to in order to get the most out of the shader pack.

Q. What about Voxy?

Spoiler

A. Like all of my mods, they’re born of necessity. At the time of creating this shader pack, Voxy was not compatible with multiplayer and as my mods are made for my server I run for my friends it was left out. By the time Voxy is multiplayer capable I suspect the OpenGL to Vulkan switch will have happened and there will be more than Voxy to try to sort out should forward compatibility continue haha.

Q. Does this work with Serene Seasons or other seasonal mods?

Spoiler

A. The snow shader was actually born of using Serene Seasons and wanting to figure out a way to make use of Complementary’s existing snowy world toggle in a more targeted way. That is to say, it absolutely works with Serene Seasons. It’s really meant specifically for Serene Seasons, though, so if it does work with other seasonal mods it’s an unintended win haha.

To make sure your Distant Horizons LODs change with the seasons, you’ll also want my mod that handles Serene Seasons x Distant Horizons [which you can find here](https://modrinth.com/mod/serene-seasons-x-distant-horizons).

Q. Is this Vanilla friendly?

Spoiler

A. To be honest, as I’m very new to the Minecraft modding scene, I’m still not 100% sure what the agreed upon criteria for being Vanilla Friendly is. To my knowledge it’s some amalgam of visual and functional changes that don’t mess with the vanilla experience or internals. In that sense, I would assume this is vanilla friendly. I set out wanting to make Minecraft still look like Minecraft despite using Alacrity, which is a very much detail heavy resource pack.

Q. What Texture Pack, World Generation, etc. do you use in the screenshots?

Spoiler

A. The main texture/resource pack is Alacrity and a selection of John’s Alacrity Enhanced content (had to do some modifying to get compatibility in check) and a smattering of the usual suspects for animals, animations etc. The world generation was a combination of Larion, Larion Disc World, Lithostitched, WWOO, and accompanying structure/dungeon/accessory mods to round it out.

Q. Are there specific resource packs you’d recommend?

Spoiler

A. While all the effects will work with essentially any pack, there are definitely some that handle things like the dark outline and snow shaders better than others. Alacrity is my personal choice, but Whimscape also works really well!

Q. Any settings you’d recommend that aren’t default?

Spoiler

A. Yes! If your machine can handle it, going from Real-Time Lighting High to Very High can have a meaningful impact in forest scenes especially. Ultra isn’t worth it, though.

Also, if you’re using Distant Horizons you can use its settings to slightly alter its LOD brightness and saturation to better match your vanilla render distance to make for an even more seemless experience. Similarly, in the shader options you can tweak Distant Horizon’s water color to match your vanilla render distance and all but eliminate the visible transition point which makes for great views!

Honestly, as long as you’re using the Cell Lighting, and some form of the Dark Outline, you can choose whatever you want to suit your performance needs without losing too much of the original visual intent so feel free to experiment!

Q. Why do my trees/foliage look weird with the dark outline?

Spoiler

A. Sadly, due to how the dark outline is drawn, and how some blocks are drawn, the dark outline can sometimes not look so great. It’s a combination of the style of leaf/foliage block and the realities of how the line is drawn alongside things like edge detection, and anti aliasing. I tried a few methods, but what I stuck with seemed like the best trade off.

Q. Why is the snow streaky on some of the block types?

Spoiler

A. Depending on how the block is designed, it can result in some streaking behaviour. Some settings might make this effect a bit less noticeable but until I come up with a solution (assuming there is one haha) I can’t offer more than the ability to toggle what gets snow – which is possible in the settings.

Q. Why does the snow-covered ice look dark in Distant Horizons terrain?

Spoiler

A. Unfortunately I never could figure out how to tackle that. Some investigating led to learning it’s upstream (it’s a Distant Horizons problem). I tried painting that ice red using every method I could sort out so I could modify how it looked, even in its broken state, but nothing touches it so I’m not able to do much until the underlying issue is resolved.

Q. I noticed some block types that should probably have snow on them don’t have any. Why is that and can I do anything about it?

Spoiler

A. Odds are those blocks are modded blocks, added content, etc. While I added some common modded blocks to the list, it’s obviously not exhaustive haha. That part of the shader/companion could be added to by those who know what they’re doing (it’s just using block type tags like minecraft:dirt_path etc.) but otherwise I might have to come up with a way to make adding to the list easier for you all in the future when I get some time.

Q. Will you add new Complementary features to this pack in the future should they release them?

Spoiler

A. Maybe. I’m a new dad and have mostly been slamming these mods out during my limited downtime while on the night watch haha. As mentioned elsewhere, the mods I’ve done were mostly in service of my server I run for my friends so while I will try to update and fix when posssible, I can’t promise anything since I have other priorities.

## Credits

Nova Reimagined is built on top of Complementary Reimagined by EminGT.
Original pack and full credits: https://www.complementary.dev

– **EminGT** – Developer of Complementary Reimagined, the base this pack is built upon
– **Capt Tatsu** – Developer of BSL Shaders, whose generosity made Complementary possible
– **ItsThatNova** – Nova Reimagined modifications and the companion Nova Reimagined Snow mod

## Requirements

– Minecraft 1.21.x (Java Edition)
– [Iris Shaders](https://modrinth.com/mod/iris) 1.6+
– [Nova Reimagined Snow](https://modrinth.com/mod/nova-reimagined-snow)
– [Season Cache](https://modrinth.com/mod/season-cache)
– [Distant Horizons](https://modrinth.com/mod/distanthorizons) (optional, fully supported)
– [Serene Seasons X Distant Horizons](https://modrinth.com/mod/serene-seasons-x-distant-horizons) (optional, but recommoended if using both SS and DH)

## Installation

1. Install Iris Shaders
2. Install the Nova Reimagined Snow companion mod
3. Install the Season Cache mod
4. Place the Nova Reimagined shader pack zip in your shaderpacks folder
5. Select it in Iris settings
6. After running the game with Nova Reimagined Snow installed, go to your Minecraft folder > Config folder, and update the compsnow config file with your snow, grass, and block texture paths.

## Surface Snow Settings

Snow coverage settings are found under **Shader Settings > Other > Surface Snow**:

– **Pixel Size** – Controls the cell size and coverage step count of the snow noise pattern
– **Accent Max Snow Coverage** – Sets the maximum snow opacity on path and accent blocks
– **Accent Melt Patch Scale** – Controls the scale of melt patches on accent blocks

## License

This pack is distributed under the Complementary License Agreement 1.6.
See `License.txt` for full terms.

Nova Reimagined credits Complementary Reimagined as its Original Pack per section 1.3 of that agreement.

Noble Shaders

# Noble

![Noble](https://i.imgur.com/wm5zu5L.png)

Noble finds the perfect balance between performance and realism.
This Minecraft shader pack uses clever lighting techniques and powerful customization to create clean, immersive, and enjoyable visuals.

### Socials (click the banners)



## Releases

The project is in constant evolution. Therefore, you can expect bug fixes, new features, and
occasional issues along the way.

Noble will always remain **free and open source**. I started this project to learn computer graphics
and have fun, I do not want to monetize it.
You can still access paid, more engineered versions of Noble on my [Patreon page](https://patreon.com/Belmu).

I’ve poured hundreds of hours, many sleepless nights, and a lot of coffee into this project. I deeply
hope you enjoy the result!

Feel free to report bugs or discuss ideas on the [Discord server](https://discord.gg/jjRrhpkH9e).

## Supported Mods



        

## Requirements

* **[Optifine](https://optifine.net/home) or [Iris](https://www.irisshaders.dev/) for 1.16 (or newer)**
* A Nvidia graphics card (GTX 950 or newer) **OR** an AMD graphics card (R7 370 or newer)
* Windows or Linux (MacOS isn’t supported)

## License

> Noble is licensed under the [GNU General Public License V3.0](https://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl-3.0.en.html).
> Consider reading the terms before modifying or redistributing this project.

Nigthly Fix

a basic edit of [Daybreak](https://modrinth.com/shader/daybreak-shader)

What does this Shader add?

-realtime shadows (configurable only in shadowfrag.glsl)

-pbr support (material/block reflections u.a)

NightBloom

[Prismarine shader](https://github.com/Septonious/Prismarine-Shader) edit with extra toggleable effects and a more vanilla look and feel

the added effects include:

– health based effects
– rainbow selected block outline
– RTX style water
– custom end sky
– nether heat waves

a lot of changed default settings but those can be changed back (other than the water settings)

i also removed a few settings i deem not vanilla-like such as the aforementioned water settings as they didnt do anything after my changes

credits: [Complementary v4 ](https://github.com/ComplementaryDevelopment/ComplementaryShadersV4/tree/main) for the inspiration of the water

version 0.3 and up will include the Complementary Agreement 1.3 to respect their redistribution conditions

Muuf A.G.I Shaders

# MUUF A.G.I REBUILD

## ABOUT

Muuf A.G.I Shaders is a semi-realistic shaderpack for Minecraft that strikes a balance between visual fidelity and wide compatibility. Whether you’re on a high-end gaming rig or running Minecraft through PojavLauncher on your phone, Muuf A.G.I delivers a beautiful experience without sacrificing performance.
this shader is based on [MakeUp ultra fast](https://www.curseforge.com/minecraft/shaders/makeup-ultra-fast-shader)

## Crafted with attention to lighting, materials, and atmosphere, this shader brings Minecraft to life with:

-Volumetric clouds that respond naturally to lighting and time of day

-PBR (Physically Based Rendering) for realistic materials

-Parallax Occlusion Mapping (POM) for added depth and surface detail

-Real-time reflections using screen-space techniques

Muuf A.G.I is designed to be flexible—beautiful enough for cinematic screenshots, but optimized enough for survival gameplay. Whether you’re building in creative or exploring vast survival worlds, this shader adds a subtle but powerful upgrade to your visuals.

Join the community and stay updated: [Discord Server](https://discord.gg/8T3aqSA3)