Screenshot 1 of 6. Solas Shader showing a starry night sky over a Minecraft landscape with colored lighting
What Solas Shader works with.
| Platform | Java Edition |
|---|---|
| Loaders | Iris, OptiFine |
| Minecraft versions | 1.12, 1.15.2, 1.16.5, 1.17.1, 1.18.2, 1.19.4, 1.20.6, 1.21.11, 26.1.2, 26.2 |
Solas Shader is a fantasy, stylized shader pack for Minecraft Java, built by Septonious for Iris and OptiFine from 1.12 to 26.2. It aims for stunning visuals at a moderate performance cost. Iris is the preferred loader. OptiFine runs it too, but without custom skyboxes or colored block lighting.
Night sky, the End and water
The sky is the signature. Sky effects include an aurora, a Milky Way and rainbows, while the End gets an Ender Nebula, a Black Hole and an Ender protoplanetary disk. Volumetrics add 3D clouds, crepuscular rays, fireflies and Nether smoke. Water uses procedural waves, caustics, light absorption and refraction.
- Colored block lighting, real-time shadows without light leaking in caves, cloud shadows and subsurface scattering on certain blocks.
- Integrated PBR with emissive textures, reflective materials and procedurally generated normals. LabPBR and OldPBR/SeusPBR resource packs are supported once "PBR Resourcepack" is on in the shader settings.
- Post-processing you can tune: tonemapping, bloom, lens flare, chromatic aberration, depth of field, motion blur and tilt-shift.
Minecraft with Solas Shader V3.0
How to install Solas Shader
- 1.Install Iris (on Fabric or NeoForge) or OptiFine for your Minecraft release.
- 2.Get the Solas Shader .zip from the Modrinth project.
- 3.Put the .zip, still zipped, in the shaderpacks folder.
- 4.Open Video Settings > Shader Packs in Iris, select Solas Shader and apply.
Compatibility and performance
- Loaders: Iris (preferred) and OptiFine, both with builds from 1.12 to 26.2. Neither needs another dependency.
- Mods: works with Voxy and Distant Horizons.
- Side: required on the client, unsupported on a server. Java only, no Bedrock.
Performance cost is described as moderate, and Modrinth lists the pack under low, medium and high tiers.
Questions about Solas Shader.
5 questions
How do I install Solas Shader?
Install Iris (on Fabric or NeoForge) or OptiFine, then get the Solas Shader zip from Modrinth. Place the zip, without unzipping it, in the shaderpacks folder. In Iris, open Video Settings, then Shader Packs, select Solas Shader and apply it.
Does Solas Shader work with Iris and OptiFine?
Yes. Both loaders have builds from 1.12 to 26.2. Iris is preferred. On OptiFine, custom skyboxes and colored block lighting are not supported, so the night sky and colored lighting are strongest on Iris.
Which Minecraft versions does Solas Shader support?
Builds cover Java releases from 1.12 to 26.2 on both Iris and OptiFine. Pick the shader loader build that matches your Minecraft release.
Does Solas Shader work on Bedrock?
No. Solas Shader is a Java pack that needs Iris or OptiFine, and neither runs on Bedrock. Nothing needs installing on a server either, because the pack is client side only.
Does Solas Shader work with Distant Horizons?
Yes. The creator lists Distant Horizons and Voxy as compatible mods, with Iris as the preferred loader. Turn on the PBR Resourcepack option in the shader settings if you also use a PBR resource pack.
