Sodium in FTB StoneBlock 4

Sodium is a rendering engine replacement for Minecraft. It aims to raise your frame rates and cut micro-stutter, and it also fixes many graphical issues. It only touches the client's rendering code, and it does this without changing how the game looks. Heavy packs like this one are where that matters most.^[1]

The pack ships the NeoForge build, Sodium 0.8.13 for Minecraft 1.21.1. It has been part of the pack since version 1.17.0 or earlier. The project page's latest news is about the 0.9.x line for a newer Minecraft version, so that news doesn't describe what you have installed here.^[1][2]

Using it

You usually don't need to configure anything. By default Sodium enables every optimization your system supports, and the project advises changing the performance-related video settings only if you run into problems. To check it's working, open the Video Settings screen, which shows Sodium's own settings interface.^[1]

Officially it supports desktop graphics cards with up-to-date drivers that support OpenGL 4.5 or newer. Android devices and some Windows-on-ARM devices that use OpenGL translation layers are not supported and will have severe performance issues. If you get crashes or rendering bugs, update your graphics drivers first.^[1]

In the quest book

Sodium is a client-side optimization mod, and the quest text available for this section does not cover it. If you see "Sodium Cooling" in the Mekanism chapter (group "Forgotten Technology", chapter 20 of 22), that is a coolant option for the reactor in "Mekanism Fission Reactor" quest, not this mod. Ten of that chapter's 25 quests aren't included in the sources for this guide, so check the quest book itself for those.^[1][3]

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]

Same as in the All the Mods 10 8.1 guide

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.

This one is short, and I'd rather be straight with you than pad it. The pack's quest book gives Sodium no quest, no tiers and no upgrade path that I can point to, so there is no progression ladder to walk you through here.^[3]

Unverified No tier breakdown, quest chain or in-pack recipes for Sodium could be confirmed from the pack files available for this guide, so none are described here.

Sodium doesn't link up with other mods through crafting or quests in this pack. It is a rendering engine replacement that improves frame rates and reduces micro-stutter, so there is nothing to craft with it. Its project page does say it has wide compatibility with the wider modding ecosystem and doesn't change how the game looks.^[1]

The quest book backs this up. The Mekanism chapter (group "Forgotten Technology", chapter 20 of 22) is a good example. The quests shown, such as "Welcome To Mekanism!" quest, "Making Steel" quest and "Mekanism Fission Reactor" quest, ask only for items from Mekanism, Mekanism Generators and FTB Materials (for example Steel Ingot). None of them asks for a Sodium item. The other 15 quests in that chapter are in the quest book, so check there if you want the full list.^[3]

I checked the quest book material I have for this pack, and none of it asks you to craft, place or use anything from Sodium. Sodium works in the background, so there is no quest chapter built around it that I can point you to.^[3]

The only chapter I have in front of me is "Mekanism", in the "Forgotten Technology" group (chapter 20 of 22 in the book). Its 25 quests ask for Mekanism and Mekanism Generators items, plus a couple from FTB Materials. None of the tasks use an item from the sodium namespace.^[3]

I can't speak for chapters I wasn't given, so I won't guess about them. Whatever Sodium does for you in this pack, it isn't driven by the Mekanism quest line.^[3]

FTB StoneBlock 4 1.21.0 ships Sodium 0.8.13 for Minecraft 1.21.1. Sodium has been in the pack since 1.17.0 or earlier, but which version it shipped at back then isn't something I can confirm.^[2]

Sodium 0.8.12: the big backport

0.8.12 is the release that brought modern Sodium 0.8 back to Minecraft 1.21.1. The changelog highlights these improvements:^[4]

• World rendering performance improved by up to 115% on some computers.^[4]
• Much better rendering of transparent objects with complex models, especially when submerged in water.^[4]
• Lots of improvements to the Video Settings menu.^[4]
• Less latency and micro-stutter when chunks update in the world.^[4]
• Slightly faster entity rendering, especially for transparent mobs and particles.^[4]
• Improved hardware and mod compatibility, plus more bug fixes.^[4]

This release also includes a backport of Sodium's Config API, so other mods can interact with Sodium more easily across versions. The 1.21.1 series doesn't follow the same release cadence or alpha/beta numbering as Sodium's releases for newer Minecraft versions.^[4]

The 0.8.12 notes list some mods that work with it: Create Aeronautics as of 1.3.0, Sable as of 2.0.0, Veil as of 4.1.2 and Iris as of 1.8.13. It is not compatible with any version of Sodium Options API (which isn't affiliated with Sodium) or mods that depend on it.^[4]

Sodium 0.8.13: the version in this pack

0.8.13 is a small bug-fix release. It also makes the crash log message clearer, so unrelated errors aren't blamed on Sodium when NeoForge keeps loading despite a severe error. It went through beta builds before the final release.^[5][6][7]

• Clearer crash log message when the game crashes because of a missing mod config, which basically only happens when NeoForge loads the game despite a severe error. This is in the betas and the final release.^[5][6][7]
• Fixed a buffer overflow in Kernel32.getModuleFileName. This is in the betas and the final release.^[5][6][7]
• Uses the correct atomic operations on NativeBuffer.ALLOCATED. This is in the betas and the final release.^[5][6][7]
• Uses clearenv() to delete an environment variable. This is in the betas and the final release.^[5][6][7]
• Override/overlay priority is now implemented in the graphics options Config API. This was added in the later beta and is in the final release.^[5][6]

Unverified The pack's own changelogs have no entries for Sodium in the sources here, so I can't tell you in which pack release Sodium was updated to a given version.