Optifine 1.19.4: How to Install, What It’s For, and More

For many years, Minecraft has continuously been thriving. Such is mainly due to the constant developments within the community, alongside the brand new mods available for Minecraft. 

While it’s true that Minecraft is a relatively simple game, it’s still necessary to remember that its game world is packed with details, not to mention the physics that your computer has to calculate. This can make it quite tricky, especially for low-end computers to run the game. With this being said, one mod has particularly been sought after by most players recently, which is called Optifine. Whether you’re a new player or already a seasoned one, Optifine is something you would never want to miss out on.

Optifine is a mod that helps optimize, making your Minecraft experience better by enhancing its overall performance. It’s also among the oldest optimization mods and has now been considered a must-have in Minecraft’s modding community, even to such an extent that other mods require it. 

If you’re mainly thinking about adding Shaders, cosmetic improvements such as Texture Packs, or modding your game, then there is a high chance that you’ll highly need OptiFine. However, before discovering the technicalities and the know-how in improving its settings, graphics, and more, let’s first understand what OptiFine is and what it can offer. 

What is OptiFine?

OptiFine is a community-created mod that allows players to have an improved and enjoyable game experience regardless of whether or not they’re using a low-end PC. It’s reasonably stable and comes with lots of customization that enables you to choose certain graphic features you want to either cut out or keep to level up your performance. 

Moreover, this is also a great choice when you’re thinking of utilizing resource packs that can change your game’s appearance, such as high-definition texture packs and more. Here, you get a lot of improvements to your game experience through smoother gameplays, performance updates, and dynamic lighting. However, among its many valuable features, the key is to boost your FPS. This alone is already sufficient for you to use OptiFine since it eliminates the lag that most players usually experience. 

Sp614x created OptiFine, a mod that enhances the game’s performance, graphics, and stability. With complete support for HD textures and a wide range of setup options, making Minecraft runs quicker and looks better.

How to Download and Install Optifine

You should be aware that OptiFine is only compatible with the Java Edition of Minecraft before installing it. OptiFine can’t be installed if you’re playing Bedrock/Console editions. 

Step 1. Download Optifine

Because you can’t install Optifine until you’ve downloaded it, the first step is to go ahead and do that right now. But, first, go to the OptiFine official website; As a general rule, you should always acquire the “Ultra” version, as it includes more features than the “Standard” edition. Then, click the “mirror” link/button next to the version you choose, and you’re all set!

Afterward, you’ll be brought to a page full of advertisements. There is a “Download OptiFine” button in the middle of every of these advertising, followed by the version number. Download Optifine by clicking this link. After sorting through all of the download pages, the next stage is now complete.

Step 2. Open The Optifine Installer

Open the Optifine Installer after you’ve downloaded and installed Optifine. This is also a very straightforward process. When the downloaded file is right-clicked, pick open with and then select the Java(TM) Platform SE binary option to open it. Upon completion of this, a little application will open up.

Step 3. Install Optifine

This is the part of the tutorial that should be the simplest. Just click the ‘Install’ button once you’ve opened the Optifine Installer to begin the process of installing the mod. Optifine will then start to install itself! An “OptiFine has been successfully installed” message will appear after a few minutes.

Step 4. Opening Minecraft W/Optifine

Once Optifine is installed, you’re not done. Now, you’ll need to open up the standard Minecraft launcher and click the small up arrow next to the “PLAY” button. Optifine is the name of the version you should be looking for from here on out. So, if you want to play this version, click on it!

Step 5. Enjoy Optifine in Minecraft

Congratulations. How to download and install Minecraft’s Optifine? To get the most out of Minecraft’s graphics, install Optifine and let it do its thing. The graphics can be slowed down if you want the game to move faster or turned up to 11 if you want it to look like a futuristic MMO RPG.

How to Install Optifine with Forge for Minecraft Mods

Download the Minecraft Forge file to use the Optifine mod on a Mac or Windows machine with mods.

1. Go to the official Forge website, which will be presented with a list of different versions; select the one that matches your Minecraft version. Then, simply click “Installer” to begin the installation process. Next, keep pressing the “Keep” button in the lower-left corner of the screen, although it is a JAR file (on Google Chrome).

2. Once the Forge installer is opened, hit OK to begin the installation process.

3. Open the Minecraft Launcher and select the Forge version installed.

4. If you want to use Minecraft Forge to install Optifine, you must first install Forge. You should now locate the folder in which Minecraft is located after following these simple instructions.
   • It’s possible to get the Minecraft folder on your macOS or Windows by opening the Finder and searching for “/Library/Application Support/Minecraft” or Run and searching for “%Appdata%/.Minecraft“

5. Download the Optifine file and save it to your computer.
6. Search for “mods” on Windows and Mac while still in the Minecraft folder.

7. Enter the “mods” folder, which may be found between the other folders. Creating a “mods” folder can be done as follows:
   • Windows: Use CTRL+SHIFT+N as a shortcut. Create a new folder on the computer by doing this. Click “Enter” once you’ve typed “mods” in the little box.
   • Mac: Right-click anywhere inside the folder, select “File” and then “New Folder,” type the phrase “mods,” and then press “Enter.”
8. The Optifine file should be pasted into the “mods” folder. There are two ways to achieve this: Ctrl+V (Windows) and Command (Mac).

9. To use OptiFine from the Forge, launch Minecraft and select the Forge profile in the game’s options menu when prompted. The forge profile must be selected before you can begin playing.

Feature of Optifine

FPS boost

• Increases FPS
• This reduces lag and improves performance.

Support for Shaders

• Shadow, normal, and specular maps are all part of ShadersMod’s extensive set of new features. These items can be used to customize the look of the Minecraft world. Shaderpack selection and a few user preferences influence the visual appearance. Daxnitro’s Shaders Mod is the source of this mod.
• This patch requires a graphics card with an NVIDIA or AMD GPU that is up to date and fast. Graphics effects don’t appear anywhere. CPU and GPU processing power is needed for them to work effectively. In some cases, Shader Packs can render ten times slower than the original Minecraft. A poor frame rate is to be expected if your PC isn’t able to get more than 200 FPS with vanilla Minecraft.

Dynamic Lights

• Comparable, but not identical, to the Dynamic Lights
• Enables portable and dropped light-emitting objects to illuminate the surrounding environment

Performance: VSync

• By synchronizing the frame rate with the monitor refresh rate, split frames are eliminated, resulting in more fluid gameplay.

Fog Control

• Fog: Stylish, Fast, and OFF!
• Farther away, the fog begins.

Chunk Loading Control

• The world pieces are loaded at a distance far enough to allow for a quick rendering of different distances. To speed up the loading of the game environment, use Preloaded Chunks and Chunk Updates per Frame. There are more chunks in every frame with dynamic updates when the player is motionless.

Time Control

• Day and Night Only – only works in Creative mode if set to default.

How to Improve OptiFine Settings To Boost FPS

The importance of frames per second isn’t lost to gamers alike, mainly when you’re talking about a game’s graphical settings. Despite the pixelated and somewhat vintage style, Minecraft isn’t an exception since high FPS values often allow for a smoother experience. The problem is that Minecraft doesn’t lend well to boosting FPS – a dilemma by most players that OptiFine quickly resolves. 

Before anything else, you will first need to install OptiFine to get started. Through the years, the process of installation has only gained more convenience. 

Once you have already installed OptiFine within your game, you can now start improving its performance. You can use the additional options in the Video Settings menu to help increase your frame rate count. With enhanced OptiFine Settings and a more robust graphics card, you can achieve as much as 100 FPS or more. 

Here are some things to consider if you want to get the highest possible settings and the best graphics for Minecraft. 

High FPS Settings for Minecraft

After doing OptiFine’s installation, simply choose OptiFine from the drop-down menu selection in your launcher and then run it. Afterward, open the game and go to “options,” then “video settings,” to apply the best FPS OptiFine settings for your game. 

For the most trustworthy and recommended FPS boost Optifine settings, follow these steps:

Best Graphics

The game comes with three graphics quality options which are: 

• Fabulous
• Fancy
• Fast

With Fabulous, you significantly increase the translucent blocks’ quality, lowering FPS and making it run slow. Fancy also does the same thing and increases the game’s quality while decreasing FPS. The best option is Fast since you compromise the rate for better and smoother game performance. This lowers the game’s quality and improves FPS and overall performance. 

For Max Framerate, keeping it at vsync or max is recommended. When you enable vsync, it will limit your fps, especially considering your monitor’s refresh rate. The same thing goes for keeping it at max. While it can help increase FPS, you won’t see the extra FPS beyond the refresh rate. 

Check out our complete guide to optimizing Optifine settings to boost fps.

Optifine FAQ

Do I need to configure OptiFine to achieve a better FPS

Oftentimes, no. OptiFine already comes with many different optimizations that help increase FPS without needing any configuration. However, You can increase FPS further by configuring the Video Settings and then discovering the balance between quality and performance that you think works the best for you. 

What OptiFine edition should I get?

The most popular edition is the OptiFine Ultra, thus being the most recommended option to get. Moreover, it has the most features and optimizations that can increase FPS. On the other hand, the OptiFine standard is generally more compatible with other mods, while OptiFine Light may work better for underpowered notebooks and laptops. 

Can I include OptiFine in my own mod pack?

No, unless you ask explicit permission from the creators.

How to uninstall Optifine?

To uninstall the default installation, go to the “versions” folder and delete any folder named Optifine; that way, it will be completely removed from Minecraft. If you use Optifine as a mod, remove it from the “mods” folder.

Can I use Optifine with Fabric?

OptiFine doesn’t have native support for Fabric as it does with Forge. Fabric compatibility depends entirely on OptiFabric, a third-party mod.

Is Optifine a Forge or Fabric mod?

It works with Fabric. However, the mod compatibility under Fabric may not be as extensive as that under Forge. Also, few modpacks are Fabric based.

Is Minecraft OptiFine free?

You can download OptiFine free from the official website

How do I zoom in with OptiFine?

The Optifine mod has a dedicated hotkey to zoom. This hotkey is probably the left control key on the keyboard.

Does OptiFine increase FPS?

Optifine increases FPS by 200%+, It must not be lower than the Minecraft vanilla in the worst cases. You should disable settings of higher quality that can decrease FPS such as antialliasing which renders the extreme distance filtering and anisotropy filtering.

What is anti aliasing in Minecraft?

Anti Aliasing is a feature that enhances the realism of a digital image by smoothing out jagged edges on curved lines or diagonals, at the expense of performance.

What is the best FPS for Minecraft?

Does RAM increase FPS?

RAM is not a factor in the FPS. RAM is used for data storage that must be available to a program in order to run.

Do you have any more questions you would like to add to our FAQ? leave them in the comments.