Continuum Shader System Requirements

These are usually estimates, due to the nature of Development, and MC itself, and are meant to be used as rough guidelines. They will change as our products are developed / updated. We will update them as often as possible.

All current Shaders are ONLY compatible with the Java Edition of Minecraft. Windows 10, Pocket, etc. versions are NOT supported.

These Shaders currently use/require Optifine, and in Continuum RT / Continuum 2.1 Build 13 and up’s case, our Focal Engine (you can find more info in our FAQ).

We do NOT support Iris.

AMD GPU USERS: graphics driver versions beyond 22.6.1 may not function properly with any of our shaders, due to AMDs ongoing tinkering with the OpenGL portion of their driver. Please take this into account before using/purchasing our products.Ā 

Last update: April 2nd, 2023


Continuum RT Alpha

Continuum RT is quite performance intensive, and is also very early Alpha, as such, requirements are fairly high, performance may be highly variable, and there will be missing features and bugs.

Minimum spec currently aims for 720p, 30fps, at 8 chunk render distance, while recommended is 1080p, 30fps, at 8 chunks. Performance will likely improve going forward, but this is, as previously mentioned, currently Early Alpha.

Hardware Requirements

Minimum:

  • CPU: Nearly any Dual core CPU from intel/AMD made in the last 5-7 years

  • GPU: Nvidia GeForce GTX 1060 6GB or equivalent / AMD RX 580* or equivalent

  • RAM: 4GB

  • OS: Windows 7, 64 bit or later (MacOS not supported at this time)

Recommended:

  • CPU: Quad core CPU from Intel/AMD from the last 4-5 years or better

  • GPU: Nvidia GeForce GTX 1080 / RTX 2070 or AMD RX 5700* or better

  • RAM: 8GB or more

  • OS: Windows 10, 64-bit

Software Requirements

RT Builds 1-12 have some software requirements, including: MC 1.14.4, Optifine F5, 1x shadow quality setting (no lower or higher), and a relatively new graphics driver version.

RT Builds 13 and higher require the latest version of our Focal Engine (currently compatible with MC 1.14.4, 1.16.5, 1.17.1 and 1.19.2) and all of its dependent mods (installation instructions can be found here), 1.0x shadow quality setting (no lower or higher), and a relatively new graphics driver version.

* AMD GPU support, as of Continuum RT build 11 is greatly improved. That said, please note that we have only tested it on our RX 480 and 5700XT AMD GPU with driver 22.6.1. Driver versions beyond that may not work, due to AMDs ongoing tinkering with the OpenGL portion of their driver. We have received preliminary reports that as of driverĀ 23.8.1, Continuum RT is functioning as it should once again, even when using an RX 7000 series GPU. This is a third party report however, so we cannot yet guaranteeĀ users on that driver will not have issues.

Known Issues

As mentioned on the RT info page, RT is currently Early Alpha. As such it has a fair bit of unfinished features, limitations and bugs. The team is currently working on new features for Focal that will eliminate or minimize all of these issues in future updates. The main ones are as follows:

  • Any block that is a ‘noncubic’ (not a perfect cube), cannot currently be rendered properly, as RT is fully ray traced, and the current method of doing so, Voxelization, cannot scale well below the size of one Minecraft block. Entities also cannot be rendered properly for similar reasons. This is why grass, mobs, your playermodel, etc. do not currently have shadows for example, and why these objects also will not currently been seen in reflections or through water. This is by far the biggest limitation in RT, and will be fixed in a future update to both RT and Focal Engine.
  • Due to the issue mentioned above, Resourcepacks with custom models will also have rendering issues. A good example is the leaves in Stratum.
  • Resourcepacks themselves, especially higher resolution ones, currently have a disproportionate effect on performance. As such, and because of the previous issue, we do not recommend using extremely high resolution resourcepacks or resourcepacks with custom models with RT at this time. They are still sometimes suitable for nice screenshots, but not gameplay.
  • When using a resourcepack such as Stratum with RT, and enabling POM (the 3D effect on blocks), POM depth will not be correct to our texture developers original intention, as it is with 2.0/2.1. There may also be some visual oddities on some blocks, such as the wrong textures being applied.


Continuum 2.1 Beta

2.1 in general is more optimized than 2.0, but it includes more advanced effects (and generally more of them).

Also, as it is currently Beta, it may perform unexpectedly at times, or on some configs.

Minimum:

  • CPU: Nearly any Dual core CPU from intel/AMD made in the last 5-7 years

  • GPU: Nvidia GeForce GTX 770 / AMD Radeon R9 280X*

  • RAM: 4GB

  • OS: Windows 7, 64 bit or later (MacOS not supported at this time)

Recommended:

  • CPU: Quad core CPU from Intel/AMD from the last 4-5 years or better

  • GPU: Nvidia GeForce GTX 1660/1060 / AMD Radeon RX 580* or better

  • RAM: 8GB or more

  • OS: Windows 10, 64-bit

* As of Continuum 2.1, Beta build 14, the shader is now functional on our RX 480 and 5700XT test machines, using driver version 22.6.1.Ā If you are using an AMD GPU and encounter issues not outlined in our Known Issues section below, ensure you are using driver 22.6.1 or older, and if your issues persist, please contact our support.Ā 

Software Requirements

Continuum 2.1 Builds 1-12 requireĀ Optifine F2 Pre 3 or later.

Builds 13 and higher require Focal Engine v1.0.5 or laterĀ and all of its dependent mods (installation instructions can be found here), and a relatively new graphics driver version.

Known Issues

  • In rare cases, resizing the game window can cause minor shader artifacts. Should these occur, press F3 and R at the same time to reload the shader.


Continuum 2.0

Minimum:

  • CPU: Nearly any Dual core CPU from intel/AMD made in the last 5-7 years

  • GPU: Nvidia GeForce GTX 750Ti/ AMD Radeon R7 270X

  • RAM: 4GB

  • OS: Windows 7, 64 bit or later (MacOS not supported at this time)

Recommended:

  • CPU: Quad core CPU from Intel/AMD from the last 4-5 years or better

  • GPU: Nvidia GeForce GTX 1660/1060 / AMD Radeon RX 580 or better

  • RAM: 8GB or more

  • OS: Windows 10, 64-bit