Minecraft Java Is Switching From OpenGL To Vulkan (gamingonlinux.com)
- Reference: 0180828626
- News link: https://developers.slashdot.org/story/26/02/19/2156234/minecraft-java-is-switching-from-opengl-to-vulkan
- Source link: https://www.gamingonlinux.com/2026/02/minecraft-java-is-switching-from-opengl-to-vulkan-for-the-vibrant-visuals-update/
> For modders, they're suggesting they start making preparations to move away from OpenGL: "Switching from OpenGL to Vulkan will have an impact on the mods that currently use OpenGL for rendering, and we anticipate that updating from OpenGL to Vulkan will take modders more effort than the updates you undertake for each of our releases. To start with, we recommend our modding community look at moving away from OpenGL usage. We encourage authors to try to reuse as much of the internal rendering APIs as possible, to make this transition as easy as possible. If that is not sufficient for your needs, then come and talk to us!"
>
> It does mean that players on really old devices that don't support Vulkan will be left out, but Vulkan has been supported going back to some pretty old GPUs. You've got time though, as they'll be rolling out Vulkan alongside OpenGL in snapshots (development releases) "sometime over the summer." You'll be able to toggle between them during the testing period until Mojang believe it's ready. OpenGL will be entirely removed eventually once they're happy with performance and stability.
[1] https://www.gamingonlinux.com/2026/02/minecraft-java-is-switching-from-opengl-to-vulkan-for-the-vibrant-visuals-update/
[2] https://www.minecraft.net/en-us/article/another-step-towards-vibrant-visuals-for-java-edition
Microsoft break things again (Score:1)
Can anyone confirm if this will break all old mods? Microsoft has a habit if ignoring the important things so they can fix something that isn't broken. The mod library is the most important thing in Minecraft for most long term players, if that breaks they are literally destroying their own community.
Re: (Score:2)
> Can anyone confirm if this will break all old mods?
Everyone can confirm this, but I think it's time we let you learn it yourself. Click the second link in TFS and do your own homework. It's right there spelled out for you.
Re: (Score:2)
Obviously it won't break all mods. Most mods don't directly use the rendering system at all, and only a very few will do things directly in OpenGL. It will likely affect mods that change the rendering or visuals in some way, like Iris Shaders or Optifine.
Mojang seem like they are aware of the value of the modding community more than many game makers. The very fact that they are signalling this change in advance is an indicator of this!
Oh no (Score:2)
Minecraft is an unoptimized, piece of steamy shit. The modding community of Minecraft is toxic and lazy.
Re: (Score:2)
LOL, I hear ya. My son was working on some MC mods a few years ago for friends of his. He pretty much summed up his experience with MC and the community the same way.
Notch (Score:2)
Got his. That was the day to walk away.
Based on how crap Minecraft looks (Score:2)
I'm surprised it even requires 3D acceleration.
so? (Score:2)
Fuck Microsoft.
That is all.
No wait, fuck Notch too, he said he would open source MC when he was done working on it.
Re: (Score:2)
His choice. His right to change his mind for like a billion $$$. What nerve; you are entitled to his work? Did he PROMISE or just openly express a passing feeling? Sign a contract? Make a conditional deal with supporters? Falsely advertise? Maybe, I don't know.
It's just a stupid game. It's not like you built infrastructure around him and made that decision on his word that he'd open source it later.
Re: (Score:2)
Nah, I'm 100% unsurprised and I probably would have done the same thing faced with the big stupid money. But then people would be justified in saying fuck me.
Re: (Score:2)
Microsoft is adapting to Apple dropping OpenGL support.
From TFA:
> in the future OpenGL will not run at all on macOS devices
But fuck Microsoft?
Re: (Score:2)
Except, Microsoft is switching from one unsupported render engine to another unsupported render engine. Either one would require a translation layer to work.