Minecraft Distant Horizons mod recommended system requirements

The Minecraft Distant Horizons mod is one of the most powerful render mods for the game, allowing players to improve render distance and FPS significantly. It is a popular tool bundled with most modpacks, but it can be installed as a standalone pack as well. So it comes as no surprise that players are wondering about the recommended system requirements for its installation and deployment.

Here are the recommended system requirements for the Minecraft Distant Horizons mod.

Recommended system requirements for the Minecraft Distant Horizons mod

The Minecraft Distant Horizons mod is one of the most powerful render mods in the community (Image via Sportskeeda Gaming || Mojang Studios)

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The Minecraft Distant Horizons mod is a powerful render mod that massively improves render distance and helps in getting the maximum FPS possible. The unique mod adds simplified terrain past the game's default view distance, allowing for stunning visuals at the highest FOVs and distances.

However, the Minecraft Distant Horizons mod is pretty demanding, using significant resources while generating ultra-long draw distances with the LOD system. While the usual aspect in most mods is the available RAM, this pack is more CPU-intensive and utilises as much as 90% of the available load.

The best setups for using Distant Horizons need a mix of decent RAM and a semi-powerful CPU that lets the mod render chunks at a decent speed. Since terrain generation is usually slow in the game, the mod needs powerful processing power to speed up the process.

Most modern Multi-core CPUs, like Ryzen 5 and its Intel equivalent, will be able to handle the load of the render mod. Having a processor that prioritizes strong single-core and multi-thread performance makes it easier for the LOD system to generate chunks with ease.

A balanced setup of a strong CPU and RAM ensures faster chunk generation (Image via Sportskeeda Gaming || Mojang Studios)

As for the RAM and the GPU, it is dependent on the use of shaders. If you are someone who likes the vanilla aesthetics, then you can get away with 6-12 GB RAM by modifying the instance's JVM directory. However, if you wish to use shader mods like Iris and Optifine, it is recommended that a system have 32 GB of available RAM so that at least 16-20 GB can be used.

Similarly, if you are not using shaders, a mid-range GPU like the RTX 20 series and its Radeon equivalent will do the job. However, if you wish to use intensive shaders and resource packs with the Minecraft Distant Horizons mod, it is recommended to use higher-end cards like the RTX 30 series or the RX6000 series.

Additionally, storage plays a major role in chunk loading and LOD generation. It is recommended to run an instance of Minecraft off of an available SSD since the improved read/write speeds can result in faster terrain and chunk generation. It will also allow you to push the boundaries of the settings without being bottlenecked.

Follow these best settings based on your device category and use case in the Minecraft Distant Horizons mod (Image via Sportskeeda Gaming || Mojang Studios)

Apart from the system requirements, it is also important to balance the settings of the Minecraft Distant Horizons mod based on different use-case scenarios and your system specifications. As a rule of thumb, the easiest setting to tweak if you're facing issues is to lower the LOD range till you come up with a number that loads your chunks at a reasonable rate without sending your PC into a frenzy.

That said, here are the best settings based on different scenarios and setups:

Balanced performance on low-end systems:

Enable Rendering: True
LOD range: 64 chunks
Quality Preset: Low
CPU Load: Minimum
Enable Distant Generation: True
Show LOD Gen/Import Progress: True
Enable Cloud Rendering: False

Balanced performance on mid- to high-end systems:

Enable Rendering: True
LOD range: 128-256 chunks
Quality Preset: Medium
CPU Load: Balanced
Enable Distant Generation: True
Show LOD Gen/Import Progress: True
Enable Cloud Rendering: True

Insane performance on high-end systems

Enable Rendering: True
LOD range: 256-512 chunks
Quality Preset: Extreme
CPU Load: I paid for the whole CPU
Enable Distant Generation: True
Show LOD Gen/Import Progress: True
Enable Cloud Rendering: True

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About the author

Sayendra Basu is a gaming journalist and analyst at Sportskeeda. In a year, he has amassed over three million views in 1000+ articles. He specializes in Fortnite and Minecraft, with a penchant for story-based games. He is an avid music aficionado and is usually listening to some jazz, blues, and Lo-fi. When he's not writing, he is probably brewing his millionth cup of coffee.
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Edited by Sayendra Basu