Radiance (Windows)
by Radiance
Radiance replaces the vanilla OpenGL renderer with a Vulkan C++ renderer that supports hardware ray tracing on compatible GPUs, and it is built for Fabric, Forge and NeoForge.
What it does
Radiance rebuilds the Minecraft rendering backend in C++ on Vulkan. Its renderer takes over from the vanilla OpenGL path, so the game's drawing work runs through the new pipeline instead. The author describes the design as high performance rendering with hardware-accelerated ray tracing, aimed at players who want to leave OpenGL behind on Windows.
Ray tracing requires a Vulkan-compatible GPU that exposes the VK KHR ray tracing pipeline extension, found on NVIDIA RTX series cards and on supported AMD and Intel cards. The C++ base is described as a modern rendering pipeline that can host other modules, such as DLSS or FSR upscaling. Radiance is published for Fabric, Forge and NeoForge, and Fabric API is required on Fabric. It is installed on the player's side alone, so servers need nothing.
The mod is released under the GNU General Public License v3.0 only and is open source, with public source code and an issue tracker. Files cover 1.20.1, 1.21.1 and 1.21.4, and the latest builds are 0.1.6-alpha for 1.21.4 on all three loaders, published 2026-09-29 on the alpha channel.
Key features
Vulkan renderer
Vulkan C++ code replaces the vanilla OpenGL renderer for drawing the game world.
Hardware ray tracing
Ray tracing runs on GPUs that support the VK KHR ray tracing pipeline extension.
Modular C++ base
The rendering pipeline is structured so that other modules, such as upscaling, can be added to it.
Windows focus
The project aims to remove OpenGL limits for players on Windows, and its name areas are described in the author text.
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
Use cases
Who it’s for: Players on Windows with a Vulkan-capable GPU who want to try a renderer built on Vulkan and hardware ray tracing. Players on other systems or with older GPUs have no ray tracing path in this build.
How it compares
CLab is client-side only and open source under the GNU Lesser General Public License v3.0 only, with files for 1.20 – 1.21.1 on Fabric, Forge, NeoForge and Quilt. VulkanModNeoForge is also client-side only and open source under the same LGPL license, but is NeoForge-only and covers 1.21 – 1.21.3. Radiance differs by its GPL v3.0 license and its 1.20.1 – 1.21.4 range.
| Mod | Loaders | Game versions | Environment | Updated |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Radiance (Windows) | Fabric, Forge and NeoForge | 1.20.1 – 1.21.4 | Client-side only | 2026-09-29 |
| CLab | Fabric, Forge, NeoForge and Quilt | 1.20 – 1.21.1 | Client-side only | 2026-05-04 |
| VulkanModNeoForge | NeoForge | 1.21 – 1.21.3 | Client-side only | 2026-06-29 |
Questions
Does Radiance need Fabric API?
Does a server need Radiance?
Which GPUs support ray tracing in Radiance?
In the catalog
Radiance (Windows) is one of 3,545 Optimization mods on ModsFinder, and one of 2,575 Optimization mods for Fabric. 17,979 mods support Minecraft 1.21.4.
More from Radiance
Similar mods
What the author says
Radiance is a Minecraft mod that completely replace the vanilla OpenGL renderer with our Vulkan C++ renderer, which supports high performance rendering and hardware-accelerated ray tracing. Due to the variety of C++ usage in the modern industrial rendering pipeline, a seamless integration of a modern industrial…
Official listing
- Modrinth page
- modrinth.com/mod/radiance-mod-windows
- Owner
- Radiance
- Published
- 2025-12-30
- Updated on Modrinth
- 2026-09-29
- Facts verified
- 2026-10-15