7 best shaders for Minecraft 1.20.2

Minecraft 1.20.2 is a sandbox game that has some of the most basic graphics. The entire world, mobs, terrain, and structure are made up of blocks, and the core graphics of the game are pixelated. Even the lighting engine of the title is rather lackluster. Thankfully, due to its sandbox nature, the community can easily tweak the entire aesthetic of the game. Hence, shader packs are extremely popular among players for this very reason.

Shaders drastically improve the lighting, shadows, and core graphics quality of blocks. Here are some of the best shader packs for Minecraft 1.20.2.

Note: This article is subjective and solely reflects the writer's opinion.

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Best Minecraft 1.20.2 shaders for a unique aesthetic

1) BSL Shaders

BSL Shaders is one of the oldest shader packs (Image via Mojang)

BSL is synonymous with shader packs for the sandbox game. It was created by Capttatsu back in 2015 and is one of the most famous ones in the community, with over 27 million downloads of the CurseForge website. With its mellow lighting, beautiful shadows, and realistic water effects, BSL is one of the best out there and still holds up.

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2) Complementary Reimagined

Complementary Reimagined is another brilliant Minecraft 1.20.2 shader pack with stunning lighting (Image via Mojang)

Complementary Reimagined is another favorite in the community. It is a lighter shader pack that can run on medium to low-end PCs as well.

This shader pack is absolutely stunning when it comes to lighting and shadows, with even distant blocks and mobs looking crisper. Like any other shader, Complementary Reimagined also has an extensive range of settings that players can tinker with.

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3) Sildur's Vibrant Shaders

Sildur's vibrant shaders bump up the saturation and vibrance of the game (Image via Mojang)

As the name suggests, this particular shader pack specifically focuses on increasing the overall color saturation of the world. Although it does a decent job on the lighting, shadow, and water effects, it also makes the world more flashy.

Furthermore, there are several versions of Sildur's shader packs based on the quality of the effects. In most cases, these settings are embedded within the game settings. According to their PC's strength, players can choose the version accordingly.

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4) Rethinking Voxels

Rethinking Voxels is quite similar to Complementary Shaders for Minecraft 1.20.2 (Image via Mojang)

Even though the sandbox title came out 13 years ago, new shader packs are still released to this day. Rethinking Voxels is a brand-new shader pack created in June 2023.

Although it looks similar to Complementary Reimagined shaders, it mainly excels at increasing the details of each and every block and pixel. The process is called voxelization, and it drastically increases the overall look of the game with the help of small, intricate details.

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5) SEUS Renewed

SEUS is arguably the oldest shader pack that still works for Minecraft 1.20.2 (Image via Mojang)

SEUS is the oldest shader pack available for the game. It was first released around 2012, just a year after the game was released. To this day, many players use the SEUS Renewed shader pack, which is compatible with most newer versions of the game, even though it has not been updated since 2020.

The block textures are more toned down, along with mellow lighting, to give the in-game world a realistic look.

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6) RedHat

RedHat is a unique shader pack for Minecraft 1.20.2 (Image via Mojang)

RedHat is a unique shader pack that does not look anything like traditional shaders. Apart from a few similarities in basic light, shadow, and water effects, it mainly focuses on making the world look more vibrant and bright.

It has a strong HDR-esque look to it, which makes the world look drastically different from other shader packs. Although RedHat Shader might not be for everyone, it is definitely worth checking out.

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7) Noble

Noble is a relatively new shader pack for Minecraft 1.20.2 (Image via Mojang)

Noble is a relatively new shader pack that looks somewhat similar to SEUS Renewed, especially when looking at structures from a distance. It also has an auto-exposure setting that keeps changing the brightness based on where you are looking. However, it still needs quite a lot of work and would look much better with a custom texture pack.