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Resources / Shaders / Rethinking Voxels

Rethinking Voxels

[WIP] A gameplay shaderpack based on complementary reimagined that has coloured block light with sharp shadows

ShadersFree1.19 – 1.21
by gri573 · listed from Modrinth
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Direct download from Modrinth · 13,747,545 downloads

Rethinking Voxels screenshot 1Rethinking Voxels screenshot 2Rethinking Voxels screenshot 3

What it does

Rethinking Voxels is a shader pack made by gri573. [WIP] A gameplay shaderpack based on complementary reimagined that has coloured block light with sharp shadows.

It supports Minecraft 1.19 – 1.21. It has been downloaded 13,747,545 times on Modrinth. The last update came out on Jun 20, 2025.

Supported versions

1.211.201.19

Release history

Rethinking Voxels has had 50 releases on Modrinth since Jan 8, 2023. None of them came out in the past year. The newest is r0.1-beta9, released on Jun 19, 2025. It is made for Minecraft 1.20.1 – 1.21.10. It runs on Iris. The download is 7.9 MB.

VersionReleasedMinecraftType
r0.1-beta9Jun 19, 20251.20.1 – 1.21.10Beta
r0.1-beta8May 12, 20251.20.1 – 1.21.5Beta
r0.1-beta7bApr 12, 20251.20.4 – 1.21.5Beta
aprilfools_2025Apr 1, 20251.20.4 – 1.21.5Alpha
r0.1-beta7aMar 23, 20251.20.4 – 1.21.5Beta
Description from the author on Modrinth

Rethinking Voxels

This shader is an edit of Complementary Reimagined that aims to be decently fast (when compared to path tracing shaders) while having block lights cast sharp shadows.

Notes

The lighting system is not perfect. Occasional sudden brightness changes are a side-effect of the way it works and cannot be completely removed without hurting performance or removing sharp shadows from light sources. To do the latter, disable Per-Pixel Lighting in the Rethinking Voxels Settings.

This shader is developed on Iris, using an AMD graphics card on linux, and it is also tested on an NVidia graphics card on linux. While it usually works on other platforms, bugs that appear only there are not caught by my testing and hence they take longer to fix. To use this shader pack, the Iris shader loader is required. Beta 18d and older versions also work on OptiFine.

Contact

If you need support, please join the shaderLabs discord server, where this shader has a channel (#rethinking-voxels-gri573).

Partnership

I have entered a partnership with Ember, a Minecraft server hosting provider. This is because Ember hosts the complementary SMP server and has provided a better hosting experience / customer support than the previous hosting service, and because they reached out asking about it. If you need to host a Minecraft server and wish to support Rethinking Voxels' development at the same time, do check them out! Using the promotional code RETHINKING in a first-time purchase will redirect 70% of the first month's fee to me as well as give you a 10% discount.

Media

Video by youtube user iambeen that showcases rethinking voxels beta 18d (with custom settings), compared to the original reimagined:

Written by gri573. Read it with pictures on Modrinth.

How to install Rethinking Voxels

  1. Install Iris (with Sodium) or OptiFine for your Minecraft version: shaders need one of them.

  2. Download the .zip file from Modrinth. Do not unzip it.

  3. In Minecraft, open Options, then Video Settings, then Shader Packs, and click Open Shader Pack Folder.

  4. Drop the .zip file into that folder, pick Rethinking Voxels in the list and click Done.

  5. Shaders are heavy on the graphics card. If the game gets slow, pick a lower profile in the shader settings.

Full guide: How to install Minecraft shaders

Compatibility

Minecraft versions
1.21, 1.20, 1.19
Edition
Java
Needs
Nothing else
License
Free to use
Price
Free
Upkeep
Actively updated (Nov 11, 2026)

Rethinking Voxels compared with similar ones Compare all alternatives

ResourceDownloadsVersionsLast updatePrice
Rethinking Voxelsthe one you looked at13.7M1.19 – 1.21Jun 20, 2025Free
Amethyst Shadersgamerbenyt466K1.8 – 1.21Dec 14, 2025Free
Light-Shadowcxxk4,55226.x3 days agoFree
FS shadersroi.berezovsky3,33426.xJul 30, 2026Free

Questions

Does Rethinking Voxels work on Minecraft 26.x?

Not yet. The newest version it supports is Minecraft 1.21.

Is Rethinking Voxels free?

Yes. Rethinking Voxels is free to download from Modrinth.

Is Rethinking Voxels still updated?

Yes. The last update came out in the past day.

What are the best alternatives to Rethinking Voxels?

The closest ones are Amethyst Shaders, Light-Shadow and FS shaders. Compare all alternatives

Alternatives to Rethinking Voxels

Light-ShadowShaders · 26.x

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Free4,552 downloads
FS shadersShaders · 26.x

Cinematic shaders for Iris & OptiFine (1.21): physically-based scattering skies, soft sun/moon shadows, volumetric light, reflective water, waving foliage…

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