Photon Shader

A gameplay-focused shader pack with a fully revamped sky, lighting, and water. Includes voxel-based colored lighting on the Ultra profile (requires Iris), detailed clouds, and an immersive weather system. Works on Iris and OptiFine [citation:3][citation:15].

Quick facts

CategoryStylized / Gameplay
LoaderIris (recommended), OptiFine
MinecraftIris 1.5+; OptiFine on 1.16.5+ [citation:3]
SourceGitHub / Modrinth
HardwareMid-range GPU and above
ExclusiveColored lighting requires Iris [citation:3]

Source status

Verified

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What Photon does

Photon is designed for gameplay rather than screenshots. The sky, lighting, and water are fully revamped. It includes detailed multi-layer clouds, an immersive weather system that changes the sky each day, and soft shadows with variable-size penumbras [citation:3].

The Ultra profile enables voxel-based colored lighting, which requires Iris. OptiFine does not support this feature [citation:3].

Key features

  • Revamped sky — detailed clouds and weather system.
  • Colored lighting — voxel-based, Iris-exclusive, Ultra profile only.
  • Soft shadows — variable-size penumbras and GTAO.
  • Camera effects — bloom, depth of field, motion blur, TAA, FXAA, CAS.
  • Temporal upscaling — for low-end devices (disabled by default) [citation:3].

Installation

  1. Install Iris (recommended) or OptiFine. Iris 1.5+ is required for Photon [citation:3].
  2. Download the latest release from GitHub [citation:3].
  3. Place the .zip in .minecraft/shaderpacks.
  4. In-game: Options > Video Settings > Shader Packs. Select Photon.
Iris recommended: Photon's colored lighting feature is Iris-exclusive. On OptiFine, you lose this feature. Iris is also recommended for better performance and mod compatibility [citation:3].

Frequently asked questions

Does Photon work on OptiFine?
Yes, on Minecraft 1.16.5 and above. However, colored lighting is Iris-exclusive and will not work on OptiFine [citation:3].
Why is Photon laggy on my PC?
Photon's higher profiles are demanding. Reduce the profile to Medium or Low, disable volumetric effects, or use the temporal upscaling option (disabled by default) if you are on a low-end device [citation:3].
Does Photon work with Distant Horizons?
Yes. Photon is compatible with Distant Horizons [citation:15].

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