Description
Gallery
Changelog
Versions
Showcase
About
- Solas is a fantasy stylized shaderpack aiming to provide stunning visuals at a moderate performance cost. Screenshots showcasing the shader can be found in the Gallery section.
Important links
-
Discord / Boosty / GitHub / Solas Website
-
Looking for a unique, high quality vanilla RPG server? Check out my new project - Ardonia!
Main features
- Advanced lighting
- Colored block lighting
- Realtime shadows without light leaking in caves
- Cloud shadows
- Subsurface scattering on certain blocks
- High quality volumetrics
- 3D Clouds, crepuscular rays, fireflies, Nether smoke, Ender protoplanetary disk
- Beautiful sky effects
- Aurora, Milky Way, Ender Nebula and Black Hole, rainbows
- Customizable post-processing
- Fine-tuned tonemapping, bloom, lens flare, chromatic aberration, depth of field, motion blur, tilt-shift
- Realistic water
- Procedural waves, caustics, light absorption and refraction
- Integrated PBR resourcepack
- Emissive textures, reflective materials and procedurally generated normals
- PBR resourcepacks support
- Both LabPBR and OldPBR/SeusPBR formats are supported
- Turn on "PBR Resourcepack" in shader settings!
- Mod compatibility
- Voxy
- Distant Horizons
- Iris Shaders (Preferred loader)
- OptiFine (Custom skyboxes and colored block lighting are not supported)
Credits
- EminGT and gri573 for improved shadow sampling.
- SixthSurge for voxelization & light propagation algorithm.
- Capt Tatsu for antialiasing and a few other pieces of BSL's code.
- Community members for contributing to Solas in different ways.
All Versions
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[3.7b] Solas Shader 3.7b
by Septonious on Oct 07, 2026
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Some small fixes for Intel Arc
[3.7] Solas Shader V3.7
by Septonious on Oct 07, 2026
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- Features added/changed:**
+ Reworked Aurora Borealis. Visually there shouldn't be many differences, however you can now actually fly through it. The default altitude is 50k blocks Y
+ Improved volumetric clouds shaping and lighting
+ Completely reworked the entire PBR system. It now works on entities and held objects and is closer to the LabPBR standart than the previous implementation.
+ Greatly overhauled Overworld weather system. It now features strong crespuscular rays passing through dense clouds and fog, as well as improved color palette and lighting.
- Features fixed:**
- Fixed incorrect translucency blending with Voxy and Distant Horizons LODs
- Fixed many errors with PBR
- Fixed time being frozen on newest versions
- Fixed Colorwheel compatibility
- Fixed compilation errors when changing stars amount or disabling SSAO
- Fixed exponential fog not getting denser in stormy weather
- Features removed:**
- Disabled voxelization on Intel ARC graphics + Windows
[3.6] Solas Shader V3.6
by Septonious on Oct 07, 2026
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- Features added/changed:**
+ Reworked the entire night sky. Greatly improved generated nebulae, improved the color palette and increased stars amount.
+ Reworked Nether smoke. Improved its shaping, noise sampling and visibility.
+ Added several new options in config menu, including constant aurora visibility and generated nebula config.
+
+ Small adjustments to clouds. Their amount slightly decreases at night to provide better visibility of the night sky.
+ Improved exponetial fog behaviour.
- Features fixed:**
+ Fixed Voxy water clipping through LODs
+ Fixed exponential fog being almost invisible with Voxy
+ Fixed broken reflections with Distant Horizons (PR by TillSilph)
+ Fixed incorrect sky darkening when underground (PR by marktible)
+ Fixed SSR breaking water normals in certain conditions (PR by marktible)
[3.5] Solas Shader V3.5
by Septonious on Oct 07, 2026
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- Features added/changed:**
+ Added generated nebula to the night sky
+ Reworked the atmosphere once again for more vibrant colors, smoother gradients and better colors
+ Improved lighting on volumetric clouds
+ Added a config menu for creative light block color
+ Fixed water fog having different intensity underwater and outside
+ Added iPBR handling for glow item frame. Items placed in it will not glow brightly
+ Tweaked night colors
- Features fixed:**
+ Fixed Voxy water disappearing in very far LODs
+ Fixed incorrect GGX specular highlights model that has been present since the very first version of Solas
+ Fixed rain puddles not working
+ Fixed entities turning dark when activating POM
[3.4] Solas Shader V3.4
by Septonious on Oct 07, 2026
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- Features added/changed:**
+ Added screen space ambient occlusion and shadows. Both work on normal terrain, Distant Horizons and Voxy LODs. Screen space shadows also extend the regular shadows even without Voxy or DH.
+ Reworked planar clouds to look more like real life cirrus clouds
+ Improved lighting on the ender protoplanetary disk
+ Improved blending between different sky effects
+ Improved red aurorae. Now they are way more saturated
+ Made cloud shadows a bit softer
- Features fixed:**
+ Fixed shader failing to load on versions of Iris below 1.19.2
+ Fixed some compatibility errors on 1.12.2
+ Fixed volumetric clouds clipping through Voxy LODS
+ Fixed water artifacts with Voxy
+ Fixed water disappearing at 2 chunks render distance
+ Fixed end flashes not working correctly with Voxy
+ Fixed exponential fog noise taking very weird shapes
+ Fixed several compilation errors when toggling different options
- Features removed:**
- 512 shadowmap resolution. It makes no sense, really
[3.3] Solas Shader V3.3
by Septonious on Oct 07, 2026
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- Features added/changed:**
+ Added low Earth orbit. Flying to Y=100000 (by default, controlled by the Karman Line slider) will slowly transform the atmosphere into a planet below the player
+ Added pixelated shadows option
+ Added Overworld atmosphere options. There will be more of them soon
+ Improved Ender Black Hole and Protoplanetary Disk
+ Improved subsurface scattering
+ Improved LPV fog and increased its contrast and intensity
+ Adjusted planar clouds lighting
- Features fixed:**
+ Fixed shader failing to compile when setting it to Low profile
+ Fixed gbuffers_hand error on OptiFine
+ Fixed exponential fog failing to reach far LODs with Voxy and Distant Horizons
+ Fixed realtime shadows not working on OptiFine
+ Fixed crepuscular rays being barely visible
[3.2] Solas Shader V3.2
by Septonious on Oct 07, 2026
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- Features added/changed:**
+ Added full support for Voxy mod. In the next Solas update I'll probably add screen space shadows to Voxy and DH LODs.
+ Remade and greatly improved volumetric clouds for better, more realistic lighting and shapes. Many things are still subject to change, but I'm mostly happy with them.
+ Completely reworked the Aurora Borealis. It is now much more realistic, dynamic and beautiful. And it's just the beginning so stay tuned!
+ Added generated emission to handheld and dropped items
+ Added shooting stars based on @SpacEagle17's implementation
+ Improved planar clouds lighting and blending
+ Added support for Colorwheel mod
+ Added rotating noise to the accretion disk of the Ender Black hole
+ Added subtle warping to clouds closer to the Ender Black hole to make them look like they're being pulled in
+ Added options to toggle specular highlights and textured fire/lava.
+ Added new materials to integrated PBR
- Features fixed:**
+ Fixed some options missing their translations
+ Fixed multiple compilation errors
+ Fixed shader not working with Distant Horizons
+ Fixed nether portals turning green
+ Fixed Ender Nebula not changing at all when the player travels large distances
+ Fixed moon phases being mirrorred horizontally
[3.1c] Solas Shader V3.1c
by Septonious on Oct 07, 2026
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- Features added/changed:**
+ Reworked dynamic clouds weather. It should be much smoother and even more random now
+ Improved Aurora Borealis
+ Added color settings for copper torches & lanterns
+ Tweaked the behaviour of volumetric light rays in closed spaces
- Features fixed:**
fix
+ Fixed some compilation errors when toggling different options
+ Fixed Aurora not lighting up clouds in purple color
+ Fixed water with Distant Horizons
+ Fixed harsh transitions in dynamic cloud weather code
+ Fixed copper emitters not lighting up objects when they're held
+ Fixed volumetric clouds being nearly trasparent when it's raining
+ Fixed incorrect water fog lighting when holding an emissive item
`
- Features removed:**
+ Held emissive objects no longer affect water fog lighting. I'll probably rewrite this code in future releases to adress the issues it had
[3.1b] Solas Shader V3.1b
by Septonious on Oct 07, 2026
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- Features added/changed:**
+ Added color settings for The End
+ Slightly tweaked the shape of The Nether Smoke
+ Made exponential Nether fog less saturated
- Features fixed:**
Fixed entity iPBR emission not working
Fixed ender protoplanetary disk flickering
[3.1] Solas Shader V3.1
by Septonious on Oct 07, 2026
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- Features added/changed:**
+ Greatly improved water normals, light scattering and absorption
+ Reworked the lighting model on Ender Protoplanetary Disk (aka Ender Clouds). The lighting is now directional and depends on the black hole angle
+ Added options to change sun/moon and Ender Black Hole angles separately
+ Added colored lighting for newly introduced copper torches and lanterns
+ Adjusted light & shadow colors
+ Improved ground fog in jungle biomes
+ Added more blocks to iPBR specular mapping and emission
- Features fixed:**
+ Fixed some options missing translations
+ Fixed cloud shadows and crepuscular rays not working properly
+ Fixed Solas not compiling on OptiFine
+ Fixed some issues with Distant Horizons
[3.0] Solas Shader V3.0
by Septonious on Oct 07, 2026
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W UPDATE!!!
[2.9] Solas Shader V2.9
by Septonious on Oct 07, 2026
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- Features added/changed:**
+ Rewrote and improved volumetric lighting, LPV fog, Nether smoke and volumetric fireflies
+ Added an additional low frequency noise octave to volumetric clouds noise sampler. It allows for even more variety in shapes and sizes
+ Implemented new logic for LPV fog. It can now appear during daytime once again and isn't as strong as before
+ Nether Smoke now appears as long wavy streams coming from the ground up
+ Made Aurora Borealis more physically accurate and randomized
+ Adjusted atmosphere and exponential fog lighting
+ Added target block to iPBR emission. It now glows red when shot
- Features fixed:**
Fixed particles being invisible on 1.21.5 and above
Fixed LPV fog overexposure and flickering
Fixed several compilation errors
- Features removed:**
- Temporarily removed cloudy noise from LPV fog. It will be re-added in the next update
[2.8c] Solas Shader V2.8c
by Septonious on Oct 07, 2026
Download
- Features added/changed:**
+ Added experimental screen space shadows for Distant Horizons chunks. They work only on versions above 1.21.1 and fall back to regular shadows on older versions.
+ Re-added an option to enable volumetric light rays inside 3D clouds.
- Features fixed:**
Fixed flickering shadows with Distant Horizons
Fixed VL not working with Distant Horizons. Still needs to be improved tho
Fixed incorrect volumetric clouds depth rejection
Fixed Milky Way not being rendered
Fixed some compilation errors
[2.8b] Solas Shader V2.8b
by Septonious on Oct 07, 2026
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- Features added/changed:**
+ Added water reflections intensity slider
- Features fixed:**
Fixed some entities and players having randomly emissive pixels
Fixed LPV fog being too intense in caves and in The Nether
Fixed small stars not being affected by the star amount slider
Fixed fog being too dense with Distant Horizons
Fixed ender stars not getting distorted by the black hole
[2.8] Solas Shader V2.8
by Septonious on Oct 07, 2026
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- Features added/changed:**
Rewrote the Ender Black Hole. It now has a slightly different appearance and can be moved by changing the sun angle
Added support for multiple modded blocks. Thanks to @wesleybruh and other contributors
Added player name tag detection. They are now emissive and no longer have blending issues
Added support for MC versions 1.12.2 - 1.16.4 [Experimental]
Modified exponential fog coloring
Restructured block ID mapping for voxelized colored lighting
Adjusted many settings and internal values, as always :P
- Features fixed:**
Fixed compatibility with Litematica and its ports. Thanks to @sakuraryoko
Fixed the Ender Black Hole not being able to be rotated by changing the sun angle
Fixed multiple issues with Distant Horizons
Reverted volumetric lighting ray marcher to the old one from Solas V2.5. This fixed incorrect blending and slightly improved performance
Fixed some spelling mistakes in block ID mapping
Fixed missing options errors
Fixed rainbow not moving with the sun
Fixed lightning flash effect not working
Fixed specular highlights being visible in closed spaces
Fixed volumetric lighting in The End
Fixed sea lanterns being insanely bright
Fixed volumetric fireflies disappearing in certain scenarios
[2.7b] Solas Shader V2.7b
by Septonious on Oct 07, 2026
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- Features added/changed:**
+ Added generated noise texture to Distant Horizons LOD blocks
+ Added subtle flickering to emissive flowers
+ Improved clouds shape and lighting
+ Modified exponential and LPV fog
- Features fixed:**
Fixed some compilation errors when toggling various options, mostly Post Effects
Fixed some issues with Distant Horizons
Fixed NaN errors on cloud shadows
Fixed performance losses in Overworld and slightly improved FPS
Fixed some blocks not being reflective with IPBR
[2.7] Solas Shader V2.7
by Septonious on Oct 07, 2026
Download
- Features added/changed:**
+ Added lens flare
+ Added vanilla water option
+ Added directional shading to blocky clouds
+ Added noise-based variable altitude to exponential fog
+ Added subtle cloudy noise to LPV fog
+ Re-added a rotating spiral to End Vortex
+ Rewrote ray marchers of Nether fog, LPV fog and fireflies
+ Rewrote stars
+ Modified planar clouds lighting model
+ Tweaked cloud settings
+ Increased default shadow resolution to 2048
- Features fixed:**
+ Fixed handheld lighting causing blackouts on AMD GPUs (hopefully)
+ Fixed handheld lighting not working with some items
+ Fixed volumetric lighting and fog with Distant Horizons
+ Fixed distant fade not working with Distant Horizons
+ Fixed some compilation errors occurring when tweaking PBR config
+ Fixed incorrect blending of clouds with sun/moon and Aurora Borealis
+ Fixed End cloudy fog overlapping with Distant Horizons terrain
+ Fixed incorrect specular highlight color
+ Fixed weird 3D cloud shapes when below Y0
+ Fixed entities flickering with TAA
+ Fixed shadows not waving with foliage
- Features removed:**
+ Old fireflies ray marcher
+ Old nether fog
[2.6] Solas Shader V2.6
by Septonious on Oct 07, 2026
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- Features added/changed:**
+ Completely rewrote volumetric lighting. Added crepuscular rays
+ Added cloud shadows
+ Added dynamic cloud weather system
+ Added a menu for changing the light color of light-emitting blocks
+ Added Aurora Borealis config menu
+ Added more tonemap options
+ Many more smaller changes which I won't write down here
- Features fixed:**
+ Fixed several compilation errors with Distant Horizons
+ Fixed light leaking on foliage in caves
+ Fixed lava cauldrons having incorrect lighting
- Features removed:**
+ Old volumetric lighting system
[2.5] Solas Shader V2.5
by Septonious on Oct 07, 2026
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- Features added/changed:**
+ Added warping to Ender stars near the black hole
+ Added emissive armor trims option. Enabled by default
+ Greatly increased the render distance of Ender clouds
+ Modified Ender nebula coloring algorithm
+ Tweaked fog behaviour in dark areas, Pale Garden and at night
+ Updated French language (credits to @librecommelai)
+ Did a lot of internal changes to PBR algorithms. Please report any issues you may encounter
- Features fixed:**
+ Fixed waving flower pots!!!!!
+ Fixed some entities having Z-fighting due to TAA
+ Fixed LPV fog being too faint in The Nether
[2.4b] Solas Shader V2.4b
by Septonious on Oct 07, 2026
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- Features added/changed:**
+ Added mob spawner and creaking heart to custom light emitting blocks list
+ Added new blocks to generated PBR and tweaked multiple others
+ Added dense fog for The Pale Garden biome
+ Modified PBR reflection algorithm (still a subject to change in later versions)
+ Adjusted default stars brightness and amount
+ Made early mornings / late evenings more vibrant and closer to purple
+ Added German translation (credits to Cuubicc)
+ Added support for modded blocks from Create, Immersive Weathering, Good Ending, Decorative blocks, Gravestone, Little Logistics, I am music player, Handcrafted and Automobility (credits to StefanH-AT)
- Features fixed:**
Fixed shadows not having a smooth falloff
Fixed Optifine compatibility... again :P
Fixed toggling certain settings causing compilation errors
Fixed incorrect behaviour of water light refraction
Fixed VL not working properly with Distant Horizons when shadow distance is very high
Fixed some waving blocks. And yes, I will fix potted flowers soon
Fixed directional normals not having proper lighting with Solas' floodfill lighting
[2.4] Solas Shader V2.4
by Septonious on Oct 07, 2026
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- Features added/changed:**
+ Added Distant Horizons support for The End and Nether
+ Added water waves to Distant Horizons water
+ Improved Generated PBR and LabPBR support
+ Extended Volumetric Lighting range
+ Slightly modified the tonemap and some default settings
- Features fixed:**
Fixed incorrect volumetric clouds lighting
Fixed some errors related to Distant Horizons
Fixed many critical issues with LabPBR
Fixed light from handheld objects disappearing in certain situations
[2.2b] Solas Shader V2.2b
by Septonious on Oct 07, 2026
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- Features added/changed:**
+ Improved Aurora Borealis. Tweaked its colors and added variable brightness and detail
- Features fixed:**
+ Fixed incorrect reflections falloff
+ Fixed bloom flickering in dark environments
+ Fixed some bugs related to resourcepack skybox support
+ Fixed dropped items appearing green with GI enabled
+ Fixed incorrect shadow calculations in volumetric clouds ray marcher
+ Fixed compilation errors when toggling certain options
[2.2] Solas Shader V2.2
by Septonious on Oct 07, 2026
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- Features added/changed:**
+ Added 3D End cloudy fog
+ Rewrote fireflies. They now have more chaotic movement, better detalization and performance
+ Added floodfill radius option. Controls the distance light can travel from its source
+ Added new iPBR emissive blocks: potted flowers and 1.21 copper lanterns
+ Added handheld light contribution to water fog
+ Tweaked iPBR specular materials
+ Lowered default bloom strength and made it auto-adjustable depending on world time
+ Adjusted LPV fog strength
- Features fixed:**
+ Fixed incorrect and broken translations in English and Russian languages
+ Fixed broken options with out of range values
+ Fixed water fog not working in The Nether
+ Fixed fireflies being visible underwater and in deep caves
- Features removed:**
[2.1] Solas Shader V2.1
by Septonious on Oct 07, 2026
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- Features added/changed:**
+ Added Vietnamese language support (thanks to godkyo98)
+ Added iPBR emission to activated End portal frames and tweaked other iPBR materials
+ Tweaked light colors of certain emissive blocks
- Features fixed:**
+ Fixed volumetric lighting not showing up in caves
+ Fixed Apple silicon support (VERY experimental, works best on Optifine and will probably break in some scenarios). Still got some work to do later
+ Fixed PBR being entirely non existent in both The Nether and The End dimensions
+ Some other small but important fixes regarding foliage, lighting, etc
[2.0] Solas Shader V2.0
by Septonious on Oct 07, 2026
Download
something big
Introduced voxelized floodfill lighting, 2D clouds and more!
Introduced voxelized floodfill lighting, 2D clouds and more!
[0.6b] Solas Shader V2.0 [BETA V0.6b]
by Septonious on Oct 07, 2026
Download
Everything has changed
Added voxelized LPV (Iris only)
...
Added voxelized LPV (Iris only)
...
[1.8] Solas Shader V1.8
by Septonious on Oct 07, 2026
Download
Features added/changed:
+ Added WIP resourcepack PBR support with POM, SSS and specular
+ Tweaked bloom
+ Made fake gi more defined and directional
+ Added new config options
Features fixed:
+ Fixed black world issue with colored lighting and global illumination (hopefully)
+ Fixed rain puddles
+ Fixed improper specular highlight
+ Fixed VL behaving weirdly on Apple silicon machines
+ Added WIP resourcepack PBR support with POM, SSS and specular
+ Tweaked bloom
+ Made fake gi more defined and directional
+ Added new config options
Features fixed:
+ Fixed black world issue with colored lighting and global illumination (hopefully)
+ Fixed rain puddles
+ Fixed improper specular highlight
+ Fixed VL behaving weirdly on Apple silicon machines
[1.7] Solas Shader V1.7
by Septonious on Oct 07, 2026
Download
Features added/changed:
+ Added fake global illumination / light bouncing
+ Added SSAO (disabled by default)
+ Added Purple Mornings option
+ Added profiles and new configuration options
+ Added volumetric cloudy fog in The End
+ Added more blocks to integrated specular and emission
+ Improved volumetrics
+ Improved colored block lighting and lightmaps
+ Improved exponential fog
+ Modified atmosphere
Features fixed:
+ Fixed incorrent colored lighting accumulation
+ Fixed bloom behaving weirdly
+ Fixed incorrent shadow/SSS falloff
+ Fixed some options not being defined in .lang files
+ Fixed generated normals tiling on grass blocks
+ Fixed FXAA on Apple silicon machines
+ Fixed some incorrect calculations in integrated emission code
+ Fixed colored light shafts
Features removed:
+ Added fake global illumination / light bouncing
+ Added SSAO (disabled by default)
+ Added Purple Mornings option
+ Added profiles and new configuration options
+ Added volumetric cloudy fog in The End
+ Added more blocks to integrated specular and emission
+ Improved volumetrics
+ Improved colored block lighting and lightmaps
+ Improved exponential fog
+ Modified atmosphere
Features fixed:
+ Fixed incorrent colored lighting accumulation
+ Fixed bloom behaving weirdly
+ Fixed incorrent shadow/SSS falloff
+ Fixed some options not being defined in .lang files
+ Fixed generated normals tiling on grass blocks
+ Fixed FXAA on Apple silicon machines
+ Fixed some incorrect calculations in integrated emission code
+ Fixed colored light shafts
Features removed:
[1.6b] Solas Shader V1.6b
by Septonious on Oct 07, 2026
Download
- Fixed SSR
- Fixed rain puddles
- FIxed particles rendering
- Added glass light recoloring
- More improvements
[1.5b] Solas Shader 1.5b
by Septonious on Oct 07, 2026
Download
important fixes and improvements
