Is Minecraft OptiFine 1.21.1 available for download?

Minecraft became popular in its early days, and a huge modding community emerged, with new mods appearing every day. Among the vast array of Minecraft mods, some came with amazing features that eventually became essential for players. OptiFine is one such mod, consistently updated to support every version released so far, providing advanced control of the visuals and optimizing the performance at the same time.

With version 1.21.1 now released, players are ready to update their games. However, to do so, they will have to forgo the shader feature since the OptiFine mod is not yet available for Minecraft 1.21.1.

In this article, we guide players on installing OptiFine on the latest version of the game when it comes out and explore the features of the mod.

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Minecraft guide to get OptiFine

Trial chambers with shaders (Image via Mojang)

The 1.21.1 update came out on August 8, 2024, finally resolving server crashes caused by certain exploits. Besides this much-needed fix, the update added language support for Tzotzil and Belarusian (Latin), allowing even more players to enjoy the sandbox game in their native language.

Once the OptiFine mod is released for the update, players can follow the detailed steps below to install and play the mod:

Step 1: Before getting started, ensure that the 1.21 update is already installed on your system. Then, search for the OptiFine mod online.

Step 2: Open the official OptiFine webpage and navigate to the downloads section.

Step 3: Once the update is available, it will appear here. Click on the download button next to the newest OptiFine mod version. Skip the ad and click the new download button.

Step 4: Once downloaded, launch the mod using Java and click on the install button.

Step 5: Launch the Minecraft game launcher, select the OptiFine 1.21.1 version, and start the game.

The latest OptiFine mod is now installed and running, allowing players to enjoy their multiplayer sessions with fewer crashes and the same high-quality visuals.

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How to install the Minecraft 1.21.1 update

Since it is crucial that players install the 1.21.1 update before installing the OptiFine mod, let's first learn how to get the game.

Getting the game itself is much easier than installing a mod for it. Here are the detailed steps:

Step 1: First, open the official game launcher.

Step 2: Next, switch to the installations tab.

Step 3: Select the latest release option and launch the game.

This is usually the default selection, but in case it isn't, players can follow these steps to always load the latest version of the game. The launcher will take a few minutes to download the file and get the game ready. Once done, it will launch the newest version of Java Edition.