Visuals

Iris

Enables shader packs, which dramatically change lighting, water, shadows, and overall visuals. Download a shader pack (.zip file, from sites like Modrinth) and drop it into your .minecraft/shaderpacks folder — no need to unzip it. Then open Options > Video Settings > Shader Packs in-game and select it from the list. You can tweak individual shader settings from that same menu. If your game slows down a lot, try a lighter shader pack or lower its internal render distance/quality settings.

Complimentary Shaders - Reimagined

This is the shader pack we are using by default. It’s the one on the right. The one on the left is the Complimentary Shaders - Unbound. You’re welcome to switch to it or anything else you’d like! I just decided I like the one that lets me see the edges of blocks clearer.

Distant Horizons

Renders terrain far beyond your normal render distance using simplified low-detail chunks, so you can see distant mountains and coastlines without needing insane render distance settings. It mostly runs automatically once installed — check its settings menu (via Mod Menu) to adjust how far the extended view renders and how detailed it looks, since higher settings do cost more performance.

Zoomify

Hold down the zoom key (default C) to zoom your camera in, like a spyglass without needing the item. Release to go back to normal. Useful for scouting terrain or lining up screenshots.

AppleSkin

Adds extra info to your hunger bar. Hover over food items in your inventory to see exactly how much hunger/saturation they restore, and while playing you’ll see a small overlay on the hunger bar showing how much a food item in your hand will refill. It also shows your saturation level and exhaustion as a subtle bar under the hunger icons — no keybinds, it’s just always-on information.

Dynamic Lights

No interaction needed — this is a server-side mod that makes held or worn light sources (torches, lanterns, glowstone, enchanted gear, etc.) actually light up the world around you in real time, instead of only lighting up once placed. Handy for exploring caves at night with a torch in hand.

Jade

Look at any block, container, or mob and a tooltip pops up near your crosshair telling you what it is, its health (for mobs), and sometimes what’s inside it (for containers). Hold Shift while looking at something to expand the tooltip for more detail. Default toggle key is left Alt if you want to hide it temporarily.

Cubes Without Borders

Not a gameplay mod — it just adds a Borderless option to Video Settings > Fullscreen (next to the normal Fullscreen/Windowed choice). Turning it on lets you run Minecraft in a borderless window that behaves like fullscreen but won’t minimize when you click onto another monitor or app. Purely a convenience setting, one-time toggle and done.