Rethinking Voxels
by gri573
A voxel-based global illumination shader that uses voxelized scene data for accurate light bouncing. Produces colored lighting and realistic indirect illumination.
About Rethinking Voxels
Rethinking Voxels is a high-end Minecraft shader pack by gri573, aimed at maximum-fidelity, cutting-edge visuals. It rebuilds the game's lighting engine to deliver ray-traced or path-traced light that resolves accurate bounce lighting and reflections, transforming flat vanilla blocks into a world with real light and shadow. It carries an extreme performance cost and supports Minecraft 1.19 - 1.21.
The look is defined by voxel-based global illumination for accurate indirect light, coloured light from torches, lava, and glowstone, thick, volumetric clouds with real depth, and PBR support so compatible texture packs gain real reflectivity and depth. Together these effects reshape every scene, from the way morning light rakes across terrain to how water and glass catch reflections at dusk.
Rethinking Voxels suits enthusiasts with powerful graphics cards who want the very best image quality. Players highlight its accurate voxel-based GI and beautiful colored lighting as standout qualities. It runs through Iris on Minecraft Java, and its ultra-tier demands mean it pairs best with the hardware described in the requirements below.
Rethinking Voxels effects, shown
Rethinking Voxels ships 8 headline effects. Each preview below is a hand-drawn illustration of what that effect does to a Minecraft scene, not a screenshot of the pack itself - the screenshot at the top of the page is the real thing.
Voxel-based GI
Voxel sampling carries light around corners, lifting interiors without a single extra torch.
Colored lighting
Torches burn orange, lava burns red, sea lanterns burn blue, and the room takes on that colour.
Volumetric clouds
Clouds gain real thickness, catch the sun on one side and cast shade below.
PBR
With a PBR resource pack, blocks gain real roughness and metalness: polished stone shines, wool does not.
Reflections
Water and polished blocks mirror the world standing above them.
Bloom
Bright sources bleed light into the pixels around them, so glowstone and lava actually glow.
Depth of field
What you look at stays sharp while the background falls out of focus, like a real lens.
Custom sky
A redrawn sky with its own day-to-night gradient, sun, moon and star field.
How Rethinking Voxels changes Minecraft
Unlike a texture pack, Rethinking Voxels does not repaint blocks - it replaces how Minecraft lights and renders the scene. Here is what it adds to your game:
- Voxel-based GI: it adds voxel-based global illumination for accurate indirect light.
- Colored lighting: it adds coloured light from torches, lava, and glowstone.
- Volumetric clouds: it adds thick, volumetric clouds with real depth.
- PBR: it adds PBR support so compatible texture packs gain real reflectivity and depth.
- Reflections: it adds reflections on water and polished blocks.
- Bloom: it adds bloom that makes bright sources glow.
- Overall direction: the result is maximum-fidelity, cutting-edge visuals, applied consistently across the whole world.
Loaders Rethinking Voxels runs on
Rethinking Voxels system requirements
Baseline card: RTX 3060 / RX 6700 XT. Meters are scaled against a 12 GB VRAM / 32 GB RAM reference build.
The Rethinking Voxels balance sheet
| Strength | Accurate voxel-based GI |
| Strength | Beautiful colored lighting |
| Strength | Cutting-edge technology |
| Strength | Great with PBR packs |
| Trade-off | Extremely demanding |
| Trade-off | Iris only |
| Trade-off | Can be unstable |
| Trade-off | High VRAM usage |
How to install Rethinking Voxels
- 1Install Fabric (or Quilt) for your Minecraft version, then add the Iris Shaders mod - Rethinking Voxels is an Iris-targeted shader and needs it to run.
- 2Download the Rethinking Voxels .zip from the official source linked above. Keep it zipped.
- 3Launch Minecraft with the Iris/Fabric profile, open Options, then Video Settings, then Shader Packs.
- 4Click "Open Shader Pack Folder" and drop the Rethinking Voxels .zip into the folder that opens.
- 5Select Rethinking Voxels from the list and click Apply. The shader compiles and loads after a short pause.
Rethinking Voxels performance notes
Rethinking Voxels sits in the ultra-impact tier, meaning an extreme performance cost over vanilla Minecraft. It targets high-end GPUs and is demanding even on them; lower-end cards will struggle at default settings.
As a baseline it lists RTX 3060 / RX 6700 XT with 6 GB of VRAM and 8 GB of system RAM. Those are minimums for a playable experience - for a steady 60 FPS at a reasonable render distance, aim well above them, ideally a modern dedicated GPU with 6 GB or more of VRAM.
Rethinking Voxels officially supports Minecraft 1.19 - 1.21. Running it on a version outside that range may cause visual glitches until the author updates it, so match your client to a supported release.
If frame rates dip, lower the shadow resolution and render distance first - both reclaim large amounts of performance on Rethinking Voxels with little visible cost.
Rethinking Voxels FAQ
What do I need to run Rethinking Voxels?
Rethinking Voxels is an Iris shader, so you need Fabric (or Quilt) plus the Iris Shaders mod. On the hardware side it lists RTX 3060 / RX 6700 XT with 6 GB of VRAM as a baseline.
Is Rethinking Voxels good for low-end PCs?
Not really. Rethinking Voxels is an ultra-impact shader built for capable hardware. Low-end machines can technically launch it but will struggle to hold a smooth frame rate.
Which Minecraft versions does Rethinking Voxels support?
Rethinking Voxels officially supports Minecraft 1.19 - 1.21. For the smoothest experience, run a Minecraft client within that range alongside a matching version of Iris.
What are the downsides of Rethinking Voxels?
The trade-offs worth knowing before you install are extremely demanding and iris only. For most users the visual payoff outweighs these, but they are the points players raise most often.
How do I install Rethinking Voxels?
Add Fabric and the Iris mod, then drop the Rethinking Voxels .zip into your shaderpacks folder and select it under Video Settings, Shader Packs. Full steps are above.
What is Rethinking Voxels best for?
Rethinking Voxels is a high-end shader that delivers ray-traced or path-traced light that resolves accurate bounce lighting and reflections. It is ideal for enthusiasts with powerful graphics cards who want the very best image quality, and like other Minecraft shaders it is free to download from the official source linked above.
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Ready to install Rethinking Voxels?
Follow our step-by-step guide to get shaders running on your Minecraft client.
Installation Guide