Adjust Shadow Quality and Distance

Access Shader Settings

Open your in-game options menu and locate the Shader Options or Video Settings panel. Better Default Shaders provides adjustable parameters for shadow rendering without requiring external configuration files.

Configure Shadow Parameters

Look for shadow-related sliders, typically labeled for shadow distance and shadow quality. Shadow distance controls how far from your character shadows are rendered—lower values improve performance on slower machines, while higher values show shadows further away. Shadow quality adjusts the resolution and softness of shadow edges.

Test Your Changes

After adjusting settings, walk around your world and observe how shadows fall on terrain, buildings, and mobs. Pay attention to frame rate changes in the corner of your screen. If you experience lag, reduce shadow distance or quality incrementally until performance stabilizes.

Find Your Balance

Better Default Shaders is designed to run on potato PCs, so even minimal shadow settings should look noticeably better than vanilla while maintaining smooth gameplay. Experiment with different combinations until you find the sweet spot between visual improvement and frame stability for your specific hardware.