Distant Horizons for VulkanMod
by Braffolk
Distant Horizons for VulkanMod is a Fabric extension that lets the Distant Horizons terrain renderer run through VulkanMod's Vulkan backend instead of OpenGL.
What it does
The extension draws LOD terrain through VulkanMod's Vulkan backend, so distant chunks are rendered at reduced detail with their correct colors. Lightmap, day and night lighting, block light, depth compositing and screen-space ambient occlusion are handled in the same pass, and LODs render behind normal terrain.
Water glass transparency, distance height fog with mixed falloff types, noise and dithering on LODs, and fade or clip transitions at the render distance boundary are included. Earth curvature is listed as working, and clouds are drawn with a depth that fits the LOD terrain. Shader packs that VulkanMod does not support are not covered, and the wireframe debug mode is not available yet.
Distant Horizons, Fabric API and VulkanMod are all required. The mod runs on Fabric for Minecraft 1.20.6 – 1.21.11, with files for 1.20.6 and 1.21.11. Distant Horizons must be at 2.4.0 or later, and VulkanMod at 0.4.2 or later for 1.20.6 and 0.6 or later for 1.21.11. Either side can run it, and neither needs it. The code is open source under the GNU Lesser General Public License v3.0 only.
Key features
LOD terrain on Vulkan
Distant terrain is drawn through VulkanMod's Vulkan backend rather than OpenGL, with colors matching the original.
Lighting and fog
Day and night lightmap, block light, screen-space ambient occlusion and height fog with mixed falloff types apply to LOD terrain.
Depth and transitions
LODs composite behind normal terrain, and noise, dithering, fade and clip transitions soften the distance boundary.
Water and clouds
Water glass transparency is supported, and clouds are drawn with a depth that fits the LOD terrain.
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 3
How it compares
WynnLODGrabber is client-side only, open source under the MIT License and published for Fabric across 1.21.1 – 1.21.11, so it does not use the Vulkan path. VulkanMod Create Compat is client-side only, open source under the MIT License and published for 1.20.1. vulkan-create-compatibility is also client-side only, under a custom license that is not open source, and covers 1.20.1 – 1.21.11.
| Mod | Loaders | Game versions | Environment | Updated |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Distant Horizons for VulkanMod | Fabric | 1.20.6 – 1.21.11 | Client or server, optional | 2026-03-27 |
| WynnLODGrabber | Fabric | 1.21.1 – 1.21.11 | Client-side only | 2026-10-06 |
| VulkanMod Create Compat | Fabric | 1.20.1 | Client-side only | 2026-06-26 |
| vulkan-create-compatibility | Fabric | 1.20.1 – 1.21.11 | Client-side only | 2026-08-25 |
Questions
Does Distant Horizons for VulkanMod need Distant Horizons and VulkanMod?
Which game versions does the extension support?
Do server owners need to install it?
In the catalog
Distant Horizons for VulkanMod is one of 3,545 Optimization mods on ModsFinder, and one of 2,575 Optimization mods for Fabric. 19,862 mods support Minecraft 1.21.11.
Similar mods
What the author says
An extension mod that makes Distant Horizons (Modrinth) work with VulkanMod. Renders LOD terrain through VulkanMod's Vulkan backend instead of OpenGL. What works: - LOD terrain rendering with correct colors - Lightmap (day/night lighting, block light) - Depth compositing (LODs render behind normal terrain) - Water…
Official listing
- Modrinth page
- modrinth.com/mod/distant-horizons-vulkanmod
- Owner
- Braffolk
- Published
- 2026-03-06
- Updated on Modrinth
- 2026-03-27
- Facts verified
- 2026-10-15