Sodium in All the Mods 10

Sodium is a client-side optimization mod that replaces Minecraft's rendering engine. It's there to raise your frame rate, cut micro-stutter, and fix a number of graphical issues in the base game. It does this without changing how the game looks, so you keep the authentic block game feel.^[1]

This pack ships Sodium 0.8.13 for Minecraft 1.21.1 on NeoForge. It has been in the pack since version 2.25 or earlier. The project page's latest news is about the 0.9.x line for a newer Minecraft version, and that doesn't apply here, so don't expect those features in this pack.^[1][2]

Who it's for

Sodium is for anyone who wants smoother performance, and big modded worlds are where you'll notice it most. You don't need to set anything up. By default it turns on every optimization your system supports, and you should only touch the video settings if you run into problems. If you want to check it's working, open the Video Settings screen and look for Sodium's redesigned interface.^[1]

Hardware notes

• Official support covers desktop graphics cards with up-to-date drivers that support OpenGL 4.5 or newer.^[1]
• Nearly all desktop cards that already run Minecraft (which needs OpenGL 3.3) should also work, but the Sodium team doesn't guarantee support for older cards.^[1]
• Android devices and some Windows-on-ARM devices that use OpenGL translation layers aren't supported and will have severe performance issues.^[1]
• If you hit crashes, rendering bugs or poor performance, update your graphics drivers first, since outdated drivers are often the cause.^[1]

Where it fits in progression

Sodium isn't part of the progression. It doesn't add items, recipes or quests, and it isn't on the ATM Star path, so there's nothing to unlock or craft. Install it and let it work in the background. Also note that Sodium only optimizes rendering, not other parts of the game.^[1]

Same as in the FTB StoneBlock 4 1.21.0 guide

Sodium is a bit different from the other mods in this guide. It adds no machines, items or crafting steps. It is a rendering engine replacement for Minecraft that improves your frame rate and reduces micro-stutter. So there is nothing to craft and no quest to finish here. Your first steps are about making sure it is working for you.^[1]

Step by step

1. Open the Video Settings screen in Minecraft. If Sodium is running, you will see its new user interface for changing settings there.^[1]
2. Leave the settings alone to begin with. By default, Sodium enables every optimization your system supports, which gives you the best experience it can.^[1]
3. Only change the performance and advanced video settings if you run into problems.^[1]

Check your hardware

Sodium officially supports desktop graphics cards with up-to-date drivers that support OpenGL 4.5 or newer. Most cards released in the past 12 years qualify. The mod's page gives these examples: Intel HD Graphics 500 Series (Skylake) or newer, NVIDIA GeForce 400 Series (Fermi) or newer, and AMD Radeon HD 7000 Series (GCN 1) or newer.^[1]

Older cards that already run Minecraft (which needs OpenGL 3.3) should also work with Sodium. The team says it cannot ensure compatibility or give support for them, and they may stop working with future versions.^[1]

Sodium doesn't have machines, multiblocks, power, fluids or item automation. It's a rendering engine replacement for the Minecraft client. It's there to raise your frame rate and cut micro-stutter, and it also fixes many graphical issues in the base game.^[1]

What Sodium actually changes

By design, Sodium only optimizes Minecraft's rendering code. Other parts of the game, like world logic, aren't touched by this mod. Its developers point to their separate mods for that, such as Lithium.^[1]

It's built to stay compatible with the wider modding ecosystem without changing how the game looks, so you keep the normal block game feel.^[1]

Settings and defaults

By default, Sodium enables all optimizations your system supports, so you usually don't need to configure anything. The project page suggests changing performance-related or advanced video settings only if you run into problems.^[1]

To check that it's working, open the Video Settings screen in Minecraft. With Sodium installed, it shows Sodium's own redesigned interface for changing settings.^[1]

Hardware requirements

Sodium's official support covers desktop graphics cards with up-to-date drivers that support OpenGL 4.5 or newer. Nearly all desktop cards that already run Minecraft (which needs OpenGL 3.3) should also work, but the team doesn't guarantee support for older cards and they may stop working in future versions.^[1]

Unverified The project page's news item describes Sodium 0.9.x for a newer Minecraft version, including early Vulkan support. Which Sodium build this pack uses, and whether Vulkan applies here, can't be confirmed from the available sources.

Sodium doesn't have a progression path of its own that I can confirm for this pack. Just so you don't get tripped up when you search the quest book for "Sodium": the quest "Sodium Coolant" quest is about sodium as a coolant for the Fission Reactor, and it asks for Mekanism items such as Thermal Evaporation Controller and Electrolytic Separator, not anything from this mod.^[3]

That quest sits in the "Mekanism: Reactors" chapter. It comes after "Fission Reactor Port" quest and leads on to "Boiler Ports" quest. It explains that sodium is more efficient than water and reaches higher temperatures, but is harder to get and reuse.^[3]

Unverified No tiers, crafting recipes or quest-book steps for the Sodium mod itself appear in the sources available for this guide, so none are described here.

Good news and bad news, so let's be upfront. In the quest data for this pack, none of the quests asks you to hand in an item from this mod. Every task in the "Mekanism: Reactors" chapter (94 quests) uses items from other mods, so there is no quest line to follow for it.^[3]

The only quest that might catch your eye is "Sodium Coolant" quest. It is about sodium as a coolant in a Fission Reactor, not about this mod. The quest says sodium is more efficient than water and reaches higher temperatures, but is harder to get and reuse.^[3]

The tasks are all Mekanism items: 33 of Thermal Evaporation Block, a Thermal Evaporation Controller, a Thermal Evaporation Valve and an Electrolytic Separator. The quest says you can use a Thermal Evaporation Plant to take water and make brine, and then use the separator on that brine to get sodium.^[3]

In the quest book it unlocks after "Fission Reactor Port" quest and leads on to "Boiler Ports" quest. All of them sit in the "Mekanism: Reactors" chapter.^[3]

Here's how Sodium has moved through the pack's releases, based on the pack changelogs. Sodium was already in the pack by All the Mods 10 2.25 or earlier, and 2.26 removed it. 7.0 added it back at version 0.6.13, and later releases updated it several times. The current 8.1 pack ships Sodium 0.8.13 for Minecraft 1.21.1, in the file sodium-neoforge-0.8.13+mc1.21.1.jar.^{[2][4][5][6][7]}

Pack release timeline

• 2.25 or earlier: Sodium is already included in the pack.^[2]
• 2.26: Sodium is removed.^[4]
• 7.0: Sodium 0.6.13+mc1.21.1 is added.^[5]
• 7.1: Sodium jumps from 0.6.13 to a second beta build of 0.8.12.^[6]
• 7.2: Sodium moves from that second beta of 0.8.12 to the full 0.8.12 release.^[8]
• 7.3: Sodium moves from 0.8.12 to a first beta build of 0.8.13.^[9]
• 8.0: Sodium moves from the first beta of 0.8.13 to the second beta.^[10]
• 8.1: Sodium moves from the second beta of 0.8.13 to the full 0.8.13 release.^[7]

Unverified The pack changelogs only record which Sodium version was swapped in. No stored changelogs exist for the shipped jars, so what each Sodium update actually changed, and why Sodium was removed in 2.26, is not shown in the sources here.