In this article, we will show you how to add shaders to Minecraft without Optifine. We are going to be doing this using the Iris Shaders mod. This is a newer shaders mod that, while it does work with Optifine shaders packs, it does not require Optifine to run shaders. It also works with Fabric allowing you to install Minecraft mods on Fabric with the Iris shaders mod. So, without anymore delay, here is how to download and install Iris Shaders in Minecraft!
How To Download & Install Minecraft Shaders without Optifine
Step 1) Download Iris Shaders
The first step of getting shaders without Optifine is downloading Iris shaders. You can find the Iris Shaders download page by clicking here. One the Iris download page, click on the ‘Download Universal Jar' button. This will download, automatically, the Iris Installer. You will need to keep or save the Iris Installer depending on your browser.
Step 2) Install Iris Shaders
After you have Iris Shaders downloaded, we need to install it. To do this, right-click on the Iris Shaders Installer you downloaded, click on ‘Open With', click on ‘Java', and click ‘Okay'. This will open up the Iris installer. In this installer, change the edition to ‘Iris Standalone'. Change the game version to the version you want and click the ‘install' button. Iris Shaders will then install.
Step 3) Open Iris Shaders
Once Iris is installed, you need to open up Minecraft with it. To do that, just open up the Minecraft launcher, click the little arrow next to the Play button, select ‘Iris Standalone', and click ‘Play'. You will then have to click Play again confirming you are playing modded Minecraft with shaders. Minecraft will now open up with shaders.
Step 4) Download Your Shaders Pack(s)
You now need to download some shaders packs to actually use with Iris. Luckily, all Optifine shaders packs work with Iris shaders out of the box. You can find a list of 5 awesome shaders packs here. Each download process is different, but overall, it should be pretty simple and many of them have dedicated tutorials.
Note: Shaders packs are typically VERY resource intensive. I cannot recommend playing Minecraft with shaders if you do not have a very good, desktop PC. Some high-end gaming laptops may be able to run shaders, but even those may have an issue depending on when they were released.
Step 4) Open Your Shaders Folder & Install Shaders packs.
To install your shaders pack, go to Options on the Minecraft main below. Then, click video settings. Finally, scroll down until you see ‘Shader Packs' in the bottom right of the video settings tab. Click the Shaders Packs button. Now, to install shaders packs, click the ‘Open Shader Pack Folder' button. That will open your shaders packs folder. Drag-and-drop all the shaders packs you want to install into this folder. Go back to Minecraft, click Refresh Shaders Packs. Then, click the shaders pack you want on the list, click Apply and Done.
Step 5) Enjoy You Shaders without Optifine!
Congratulations. You now know how to download & install Iris Shaders in Minecraft. Truthfully, the hardest part of the entire process is getting to the Shaders Folder. Once you've done that, it's drag and drop! If you do, however, have any issues download and install Iris Shaders, comment below. We are happy to help you in any way we can.
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Nic
I have been playing and modding Minecraft since 2010. In 2014, I started getting interested in creating Minecraft servers and teaching people how to do it online. This led to thousands of videos covering how to do anything and everything in Minecraft!
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