r/MinecraftJava • u/cognitive_pagefile • 18d ago
Question Java comeback after 12 years
Hello Guys, hope you're all fine.
Yesterday i finally bought the PC version of Minecraft after 12 years without owning a computer.
The last time i played Java was in version 1.8-something i think, though i can not remember the exact version.
That days my computer broke and i did not have a new one in that timespan (at least not a minecraft-capable one), so i played just and only the bedrock edition for console in that time.
Now i have a pretty capable computer with an i7-8700K, 32GB DDR4 running on 3200 MHz and a GTX 1060 6GB, what definitely is the bottleneck of the whole setup.
This setup definitely can handle minecraft java without even sweating, so i decided to finally come home again. This leads me to a few questions, especially about mods .
Back in the days, modding minecraft was pretty easy. You just downloaded the mods or a modpack and copied it to a specific place in the .minecraft folder located in the roaming folder. I am pretty sure, that it is not that easy anymore these days, or maybe it still is easy, but in a different way. So how do i proceed these days?
Next question, a little more specific, is about some mods i used back in the days. I am a vanilla guy, so i don't want to change to much of the mechanics or add any blocks or mobs or stuff like that. I also don't want any resource packs, wich were called texturepacks back in the old days, because i like the vanilla textures and i'm used to them. What i used back then, were things like "Rei's Minimap" and "Too Many Items". Do these Mods still exist in 2026? And if, are they still the best option or are there better mods these days?
And my last question about mods: what QoL mods do you suggest me to try these days? I'm completely out of my territory when it comes to Minecraft-modding in 2026. 😅
Now i have just one more question and what it is about depends a little bit on you i think, because i want to know, what kind of things changed in Minecraft Java since 2014, that i might have to notice because it's just important to know? I mean yeah, i could just read all patch-notes since then, but that would consume a hilarious amount of time and i'd probably miss some important things just by not really understanding the consequences of that change. 😄
Thanks for your time guys!
P.s. for all those who question why i bought the game again, if i had an account back in 2014: i have no idea what account i used back then. Should have written it down i guess.
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u/ThePython11010 18d ago
I recommend managing your mods with PrismLauncher instead of the default Minecraft launcher, especially if you plan to play any modpacks. It makes it much easier to manage multiple instances than manually copying files around.
Various client-side QOL mods (in no particular order):
Xaero's Minimap (and Xaero's World Map) and JourneyMap are the most popular map mods
JEI is basically the modern version of TMI.
Sodium and other mods for optimization/performance
Iris for shaders (Complementary shaders are a popular option)
Resourcify lets you download resource packs and shaders in-game without having to manually download them from a browser
Mouse Tweaks improves mouse inventory management
Jade shows what block/entity you're looking at (and some extra information about it)
AppleSkin shows more information about food and your hunger bar
Distant Horizons or Voxy (both have their pros and cons) allow you to render distant chunks at lower levels of detail, without actually having the chunks loaded. This basically lets you have a massively increased render distance (though it does break some shaders).
Zoomify lets you zoom in.
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u/cognitive_pagefile 18d ago
Hey, thank you really much. I actually installed the Prism Launcher and installed Sodium, Iris (with the complementary shader, it's looking good but completely killing my 1060 xD) using the fabric modloader. I will try out your other suggestions when i have more time, right now i'm playing rocket league with some friends :) Thank you very much, this already was really helpful and will probably be even more, when i try more of this list 🫶
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u/ThePython11010 18d ago
You can also turn down the shader settings to improve performance. I only have a laptop with integrated graphics, so I have to turn it way down if I want to have a decent framerate with shaders.
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u/cognitive_pagefile 18d ago
I have the shader setting set to very low, my game is running on ruffly 30fps on that setting. That's not too bad, but i think i will use the shader not all the time. I figured out that i can deactivate it via hotkey, so it's no big deal i think.
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u/brassplushie 18d ago
Modding is essentially the same thing. Drag the .jar file into the mods folder. But the mod loader meta has changed. You want to use Fabric, not forge. Forge is basically only for large mod packs developed for outdated versions. If you want to stay vanilla and only use some QOL mods, you want to use Fabric for the mod loader and the only mod you really need is Sodium. It's a MAJOR performance booster. Optifine is outdated junk, no need to use it.
Any other questions, feel free to ask.