nacrt / migratingtolatest

For those who have only been in the 1.8 / client scene

Migrating to 1.17

Note

This list is not meant to be used yet.
Current issues include:

• Many mods not updated to 1.17 yet
• Sodium does not support FRAPI
• Sodium does not support Iris, Iris comes bundled with its own version of Sodium
• Current OptiFine alternatives are not set in stone

If you would like to contribute, please make a PR.
Some notes:

• Leave your name and GitHub link in the credits section, even for a tiny change
• Please try to use Modrinth/GitHub over Curseforge when applicable
• Please use a GitHub link instead of a Curseforge link for Author credit when Modrinth isn't available if possible
• Make sure that the option to allow me to make changes to your PR is enabled

Introduction

The Situation

So, you've been playing on 1.8 for the past 5.5 years and are ready to see what 1.17 has to offer. Your first thought may be to download and install Forge and then add OptiFine as a mod, but this could not be further from the best choice. As Mojang have been been rolling out releases, they've also been decreasing performance with every version, and neither Forge nor OptiFine are really able to bring back even a speck of that performance that we see in 1.12 and below. However, another mod loader, Fabric, which is lightweight and easier to develop for, has created an amazing community in which many of its members focus on helping optimize the game to its greatest potential.

Why no longer OptiFine?

While you can load OptiFine on Fabric, OptiFine is closed source and messes with the game in many ways, causing many non-vanilla mechanics. As Mojang has been making large refactors to their code base, OptiFine has been struggling to keep up and has seen a great decrease in quality. MCPatcher has also not seen a format change in a long time, using old and outdated formats. What once was an essential aspect to the game now is no longer as useful. Luckily, due to the invention of performance enhancing mods that outperform OptiFine, many members of the community have taken it upon themselves to create alternatives to many of the non performance enhancing features.

Why no longer Forge?

Forge has always been less than ideal for performance, because while trying to fix vanilla issues relating to performance, it still has huge overhead. Fabric on the other hand is extremely lightweight and is practically identical to vanilla. It's also considered to be much easier to make mods for and also has a great community, unlike Forge's community which is much more toxic.

Installing Fabric

TODO: MultiMC support + maybe images

0. Make sure you close Minecraft and the Minecraft launcher before installing Fabric, otherwise unexpected things can happen.
1. Download the Fabric installer.
   • If you are on Windows, use the .EXE version of the installer on the right.
   • If you are on any other operating system or the .EXE version is not working for you, then use the .JAR version on the left.
2. Run the installer.
   • If you are using the .EXE version of the installer, simply double click the file. You may get a popup blocking you from running the installer and saying that "Windows protected your PC"; if so, then click on More info and then Run anyway.
   • If you are using the .JAR version, you will need to have Java installed on your device. If you have Java installed, then double click the downloaded file to run the installer. If you don't, then follow these steps:
     1. Go to the Java downloads page and download the version of Java corresponding to your device.
     2. Run the Java installer by double clicking it.
     3. Do whatever the installer tells you to do.
     4. After installing Java, you should be able to run the Fabric installer by double clicking it. If you still can't for some reason, try running the program Jarfix.
3. Now that you have opened the installer, you will see two tabs at the top of the window: Client and Server. Make sure you are on the Client tab. Then, open the Minecraft Version: dropdown and select the version of Minecraft you want (most likely the latest version of Minecraft). The rest of the settings can be left with their defaults (unless you store your Minecraft version files in a different folder; if you want to use a different directory for this installation, that should be changed in the Minecraft launcher, not here). Click on Install when you are ready to install Fabric.
4. Once Fabric is finished installing, open your Minecraft launcher and click on the profiles button at the bottom left corner. Select the Fabric profile, it should be called something like fabric-loader-1.17.x. Then hit PLAY to start playing!
   • If you do not see the profile, try exiting and reopening the Minecraft launcher. If this also does not work, go to the Installations tab in the Minecraft launcher and make sure the Modded option is ticked on the rop right corner. If it still does not show up, create your own installation by clicking the New installation button, and selecting your desired fabric version in the Version dropdown. Then press Create and launch this installation.

Installing Mods on Fabric

TODO: note about custom directories

0. Make sure you close Minecraft before installing mods, otherwise unexpected things can happen.
1. Open your Minecraft folder:
   • Windows: Click on the Start button at the bottom left corner of your screen. Then type in %appdata% and hit enter. Open the folder called .minecraft.
   • Mac: On the bar at the top of your screen in Finder, click Go, then click Go to Folder and type ~/Library/Application Support/Minecraft, then hit enter.
   • Linux: Open ~/.minecraft.
2. In your Minecraft folder, open the folder called mods.
   • If this folder does not exist, create it.
3. Place all of the mods you want to use into this folder. (Note that all mods you install must be for Fabric 1.17 or they will not work.)

Mods

NOTE: If on Sodium 0.2, you will need to use Indium as well. Also, since Iris currently comes bundled with its own version of Sodium, it is not required to download Sodium standalone.

Dependencies

These are essential mods that are pretty much required for most fabric mods as dependencies.

Mod	Description	Author
Fabric API	Required for most Fabric mods.	Fabric Team
Mod Menu	Allows the user to see all installed mods, as well as access the config for most.	Prospector
Fabric Language Kotlin	Required for mods that run on Kotlin.	Fabric Team

Performance

These are mods that are needed for playing the latest versions of Minecraft at a reasonable FPS. These will also help decrease frame times, hopefully eliminating spikes or stuttering.

Mod	Description	Author
Sodium	No 1.17 Yet. An all around performance mod, Sodium allows users to play the latest versions of Minecraft with high FPS, completely outperforming OptiFine, with some users seeing up to 8x their vanilla frames. Sodium also drastically improve visuals, providing a much better gameplay experience.	Caffeine
Iris	No 1.17 Yet. Iris is a shader loader that allows users to load up their favorite OptiFine shaderpacks, but with much higher FPS. Iris also provides performance enhancements when not using shaders, making it great for all users.	coderbot
Hydrogen	Hydrogen helps reduce the amount of memory the game takes up. While this is mostly meant for large modpacks, it does not hurt using it for a vanilla experience.	Caffeine
Lithium	Lithium helps improve the performance of many vanilla systems without changing their mechanics.	Caffeine
Starlight	Starlight completely rewrites the light engine to make loading chunks much quicker.	SpottedLeaf
LazyDFU	LazyDFU prevents the DataFixerUpper from doing anything until it is required, improving your Minecraft start times.	astei
Enhanced Block Entities	No 1.17 Yet. Enhanced Block Entities improves block entities by making them used baked models instead, allowing for better performance, visuals (via better smoothlighting), and better resource pack customizability.	FoundationGames
FerriteCore	No 1.17 Yet. FerriteCore further reduces memory usage and should be used in conjunction with Hydrogen.	malte0811
Entity Culling	EntityCulling culls entities you cannot see, increasing FPS.	tr9zw
Dynamic FPS	No 1.17 Yet. Dynamic FPS reduces your FPS, and therefore reduces your system load, when tabbed out of the game.	juliand665

Recommended

These are mods that I recommend you to use at all times. While they may not boost performance, they are mostly quality of life mods meant to better your experience.

Mod	Description	Author
Item Model Fix	Item Model Fix fixes the gaps you see on items when holding them. This makes for a much more pleasant experience for most texturepacks.	Pepper_Bell
Borderless Mining	No 1.17 Yet. Borderless Fullscreen for Minecraft.	comp500
Not Enough Crashes	No 1.17 Yet. Not Enough Crashes takes you to the main screen instead of exiting the game when you crash.	natanfudge
CleanView	CleanView prevents self particles from appearing on your screen.	LianMI
Smooth Scrolling Everywhere	No 1.17 Yet. Smooth Scrolling Everywhere makes the scrolling in all menus smoother.	Shedaniel
No Potion Offset	No 1.17 Yet. No Potion Offset prevents your inventory from getting shifted over when you have an active potion effect.	Shedaniel
Controlling	No 1.17 Yet. Controlling completely revamps Minecraft's controls menu, making it much easier to navigate and change keys.	Jaredllll08

Other Cool Mods

These are mods that are more dependant on personal preferance than importance.

Mod	Description	Author
No View Bobbing Screen Shake	No 1.17 Yet. No View Bobbing Screen Shake removes the screen shaking when view bobbing is turned on, leaving only the swaying hand.	InboundBark
Slight GUI Modifications	Slight GUI Modifications Adds animations to many GUI elements	Shedaniel
Colored Lights	Colored Lights adds colored lighting to Minecraft with its colors completely customizable via resource pack.	Gegy

OptiFine Replacements

As OptiFine is no longer recommended, here are some replacements for many of it's features that have not already been listed above.

Mod	Description	Author
Ok Zoomer	No 1.17 Yet. Zoom. More customizable than OptiFine's.	boredomh1
LambDynamicLights	Dynamic Lights. More customizable than OptiFine's.	LambdAurora
LambdaBetterGrass	Better grass and Better snow. More customizable than OptiFine's.	LambdAurora
Cull Leaves	Smart leaves.	Motschen
Fabrishot	Higher resolution Screenshots.	ramidzkh
Soaring Clouds	No 1.17 Yet. Custom cloud height.	Draylar
Splash	No 1.17 Yet. Custom loading screen colors. Does not support OptiFine texturepacks, but has it's own GUI to edit colors.	LoganDark
FabricSkyboxes	Custom sky. Does not support OptiFine format.	AMereBagatelle
Connected Textures	No 1.17 Yet. CTM. Does not support OptiFine format.	Pepper_Bell
Chime	No 1.17 Yet. CIT. Does not support OptiFine format.	Emi
Colormatic	No 1.17 Yet. Custom colors. Does not support OptiFine format.	Thalia
Transparent	No 1.17 Yet. Transparent textures. Does not support OptiFine format.	Trikzon

Undecided

• kronhud (no 1.17 yet) https://www.curseforge.com/minecraft/mc-mods/kronhud

Credits

• Zordlan
• NoPro2024