Screenshot 1 of 5. Desert fortress with sandstone structures and blue sky under clear lighting in Steadfast Shaders.
What Steadfast works with.
| Platform | Java Edition |
|---|---|
| Loaders | Iris |
| Minecraft versions | 1.18.2, 1.19.4, 1.20.6, 1.21.11, 26.1.2 |
Steadfast Shaders is a semi-realistic shader pack for Java by coderbot, and it runs through Iris. It is built for integrated and mobile graphics, so the default High profile targets 60+ FPS on midrange laptops from five-plus years back. It is a player-side pack only, with no role on dedicated hosts.
Shader loaders and versions
- Iris: Minecraft 1.18.2 to 26.1.2.
What it changes
- Sky and fog with a semi-realistic atmosphere, plus real-time shadows from the sun and moon.
- Foliage that sways in the wind and scatters light through leaves.
- Water with deep waves, reflection, refraction, depth-based absorption and caustics on underwater surfaces.
- Water and ice that reflect anything visible on the screen, plus approximate godrays from sun and moon.
- Lighting tuned for bright days and dark interiors, with no auto-exposure.
Performance
The pack is designed to need little graphics memory bandwidth and only moderate compute. With a dedicated high-end card, even the High profile can reach 250-500 FPS, and lower profiles stay playable on hardware as small as a Raspberry Pi. It supports NVIDIA, AMD and Intel GPUs, macOS including Apple Silicon, and Linux through Mesa drivers, including the Steam Deck. Phones and tablets are not supported.
Installation
- 1.Install Iris 1.5 or newer by following our shader install guide.
- 2.Get the pack from Modrinth and place the .zip in the shaderpacks folder.
- 3.Open Video Settings, then Shader Packs, and select Steadfast.
Compatibility with mods
Steadfast integrates with Distant Horizons and Voxy for long render distances without a large performance loss. High-performance rendering in Create works through the Colorwheel add-on. If the pack misbehaves, the shader troubleshooting guide covers the usual causes.
Questions about Steadfast.
4 questions
Does Steadfast Shaders work with OptiFine?
No. The pack does not support any release of OptiFine. It relies on custom uniforms to offload calculations to the CPU, and these behave differently in OptiFine than in Iris, so porting would take major effort. Use Iris 1.5 or newer on a supported release.
Is Steadfast good for low-end PCs?
It is designed for that. The pack targets mobile and integrated graphics with low memory bandwidth needs. Its default High profile aims for 60+ FPS on most midrange laptops from five-plus years ago, and lower profiles remain playable even on a Raspberry Pi.
Does Steadfast work with Distant Horizons?
Yes. The pack integrates with Distant Horizons and Voxy, both of which offer extreme render distances without significant performance loss. Steadfast itself runs through Iris 1.5 or newer, and it does not support OptiFine, so Iris is the only route with this pack.
How do I install Steadfast shaders?
Install Iris first, then put the Steadfast .zip into your shaderpacks folder. Launch the game with Iris active, open Video Settings, choose Shader Packs, and select Steadfast. The pack is for Java only and cannot run on Bedrock.
