How to get Distant Horizons mod for Minecraft

A combination of sub-par optimization and low render distances has long held back Minecraft's nearly unlimited building potential. This has resulted in distant builds being hard to justify, as they can't be seen from far away. Mods have optimized the game a lot, but it has only been in the last few years that Distant Horizons started solving the view distance issue.

Distant Horizons is a simple mod in concept; it renders a huge amount of terrain but simplifies it the farther it is from the player. This mimics how vision works in the real world, with distant objects appearing less visible. Effectively, this allows players to keep performance high while having huge view distances.

However, this begs the question of how players can install and try out the mod for themselves.

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Steps to try Minecraft's Distant Horizons mod

1) Open a game launcher

CurseForge is the more popular of the two game launchers (Image via CurseForge)

You can get the Minecraft Distant Horizons mod on both CurseForge and Modrinth. The first thing you'll need to do is open one of these launchers.

Modrinth can also be used to install the mod (Image via Modrinth)

This example installation will explain the process for both, so feel free to use whichever you prefer. There are pros and cons to both CurseForge and Modrinth, with many players still arguing about which is Minecraft's better modded game launcher.

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2) Set up a personal modded profile

An example of the CurseForge profile setup of the Distant Horizons mod (Image via Mojang)

The next thing you will need to do is create a profile for the mod. On CurseForge, use the "Create Custom Profile" button to set up a profile for Distant Horizons. Make sure to set the version to any of those the mod works with; this example uses 1.20.2.

There is also a Fabric version of the mod for those who think Fabric is Minecraft's better mod loader.

The Modrinth Distant Horizons profile looks very similar to the CurseForge one (Image via Modrinth)

Modrinth users will need to hit the plus button in the bottom-left corner to open the custom installation menu. From here, the process is the same as for CurseForge: name the profile, pick your preferred mod loader, and select one of Minecraft's many feature-filled updates.

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3) Install the mod

The Distant Horizons mod should appear in the search if the profile is correct (Image via CurseForge)

Once the profile is created, you must actually install the Distant Horizons mod. CurseForge users will need to hit the puzzle piece icon to enter the content browser. From here, you just need to search for the mod and hit the Install button.

Similar to CurseForge, Modrinth will only show the mod if the profile is compatible (Image via Modrinth)

Modrinth has a similar process. There is a button that says "Add more content" above the currently added mods that takes you to the browser. Click on it. Then, search for Distant Horizons and hit the Install button. Also, make sure to install the Fabric API, as that is required.

There are a lot of settings to potentially tweak as well (Image via Mojang)

Once this is done, launch the game and open a world. It might take some time to load, but if all is done properly, the very far distance should begin to render over time.

Additionally, there is a settings menu that allows for customization of many graphical settings, including processing dedicated to loading far-away areas and just how far away the mod should render.

You can now start experimenting, as some of Minecraft's best shaders work with the mod, allowing for truly spectacular views.