What makes it fast, and how we check it
Nether Client bundles seven performance mods and adds performance patches we wrote ourselves. This page names each bundled mod, credits the projects we build on, and explains how we check that nothing you see changes.
01 Bundled
What makes it fast
Nether Launcher installs these mods into the Nether Client instance and updates them with the game, alongside Fabric API and Mod Menu. We did not write them: each is its own project, made by its own authors, and each publishes its source code. They are credited and linked here.
- Rendering
Sodium
Replaces the game's rendering engine for chunks and entities.
Sodium on Modrinth - Game logic
Lithium
Optimises physics, mob AI and block ticking without changing how the game behaves.
Lithium on Modrinth - HUD and text
ImmediatelyFast
Speeds up immediate-mode rendering: the HUD, text, entities and block entities.
ImmediatelyFast on Modrinth - Hidden entities
Entity Culling
Skips rendering entities and block entities you cannot see.
Entity Culling on Modrinth - Hidden blocks
More Culling
Adds more culling, for blocks and item frames.
More Culling on Modrinth - Memory
FerriteCore
Lowers the game's memory use.
FerriteCore on Modrinth - Background
Dynamic FPS
Lowers the frame rate while the game is in the background or idle.
Dynamic FPS on Modrinth
Off until you switch them on
Off by default, one click each to switch on.
02 Our own work
What we wrote
On top of the bundled mods, Nether Client ships performance patches we write ourselves. They go after work the game repeats every frame without needing to, mostly in the moments that hurt most on big servers: a screen full of players, text and interface. We do not publish how they work.
Where they help
Busy servers and text-heavy screens.
What they never do
Change what you see, change gameplay or give you an advantage.
Always reversible
Each one can be turned off by support if it ever misbehaves on your machine.
03 Method
How we measure
How we check a patch before it ships, and how we see what it does afterwards.
One benchmark, fixed scenes
Nine scenes built the same way every time, from an empty world to a crowd and a full HUD, with the same camera path on every run. Each run records frame-time percentiles, 1% and 0.1% lows, memory allocation and garbage collection pauses.
Compared with the unpatched game
Each patch is compared against the unpatched game and has to draw the same picture before it ships.
One release each
Each patch ships in its own release, so its effect can be measured on its own.
Repeatable runs, named hardware
Benchmark numbers are published only from repeatable runs on named hardware, vanilla against Nether Client. Pseudonymous performance reports, which you can switch off, show us how each release behaves on real machines.
Reports carry frame-time and memory statistics with your hardware and settings, linked to a random install id, never to your account. What they contain and how to switch them off.
04 Results
Benchmarks
Measured numbers will be published here, with the hardware and the method named beside them.
Method. The same fixed scenes and the same camera path on every run, with both setups on the same machine, game version and settings. Every run records frame-time percentiles, 1% and 0.1% lows, memory allocation and garbage collection pauses.
The scenes
- BaselineAn empty flat world, sky and ground only.
- CrowdA large crowd of players and mobs.
- ParticlesParticles spawned continuously.
- Chests and signsA dense field of chests and signs.
- FoliageGrass under a wide leaf canopy.
- Crowded HUDEvery HUD module on, with boss bars and chat.
- PvPThe crowd, the particles and the crowded HUD together.
- InventoryThe inventory open over the PvP scene.
- HubThe Nether Client hub open over the PvP scene.
05 Next
What is next
More patches are in testing. They ship when they measure faster and draw the same.
Free for Windows and Linux, with the performance set installed and kept up to date for you.