Rethinking Voxels
About Rethinking Voxels
Rethinking Voxels is a modification of Complementary Reimagined created by gri573, adding advanced voxel lighting to the proven Complementary base. The shader combines Minecraft's blocky style with colored, realistic indoor lighting that until recently was only possible with path tracing.
The main difference between Rethinking Voxels and base Complementary is how light is calculated. Complementary uses screen-space GI, which is fast but inaccurate. Rethinking Voxels replaces it with a voxel-based system that tracks light across full 3D space. A torch placed around a corner really lights up the corridor instead of vanishing the way it does with screen-space lighting.
Voxel shadows are sharper and more defined than in Complementary. Blocks cast precise shadows with clean edges, which emphasizes the blocky geometry. The style works best in builds with lots of detail.
Rethinking Voxels requires Iris. It does not work on OptiFine because of API extensions. Performance-wise it is about 20-30% heavier than Complementary, which is the price for the additional voxel calculations.
As of October 2026: the latest version on Modrinth is the test release r0.1-beta9 from June 19, 2025. Rethinking Voxels has no 26.x version there yet.
Visual style
Complementary's blocky style enriched with colored voxel light. Torches give yellow light, lava orange, sea lanterns a bluish tint. Shadows are sharp, with precise edges that emphasize the geometry of the blocks. Complementary's volumetric clouds are kept. Per-block effects work too. This is Complementary on steroids: the same style, but with better light.
Hardware requirements
| Parameter | Minimum | Recommended |
|---|---|---|
| Graphics card | GTX 1060 / RX 580 | RTX 3060 / RX 6600 XT |
| VRAM | 4 GB | 8 GB+ |
| RAM | 6 GB | 8 GB |
Rethinking Voxels is moderately heavy. On a GTX 1660 you will get 35-55 FPS. Render distance has a big impact on performance because of the voxel calculations: 10-12 chunks is the sweet spot.
Installing Rethinking Voxels
- Install Iris Shaders (Rethinking Voxels does not work on OptiFine!).
- Download it from Modrinth.
- Put the .zip file in
.minecraft/shaderpacks/. - Select the shader in Video Settings.
Settings and configuration
- Voxel Volumes: Must be on, because it is the key effect. Without it the shader behaves like plain Complementary.
- Shadow Quality: 1024 is standard.
- Render Distance: 10-12 chunks. Because of the voxels, every extra chunk costs more FPS than usual.
- Cloud Quality: Inherited from Complementary. The default looks good.
Comparison with other shaders
| Feature | Rethinking Voxels | Complementary Reimagined | Photon Shader |
|---|---|---|---|
| Colored light | Voxel (best) | Screen-space | Voxel |
| FPS (mid-range GPU) | 35-55 | 60-80 | 45-65 |
| Iris | Yes (required) | Yes | Yes (required) |
| OptiFine | No | Yes | Yes (no voxels) |
| Based on | Complementary | Original | Original |
Screenshots
Download it from Modrinth.
Editorial rating
Overall rating: 4.5/5.
Frequently asked questions
Does Rethinking Voxels work on OptiFine?
No. Rethinking Voxels requires Iris because of the API extensions needed for the voxel calculations. The shader will not start on OptiFine.
How is it different from Complementary Reimagined?
Rethinking Voxels is based on Complementary, but replaces screen-space GI with full voxel lighting. That means more accurate, colored light at a cost of about 20-30% FPS.