Colorwheel
by djefrey
Colorwheel lets Iris Shaders render Create contraptions built with Flywheel, so players can run shaders while playing with Create 6.
What it does
Colorwheel makes Flywheel and Iris work together. Players can use shaderpacks alongside Create 6 without losing much performance. The mod also ships an indirect backend that the author says can raise frame rates by about 30 percent in large Create factories.
Shaderpacks fall into three support tiers. Packs with official support work directly. Packs with non-official support need patches from the Colorwheel Patcher mod. Packs without support can run in a fallback mode that applies existing shaders as an attempt, though rendering issues are expected. Iris Shaders and Oculus are required, and the mod is client-side only, so servers do not need it. Files exist for 1.20.1 and 1.21.1 on Fabric, Forge and NeoForge, and the code is licensed under the GNU Lesser General Public License v3.0 only.
Key features
Three shaderpack support tiers
Packs are grouped into officially supported, non-officially supported and unsupported, with each tier documented by the author.
Indirect backend
An indirect rendering backend targets large Create factories, where it can reduce the cost of drawing many moving parts.
Fallback rendering mode
Shaderpacks without support can still load through a fallback path that reuses existing shader code, accepting visible glitches.
Colored lighting on contraptions
The author's photon fork adds colored lighting on contraptions and works with Voxy, which the Colorwheel Patcher patch does not.
Gallery
Compatibility
Latest build for each game version and loader.
Only full game releases are shown. This mod publishes no snapshot builds.
Requirements
Dependencies declared by the latest file for each loader.
Required 1
Optional 4
Incompatible 1
How it compares
Iris & Oculus Flywheel Compat is client-side only, open source under the CC0 1.0 Universal license and published for 1.18.2 – 1.21.1, and it conflicts with Colorwheel because of clashing mixins. Create: Nowheel is client-side only, open source under the MIT License and covers 1.20.1 – 1.21.1, so it shares the same version range as Colorwheel. CreateBetterFps is client-side only, open source under the MIT License and covers 1.20.1 – 1.21.1, and it can improve performance alongside Colorwheel.
| Mod | Loaders | Game versions | Environment | Updated |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Colorwheel | Fabric, Forge and NeoForge | 1.20.1 – 1.21.1 | Client-side only | 2026-09-27 |
| Iris & Oculus Flywheel Compat | Fabric, Forge and NeoForge | 1.18.2 – 1.21.1 | Client-side only | 2026-05-06 |
| Create: Nowheel | Fabric, Forge and NeoForge | 1.20.1 – 1.21.1 | Client-side only | 2026-09-21 |
| CreateBetterFps | Fabric, Forge and NeoForge | 1.20.1 – 1.21.1 | Client-side only | 2026-09-19 |
Questions
Does Colorwheel need Iris Shaders and Oculus?
Does Colorwheel have to be installed on a server?
Can Colorwheel run with Iris & Oculus Flywheel Compat?
Why does a shaderpack look wrong with Colorwheel?
In the catalog
Colorwheel is one of 3,545 Optimization mods on ModsFinder, and one of 2,575 Optimization mods for Fabric. 32,366 mods support Minecraft 1.21.1.
More from djefrey
Similar mods
What the author says
Colorwheel is a mod that makes Flywheel and Iris compatible. This means that you can play with Create 6 while using shaders and still have good performance! This mod is similar to Iris Flywheel Compat. However, Colorwheel's compatibility with Iris and Flywheel is much better. Colorwheel also includes the indirect…
Official listing
- Modrinth page
- modrinth.com/mod/colorwheel
- Owner
- djefrey
- Published
- 2025-04-28
- Updated on Modrinth
- 2026-09-27
- Facts verified
- 2026-10-15