Complementary Shaders - Reimagined is the leading shader pack online right now, and for good reason. A project that's been maintained and upgraded consistently over the last seven years, it delivers a clean but remarkable visual upgrade.

Adding shadows, reflections, refractions, and more, it's the perfect example of the standard shader experience, all with zero fuss. The Reimagined version offers some visual tweaks that keep the quality while still staying true to the Minecraft vibe.

Complementary Shaders - Unbound is what you get if Complementary cast aside the "staying true to the Minecraft vibe" thing from before and fully leaned into realism. The clouds change from cubes to actual puffballs, and the water warbles and flows like real water does. It needs a bit more processing power, but not much, and it's worth it.

You can actually toggle between Unbound and Reimagined's styles in the shader settings, but due to some complicated under-the-hood stuff, we recommend using the individual mods and adjusting settings from there.

The pack that Complementary is based on, BSL Shaders offers a clean and lightweight option for someone looking for the standard lighting and water upgrade; and it includes some of the more complex effects, too, like volumetrics.

This shader has been around for a long time, and is particularly cooperative when it comes to adjusting settings, making it a popular choice. What really helps this one stand out is the selection of Extras in the setting – where you can activate optional effects like outlines, retro filters, and even world curvature.

Found the others a bit dull or muted? Want some high-contrast color? Then you want Sildur's Vibrant Shaders. A powerful but generally lightweight lighting and water shader, it offers a more vivid experience. Just be wary of how dark it can be in caves.

With most shaders either going for pure realism or leaning deep into a stylistic design, this is one of the few shader packs that seems to find a nice balance between the two. That makes it a great fit for almost any kind of Minecraft world or mod.

Make Up - Ultra Fast's entire design philosophy is all about efficiency and performance. The developers wanted to create a shader that would run smoothly on any PC, and the result is reliable, bug-free, and functional.

It may not have the level of zing as other shaders, but it might be the only one that runs on your laptop.

Color is for Care Bears. You want something dark, dour, and dreary. Insanity Shader delivers with their foggy and muted shader pack. It runs well on most PCs and comes with a handful of customization options.

Where it really shines (no pun intended) is when it's paired with horror-themed mods and texture packs, like Blood and Madness. Running well on most devices and compatible with most mods, it's a very accessible choice for something spooky.

Just like the name suggests, Pastel Shaders gives everything a slight hue shift toward one of three cozy colors: Rose Quartz, Periwinkle, and Lemon. While on its own, it doesn't make much of a scene, the thematic nature of the colors accentuates the cute and cozy vibes that pastels are known for.

It pairs especially well with cute mods like Cute Craft.

Solas Shader puts a priority on creating a rich, immersive atmosphere. With a focus on volumetrics, atmospheric effects, and cinematic filters, it creates a world that feels full, even in empty space.

This pack looks best in areas with many different light sources. So while the overworld may look like a normal shader, caves, the Nether, and the End look particularly spectacular.

Back in 2017, Minecraft announced something called the Super Duper Graphics Pack for Bedrock Edition. It caused a lot of excitement, since it would be the first official shader pack for console and Bedrock PC editions. Unfortunately, The project was cancelled back in 2019.

Super Duper Vanilla Shaders recreates the graphical upgrades and stylistic choices of the Super Duper Graphics Pack, but for modded Java Edition.

Bliss Shaders began as an edit of Chocapic13, but the creator kept tweaking it until it became a full standalone pack.

It takes a more lighthearted approach to color and environmental effects – resulting in a shader pack that is stylish without being overly dark and hard to see at night. It also really shines in different weather effects.

A horror-themed branch off of the Complementary packs, Spooklementary introduces a handful of new effects designed to make the world more spooky. It has everything you'd expect from a desaturated scary pack, like grey tones and heavy clouds.

What stands out, though, are the extra effects, like eyes hiding in the darkness, lightning illuminating the world (and clouds!), and the introduction of blood moons.

The perfect shader pack for anyone who loves a good glowing magic item, AstraLex Shaders combines a lighting and water shader pack, along with some additional visual bonuses.

Lights shine better, and numerous blocks are given new bioluminescence, making every biome feel rich and full. Combine that with the touch of realism, like waterfall foaming and cosmetic birds in the sky, and Minecraft has never looked more alive.

Shaders have gone through some amazing advancements over the years, but Nostalgia Shader attempts to recreate the common visual themes and choices made during the early era of shader development in Minecraft.

Clouds, while now volumetric, retain their classic shape; the dynamic water is given the deep blue color that was common at the time, and wind sway and shadows follow the same metric.

As implied by the name, Potato Shader is a low-end graphics shader that is specifically designed to work even on a true "potato PC." It can run without issue on even the weakest of PCs, while still offering some nice visual upgrades.

While some classics, like water waves, ambient occlusion, and dynamic colors, are present, some of the more intensive features, like dynamic shadows, are left out to keep performance high.

Not actually having anything to do with the Twitch emote, Kappa Shader is one of the most realistic shader packs online. Designed with realism in mind, it intentionally sways away from "scientifically accurate" calculations that other shader packs use. Instead, it chooses whatever gives an effect that's closer to what you'd actually see in nature.

With several high-end visual effects, like screen-space path-tracing, temporal anti-aliasing, screen-space reflections, and the best cloud system we've ever seen, this is the perfect pack for a real-life look.

Another Sildur shader, instead of going for powerful, vibrant effects, this Sildur's Enhanced Default is intended to be a lightweight improvement to the default viewing experience.

You won't have dynamic shadows or complex visual effects, save for the water, but it will provide a cleaner, smoother visual experience, especially on larger monitors. If you like Sildur but can't run the other versions, this is an easy pick.

If you want something that looks sharp, even at higher resolutions (whether that's your monitor or your texture pack), then Beyond Belief has your back. A classic lighting and water shader, it has one thing that helps it stand out.

The Beyond Belief shader uses Sonic Ether as a base. Old school Minecraft modders will remember that name as one of the earliest high-fidelity shader packs online. That pack has gone neglected over the last few years, leaving packs like this one to carry on its legacy.

Another shader looking to keep it lightweight and true to the vanilla experience. Vanilla Plus offers a variety of small visual improvements, as well as some mid-level graphical effects like reflections and dynamic shadows.

If the shader doesn't look like it's working, be sure to check the settings and choose a different color preset (or go through each setting and enable them manually). The default setting is standard vanilla, but they offer a handful of presets that mimic the looks of classic shaders like Sonic Ether.

As far as performance-based shaders go, this particular pack is especially good at having stellar visuals without hindering processing power.

DrDestens MCShaders has some of the most impressive reflection and emission effects we've ever seen. Glowing cubes against metal blocks will show some dazzling scenes, and the well-designed ambient occlusion means very smooth but textured surfaces, giving the world a realistic feeling.

You'll notice it doesn't have shadows, however. This is an intentional choice by the developer, who believes that the graphically intensive nature of shadows would hold the shader back. Instead, that processing power is directed toward the other visual effects.

No bells, no whistles, this is as straightforward as it gets for a shader pack. Simplicissimus (don't ask us how it's pronounced) is a bare-bones shader pack option that adds shadows, bloom, wind effects, and anti-aliasing. That's it.

The limited effects mean it sticks to the default water graphics, which may not appeal to some. Even so, it works well on low-end computers, making it a clean, reliable choice if you're after something simple.

An official successor to the KUMA shaders, ProjectLUMA has the same style and rendering as the classic shader, but with support for modern versions of the game.

Opting for clarity over volumetrics, ProjectLUMA is a crisp option that trades fog and blur with refraction and sharp colors and contrasts (you can really see what I mean with distant views of water). They also have the best lens flare effect.

The epitome of performance shader, Sildur's Basic Shaders is what you install if you want improved performance and anti-aliasing, but you don't need those fancy dynamic effects.

Since the only settings are the complex visual ones like TAA, sharpening, SSAO, crossprocess, and custom emissive lightmaps, this pack is best used by those who actually understand these terms and how they influence visual fidelity.

Ushader is RRe36's take on how they used to have their SEUS (Sonic Ether) shader configured back in the day. Best of all, it comes with the reliability that all of RRe36's shaders have, assuming your computer can handle the intensive processing.

It includes all of the popular visuals seen in both modern and old school shaders, like atmospheric sky, volumetric fog, dynamic and soft shadows, and even screen-space raytraced ambient occlusion.

Tired of every realistic lighting shader using that same kind of color palette? They're all either bright white or some kind of orange tone. Oceano Shaders 3 is the remedy to that.

Instead of increasing contrast on everything, Oceano lightens it up, all while still increasing vibrance. The result is a colorful but lighthearted view of the world. If you want the world to look a little more colorful, but with a gentle touch, this is the pack for you.

If you want more color in your game, but something that feels a bit richer, check out Tea Shaders. It offers the standard array of visual effects, like FXAA, SSAO, HDR, and tonemapping, all in a lightweight package.

What makes it special is how it handles fog color and sky. Be prepared for vibrant gradients with the fog matching the two tones. This gives the entire world a colorful, richer feeling, great for aesthetic biomes and fairy-themed mods.

A 2.0 version is also in development, promising remarkable improvements to performance.