Minecraft Shaders for Playing on Low-End PCs [Best Choices!] - Alvaro Trigo's Blog (2024)

For Minecraft enthusiasts on low-end hardware, the allure of vibrant shaders can be tempting but tricky. Fortunately, Minecraft shaders for low-end PCs can enhance your gaming experience.

Whether you want the hyper-realistic impressions or the subtle lighting changes, the shaders will give you plenty of options to try out. Keep reading to learn more about some of the lowest-end shaders suitable for your PC and how to install them. Let’s get right into it!

Minecraft Shaders for Playing on Low-End PCs [Best Choices!] - Alvaro Trigo's Blog (1)

7 Best Minecraft Shaders for Low-End PCs

Here are the seven best Minecraft shaders for low-end PCs:

1. Builder’s QOL Shaders

Minecraft Shaders for Playing on Low-End PCs [Best Choices!] - Alvaro Trigo's Blog (2)

Builder’s QOL low-end shader for Minecraft doesn’t have fancy effects like glowing or extra lights. However, it improves FPS and adds unique features to the game, like custom water, wavy trees, and vines, which can improve your gaming experience.

For instance, custom water lets you personalize water and make it look more realistic. Also, the wavy tree leaves and vines sway in the game, making your gaming environment more dynamic and authentic.

2. Potato Shaders

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This pack of light Minecraft shaders is popular for enhancing the game’s graphics without compromising performance. It has smooth textures, reflective blocks, transparent water, and improved animations.

Moreover, Potato Shaders offers perfectly lit days, the best-looking ancient cities, and dark areas, which creates a perfect balance in graphics. You can also customize the added effects to suit your preference.

3. Waving Plants Shaders

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If you want to bring more life to your Minecraft world, you might want to use the waving plants shaders. This shader adds animation to grass, leaves, and crops, making everything look more realistic and dynamic.

It also lets you customize the settings to adjust the animation speed and intensity to your liking. You can combine this easy-to-run shader with other mods, allowing you to create a unique and personalized Minecraft experience.

4. Chocapic13’s Lite Shaders

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Chocapic13 lite is another good shader for low-end PCs that breathes new life into Minecraft. It adds new water textures and lighting effects that enhance Minecraft’s appearance. It can also make distant objects appear clearer, making the game world more vibrant.

You can adjust various settings or tune the visuals according to your preferences with the help of this shader. The best part is that it won’t slow down your computer or cause frame drops, ensuring an enjoyable gaming experience.

5. MakeUp Shaders

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MakeUp shaders are quick tools for making your game look better. They add various effects to the game, such as reflection, motion blur, ambient occlusion, and more. You can also choose the specific features you want to apply.

You can also adjust the visual settings of different parts of your game to create a unique and exciting atmosphere that suits your taste. For instance, when exploring darker places like caves, you can adjust the settings to make them look even darker, adding to the game’s thrill.

6. Sildur’s Shaders

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Sildur is a vibrant Minecraft shader for low-end PCs that provides the game with a clean aesthetic and adds realism. It is lightweight and highly customizable, with excellent effects such as dynamic weather, shadows, and reflections.

The dynamic weather effects, such as rain and snow, improve the lighting and atmosphere of the game, providing an immersive gaming experience. This shader is compatible with many Minecraft versions and usable with other resource packs and tools.

7. Lagless Shaders

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As the name suggests, Lagless shaders reduce lag in video games by modifying how lighting works. Instead of calculating complex lighting for the entire world, they focus on the brightness of individual blocks. This way, they make the game run smoothly without any issues.

Moreover, these shaders are compatible with challenging environments like combat scenarios and exploration in dark areas, which improves the game’s performance. They also have better water effects, such as ripples, waves, and reflections that reflect the environment, adding to the game’s visual appeal.

Are commands getting in the way of your hyper-realistic Minecraft environment? Find out how to hide commands in Minecraft here.

How to Install Shaders in Minecraft

To install Minecraft shaders for low-end PCs, you must first set up Optifine. This is a mod that enhances your Minecraft performance while also providing support for better graphics. Make sure you choose the Optifine version that matches the Minecraft version you are using.

Here’s a video to walk you through the Optifine installation process:

Follow these steps to install Minecraft shaders for low-end PCs:

Step 1: Download Your Chosen Low-End Shader

Step 2: Launch Minecraft and click “Options”

Step 3: Go to “Video Settings > Shader Packs”

Minecraft Shaders for Playing on Low-End PCs [Best Choices!] - Alvaro Trigo's Blog (9)

Step 4: Tap the “Open Shader Packs Folder”

Minecraft Shaders for Playing on Low-End PCs [Best Choices!] - Alvaro Trigo's Blog (10)

Step 5: Select All the Shaders You Want to Add to Minecraft

Step 6: Choose a Shader to Use and click “Apply > Done”

Your chosen shader will turn yellow when you click “Apply”.

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Do Shaders Decrease FPS?

Yes, shaders decrease FPS (frames per second) in Minecraft. They add graphical effects and details to the game, which require more processing power from the CPU (central processing unit) and graphics card. This causes the game to become more resource-extensive and run slower.

However, the FPS decrease depends on the shader’s complexity, the game’s settings, and the hardware’s power. The more complex the shader is, the more processing power it will require from the graphics card and CPU, thus causing a decrease in the FPS.

Similarly, higher resolution settings in the game may increase the processing power required. Also, FPS can decrease if your hardware is not powerful enough to handle the graphical effects the shader adds.

Tips for Playing Minecraft on a Low-End PC

Minecraft Shaders for Playing on Low-End PCs [Best Choices!] - Alvaro Trigo's Blog (12)

These are the common tips for playing Minecraft on a low-end PC:

  • Allocate More RAM to Minecraft.
    Minecraft relies heavily on system RAM, and allocating more memory can improve its performance. Go to installations, select your profile, click on advanced settings, and give it more RAM. This will ensure it has enough resources to run smoothly.
  • Optimize the Graphic Settings.
    Adjusting the in-game graphic settings helps improve your experience on a low-end PC. Reduce the graphics quality, render distance, and turn off smooth lighting and fancy graphics to reduce strain on the system.
  • Close Unnecessary Programs.
    Running unnecessary programs in the background can consume your PC’s resources, causing Minecraft to work slowly. Close them to improve your performance and gaming experience.
  • Use Optifine.
    Optifine allows you to customize your settings beyond the default options, providing better control. This can boast FPS and game graphics and reduce lag.

Read more about optimizing performance in Minecraft’s Java edition from Minecraft Help.

Do Minecraft Shaders Need RAM?

Yes, Minecraft shaders need 8-16GB RAM depending on their system demand, the graphics card, the processor, and the resolution. Shaders with higher levels of detail will require more RAM to run smoothly. Likewise, high-resolution settings will need more RAM to store the increased data.

With a powerful graphics card and processor, you can use more intensive shaders, requiring more RAM to run well.

Find out how much storage Minecraft takes.

Which Version of Minecraft Is Best for Low-End PC?

Minecraft Bedrock is better for low-end PCs with no dedicated graphics card, while the Java version works with low-end PCs with a graphics card. If you want to play with friends who are not on the same platform, Bedrock is a suitable choice. It has cross-platform capabilities with consoles and mobile devices.

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However, Java is the best choice if you’re looking for an edition with robust modifications that can enhance your gameplay. Keep in mind, though, that it may require high system requirements.

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Minecraft Shaders for Playing on Low-End PCs [Best Choices!] - Alvaro Trigo's Blog (2024)

FAQs

Which shader is best for Minecraft low end PC? ›

Best Shaders for Low End PCs
  • Super Duper Vanilla Shaders. Starting out with a semi-popular pack, Super Duper Vanilla Shaders introduces players to an enhanced version of Minecraft. ...
  • CaptTatsu's BSL Shaders. ...
  • Skylec Shaders. ...
  • Complementary Reimagined Shaders. ...
  • Potato Shaders.

What shaders don t need Optifine? ›

Unreal shaders

Including three different shaders and texture packs, as well as new biomes, immersive sounds and more, Unreal is a simple way to change the look of Minecraft with just one download – you don't even need Optifine.

How good of a PC do you need for Minecraft shaders? ›

ShaderTool system requirements state that you will need at least 4 GB of RAM. The cheapest graphics card you can play it on is an AMD Radeon HD 6250. To play ShaderTool you will need a minimum CPU equivalent to an Intel Core i3-530. In terms of game file size, you will need at least 50 MB of free disk space available.

Which shader is the least laggy? ›

BSLex Shader packs provide stunning esthetics. The shader pack looks incredible, and it's worth trying for that alone. There won't be very many higher-quality shaders. Fortunately, it also limits lag, so players on lower-end PCs can use it and not have too many issues.

Which shader gives most FPS? ›

Once you do that, it is time to dive in and check out some of the best FPS-friendly Minecraft shaders!
  1. Cyanide Shaders. Cyanide is one of the simplest shader packs for Minecraft users with low-end PCs. ...
  2. YoFPS Shader (Chocapic13 Edit) ...
  3. Sildur's Basic Shaders. ...
  4. Tea Shaders. ...
  5. DrDestens MCShaders. ...
  6. Builder's QOL. ...
  7. MakeUp – Ultra Fast.
Apr 16, 2024

Can OptiFine run shaders? ›

Generally, the easiest (and most popular) way to install shaders is with the use of OptiFine; a mod for Minecraft that optimizes the game to allow faster rendering and provide more FPS.

Do shaders take up RAM? ›

Shaders compilations takes RAM too when compiling all the game shaders, that's why developers needs at least 64gb of ram in editor when developing games. With the shipping build, all the shaders are optimized and compiled on the minimum reference system configuration to run the game.

Which PC is best for Minecraft? ›

Recommended PC Requirements to run Minecraft
  • CPU: Intel Core i5-4690 3.5GHz / AMD A10-7800 APU 3.5 GHz or equivalent.
  • RAM: 8GB.
  • GPU: GeForce 700 Series or AMD Radeon Rx 200 Series (excluding integrated chipsets) with OpenGL 4.5.
  • HDD: 4GB (SSD is recommended)
  • OS (recommended 64-bit): Windows: Windows 10 and above.

Do shaders affect CPU? ›

Since shaders add more graphical effects to the game, they require additional processing power from your CPU or GPU, which can reduce the overall performance and FPS. However, if you have a high-end gaming rig, you may not notice a significant drop in FPS with properly optimized shaders.

Why is Minecraft 1.19 2 so laggy? ›

Common Reasons for Experiencing Lag

Numerous worlds are running on your server without enough RAM. Too many plugins are running on your server, and not enough RAM. You are running an outdated version of Minecraft.

Why is Minecraft extremely laggy? ›

You have many applications running in the background using up RAM. You are playing online on a server too far from your location. You are running too many Minecraft worlds simultaneously. You have too many plugins or mods installed.

How to make Minecraft less laggy in 1.20 1? ›

Start with adjusting the settings that will have the widest impact.
  1. Decrease resolution. Resolution determines the number of pixels the game is rendered in. ...
  2. Reduce render distance. To raise FPS, set the render distance slider between low and medium. ...
  3. Turn off Vsync. ...
  4. Turn on fullscreen mode.

Which shader is best for 2GB ram? ›

Best Minecraft shaders for low-end PCs
  • Sildur's Shaders (Image via Mojang)
  • Wisdom Shaders (Image via Cheng Cao)
  • Magnificent Atmospheric Shaders (Image via Shader Mods)
  • Mr. ...
  • DMS Shaders (Image via DatWeirdPerson)
  • Potato Shader can run on Minecraft with just about any kind of hardware (Image via RRe36/CurseForge)
Jul 6, 2024

What is the best shader for 1.20 low-end? ›

Chocapic13 Shaders

Chocapic13 is certainly one of the best looking shaders for Minecraft 1.20. It also strives for highly realistic lighting and visuals, and it maintains a decent quality even on the lowest preset. The clouds are realistic and the water is easily visible even when you are at a great distance.

How do you run Minecraft smoothly on a low-end PC? ›

Start with adjusting the settings that will have the widest impact.
  1. Decrease resolution. Resolution determines the number of pixels the game is rendered in. ...
  2. Reduce render distance. To raise FPS, set the render distance slider between low and medium. ...
  3. Turn off Vsync. ...
  4. Turn on fullscreen mode.

What is the best texture pack for low-end Minecraft PC? ›

10 Minecraft texture packs that work smoothly on a low-spec PC
  • 1) Bare Bones.
  • 2) Dandelion X.
  • 3) oCd Texture Pack.
  • 4) Faithful.
  • 5) Stay True.
  • 6) Dokucraft.
  • 7) Tooniverse.
  • 8) Whimscape.
Nov 25, 2023

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