Minecraft shaders are graphic mods that improve how the game looks. As Minecraft has a big open world game, shaders usually require a lot of system performance, which low end PCs cannot spare. However, there are still some decent shaders that are specifically designed for weaker systems. In this article, we are going to showcase the top 10 best low end PC shaders for Minecraft, particularly the latest versions 1.18 and 1.17.
1. Chocapic13's Shaders
Chocapic13's shader pack is one of the oldest and easiest shader packs to use out there. It is very popular amongst modders and tends to be used as the base for other low end shaders 1.17. Unlike many shader packs, you can actually make adjustments to the inner workings of Chocapic13's Shaders by tinkering the .fsh and .vsh files.
The best part about this shader is probably the improved water and lighting, both come with low system requirements.
2. Sildur's Shaders
Sildur's shaders is a pack that focuses on options. While a lot of shader packs just aim to make your game look as good as possible, no matter the cost, Sildur provides quite a few options for you to pick from.
There are three types of shaders, Vibrant, Basic and Light, which are further divided into Lite, Medium, High, High-MotionBlur, and Extreme quality.
If you are someone who has been interested in the idea of low end shaders Minecraft but have felt limited due to your operating system or processing capabilities, Slidur's Shaders are a great way to get your feet wet.
3. Tea Shaders
Tea Shaders 1.17.1 are simple, yet elegant low end shaders. This shader has a similar style to the original graphics and visuals of Minecraft, which players have been used to for years. It balances between being an upgrade from Vanilla Minecraft and actually adding shaders.
Overall, if you are looking for a simple upgrade from vanilla, Tea Shaders is probably the best option.
4. DOF Shader
DOF is a very simple, yet incredibly useful shader pack. The name "DOF" stands for Depth of Field, and the shader does exactly what you think it will do: it adds Depth of Field to Minecraft, but without adding any other effects. This is the easiest way to make your game look better.
Because this shader pack is very simple (it only adds a single effect), DOF Shaderpack is very easy to run on low end PCs.
5. Builders QOL Shaders
Builders QOL Shaders 1.18.1 are great shaders that work especially well on low-end PCs. It does not add as many effects to Minecraft as for example or SEUS or BSL shaders. Its nature of being a lightweight shader allows Builders to perform really well on older systems.
The effects you get with Builder's QoL shaders can still be customized to a high extent. You will get very good FPS running this, as on its default settings, it lacks performance heavy features such as shadows, ambient occlusion and waving foliage.
6. Vaporwave Shaders
Vaporware is an experimental shaderpack that adds a cool, experimental vaporwave-inspired effect to your Minecraft worlds. It is made by the same creator who made the DOF Shaderpack.
The most unique part about Vaporwave shader is its "waving world" feature. Instead of just foliage, or water, it's the actual world that is wavy. This effect is excellent and can make your Minecraft journey much more dynamic and exciting than usual.
Outside of the extra effects, Vaporware is mostly vanilla - that's why it is one of the best low end PC shaders for Minecraft 1.17 and 1.18.
7. Triliton's Shaders
Triliton's Shaders uses Chocapic13's Shaders as a foundation to build upon, and because of that, it has an overall good, clean look to it. It makes changes to several aspects of Minecraft, including water color and reflectivity, smoothened godrays, and a great new color filter that keeps obscenely bright or dark colors from showing up in places where they shouldn't.
8. CaptTatsu's BSL Shaders
CaptTatsu's BSL Shaders is an advanced shader pack that builds on a few others. Overall, it is a heavily modded version of Chocapic13's Shaders, with the main difference being colors. They are bright and come with both a boost of saturation alteration, which gives everything a kind of cel-shaded look.
As BSL is based on Chocapic13, its system requirements are fairly low and manageable.
9. MakeUp - Ultra Fast Shaders
MakeUp Ultra Fast Shaders is a low end PC shaders for Minecraft that do not require much system performance. All effects and details from this shader can be tweaked and customized. Overall, the best improvements from Make Up - Ultra fast are water reflection, clouds, and realistic lightings.
This low end shader's main focus is on performance - you would probably get good FPS with a noticeable bump in how your world looks. This is the main reason Make Up is one of the best low end PC shaders for Minecraft.
10. Waving plants Shaders
Overall, Waving Plants shaders is pretty similar to DOF - it is a one-trick pony that focuses on the plant waving effect. However, the effect is probably one of the best to be added to Minecraft, as it makes the normally still world feel more lively. Amongst the low end PC shaders for Minecraft 1.17, this one is the lightest.
>>> Read more: How To Make A Happy Snowman In Minecraft For This Christmas Season