Fornax
by Icehunter
Fornax is a Fabric rendering mod for Minecraft 26.2 that lets high-resolution resource packs load on hardware that would otherwise reject them.
What it does
Minecraft normally places textures into three shared atlases. At higher resolutions such as 256x or 512x, those atlases grow beyond what some hardware supports, and the pack is rejected. Fornax keeps normal and specular maps in separate atlases instead, so the main block atlas stays small and 256x packs keep their color, normal and specular maps on lower-end devices. Fornax also provides a shaderpack paired with the matching resource pack and GLSL features, and it is designed around a Vulkan rendering path.
The mod is client-side only, so players install it on their own game and servers do not need it. Files exist for Fabric alone, and the latest build, 0.5.0+mc26.2, targets 26.2 and was published on 2026-09-25. The code is open source under the MIT License, and the source code and issue tracker are public. Fornax was first published on 2026-08-23. Of the 798 Optimization mods with Fabric files for 26.2, it is one of them.
Key features
Separate normal and specular atlases
Normal and specular maps are kept in their own atlases, so the main block atlas stays within hardware limits.
256x LabPBR support
Resource packs at 256x resolution with LabPBR materials load with their textures intact.
Deferred rendering pipeline
A deferred renderer handles lighting, with declarative render graphs describing each pass.
Screen-space effects
Screen-space ambient occlusion, screen-space reflections and temporal anti-aliasing are included in the pipeline.
Compatibility
Latest build for each game version and loader.
Only full game releases are shown. This mod publishes no snapshot builds.
Use cases
Who it’s for: Players who run LabPBR or other high-resolution resource packs on machines with limited texture memory will find the separate atlas layout most relevant. Developers reviewing a render pipeline built with AI assistance can read the source under the MIT License.
How it compares
Sulkan is also client-side only and open source, under the GNU General Public License v3.0 only, with files for 26.2 – 26.3. Vulkan PostFX is client-side only under a custom license that is not open source, and it targets 26.2 alone. Fornax is client-side only and open source under the MIT License, with its build for 26.2.
| Mod | Loaders | Game versions | Environment | Updated |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fornax | Fabric | 26.2 | Client-side only | 2026-09-25 |
| Sulkan | Fabric | 26.2 – 26.3 | Client-side only | 2026-09-24 |
| Vulkan PostFX | Fabric | 26.2 | Client-side only | 2026-07-10 |
Questions
Does Fornax need Fabric API?
Does a server need Fornax installed?
Which game versions does Fornax support?
Is Fornax open source?
In the catalog
Fornax is one of 3,545 Optimization mods on ModsFinder, and one of 2,575 Optimization mods for Fabric. 13,894 mods support Minecraft 26.2.
Similar mods
What the author says
A Vulkan rendering engine for Minecraft, built as a companion to Sodium. Fornax fixes a problem with high-resolution resource packs. A 256x LabPBR pack can have three textures for every block: - Colour - Normal - Specular
Official listing
- Modrinth page
- modrinth.com/mod/fornax
- Owner
- Icehunter
- Published
- 2026-08-23
- Updated on Modrinth
- 2026-09-25
- Facts verified
- 2026-10-15