Discover the complete ecosystem of performance-enhancing mods that work alongside Sodium to create the ultimate Minecraft experience.
Sodium is part of a larger family of optimization mods developed by CaffeineMC, each targeting different aspects of Minecraft's performance. When used together, these mods provide a comprehensive performance boost while maintaining vanilla gameplay mechanics.
A modern rendering engine replacement that greatly improves performance and fixes graphical issues.
Optimization Focus: Client-side Rendering
General-purpose optimization mod that improves a number of systems without changing vanilla behaviors.
Optimization Focus: Game Logic & Physics
Lighting engine optimization mod that dramatically improves server and client performance.
Optimization Focus: Lighting Calculations
Note: While each mod provides benefits on its own, they are designed to work together for maximum performance. All CaffeineMC mods preserve vanilla gameplay mechanics and are compatible with most content mods.
Lithium is a highly technical optimization mod that enhances Minecraft's core game systems without changing how the game functions or looks. It focuses on:
Lithium dramatically improves performance in entity-heavy and redstone-intensive builds
Lithium is a must-have for Minecraft servers, reducing lag and improving TPS without changing game mechanics. Compatible with most server-side mods and plugins.
For redstone contraptions and technical builds, Lithium optimizes calculations while preserving behavior, allowing for larger and more complex automated systems.
Carefully designed to be compatible with most gameplay mods. Lithium's optimization systems only activate when they detect they won't interfere with other mods.
Phosphor delivers beautiful lighting with optimized performance
Phosphor focuses specifically on one of Minecraft's most performance-intensive systems: the lighting engine. It provides these benefits:
Note for newer Minecraft versions: For Minecraft 1.20+, consider using Starlight instead of Phosphor. Starlight is a more recent lighting engine optimization that offers even better performance improvements in the latest versions.
Beyond the core CaffeineMC suite, several other mods work well with Sodium to further enhance your Minecraft experience:
Adds additional configuration options to Sodium, restoring some OptiFine features and providing further visual customizations.
Toggles for particle effects, fog, and animations
Additional visual settings like sky control
Zoom feature similar to OptiFine
A modern shaders mod designed to be compatible with Sodium. It supports most OptiFine shaderpacks while maintaining performance.
OptiFine shader pack compatibility
Better performance than OptiFine with shaders
Seamlessly integrates with Sodium
A complete rewrite of Minecraft's lighting engine that provides massive performance improvements for newer Minecraft versions.
Alternative to Phosphor for newer versions
Much faster light updates and world generation
Works on both client and server
A memory usage optimization mod that reduces RAM consumption, especially useful for modpack players.
Significantly reduces memory usage
Works with other performance mods
No configuration needed
Makes the Minecraft DataFixerUpper (responsible for world upgrading) initialize lazily to improve startup times.
Significantly faster game startup
No noticeable impact on gameplay
Compatible with all other performance mods
Improves performance of block entities like chests, signs, and beds by converting them to baked models when possible.
Better chest/sign/bed rendering performance
Customizable through resource packs
Great for storage-heavy bases
A carefully curated selection of compatible performance mods
This recommended modpack combines all the essential performance mods that work well together. Ideal for most players looking for a significant performance boost with minimal setup:
Check out these recommended video tutorials that show how to set up and optimize the complete Sodium ecosystem:
A step-by-step tutorial showing how to install Sodium and complementary performance mods for maximum FPS.
Learn how to use Iris Shaders with Sodium for beautiful visuals while maintaining good performance.
Combine Sodium with complementary mods for the best possible Minecraft experience.
