5 Minecraft mods to try out in 2023

Minecraft has one of the most dedicated modding communities in the gaming industry. While vanilla Minecraft is a blend of everything necessary for a perfect survival experience, mods open an entirely new set of doors that lead to experiences tailored for every player.

Mods allow players to add all sorts of new features to the game, including mobs, blocks, mechanics, and dimensions, as well as settings that can improve performance.

Let’s look at some of the best Minecraft mods players should check out in 2023.

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Minecraft: Optifine, WorldEdit, and three other mods worth checking out

1) Optfine

The Optfine mod requires no introduction. It is one of the most well-known pieces of third-party content for Minecraft. Optfine is a performance and optimization mod that boosts FPS, supports a ton of other mods, and gives players several exciting features like zoom and configurable smooth lighting, along with HD texture support.

However, shader support is one of the most important features this mod adds to the game. Like with mods, players can download and add shader packs and individual shaders to the game. Shaders enhance in-game visuals while revamping features like skyboxes, realistic shadows, and lighting similar to what ray tracing offers.

To use shaders, players need to download .zip files for specific shaders and move them to their dedicated “shaders” folder.

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2) The Twilight Forest

Twilight Forest is a mod based on exploration and adventure, as it adds an entirely new dimension to the game. Within this dimension (known as the Twilight Forest) lies tons of new mobs and structures, each different and possibly more dangerous than the last.

Mobs are divided into three categories: passive, hostile, and boss-type. Each of these mob types can be encountered while exploring the Twilight Forest dimension, with players having to learn the attack patterns of bosses and hostile mobs to defeat them.

Structures are usually occupied by one of the aforementioned boss mobs, each tailored to a specific mob. Players must also note that defeating boss mobs will open new areas within the map, so engaging the largest mobs in the dimension is not something to shy away from.

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3) Just Enough Items

Just Enough Items or JEI is a quality-of-life mod that improves players' access to crafting recipes within the game. With Minecraft having innumerable crafting recipes and more arriving with each update, keeping track of each one can give even the most seasoned players a hard time.

Just Enough Items helps players view a recipe whenever they want, simply by typing the resulting item’s name inside the search box. It also expands over the 5x4 recipe grid on the left side of the crafting grid, moving it to the screen's right, showcasing as many as 60 recipes at once.

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4) Sodium

Sodium is a performance mod similar to Optfine. However, this mod is specifically designed for Fabric, which enables it to be used in conjunction with many Fabric-only mods. Sodium's best feature is an increase in FPS by over four or even five times, depending on the player’s in-game settings.

This makes it a great mod for Minecraft players facing stuttering and inconsistent framerates or those playing on low-end gaming systems. Sodium is updated regularly to keep up with the latest from Mojang and applies fixes to many graphical issues that often come with the game's vanilla version.

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5) WorldEdit

WorldEdit is a world-building and construction mod that provides players with every tool needed to build anything within their Minecraft world. Aside from the regular building practices available within the game, players can use commands, codes, mathematical equations, and much more to shape their world exactly how they want it.

This Minecraft mod often prompts players to attempt massive building projects, like constructing entire mountains or making their own cave system. With the Worldedit mod, players can make a blueprint of their design and paste it anywhere in the world. Additionally, players can place or remove thousands of blocks or structures, such as mountains, mansions, large farms, and ocean monuments, in seconds.

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While some mods are added for players to experience something different from regular vanilla Minecraft features, others tweak the game’s properties and update many of its features to give players a better experience. Thus, the mods listed above are a bump up for anyone playing Minecraft in 2023.