How to improve Minecraft graphic performance on Linux

The Minecraft Java Edition runs decent enough on Linux that most users don’t need to tinker with the graphical settings. But, on low-end PCs, and even high-end ones, the game struggles with graphical performance.

If you want to increase your FPS on Minecraft in Linux, you will need to improve the game’s graphical performance. The best way to do this is to install the Optifine mod. It can give you more FPS, as well as more control over the graphics in the game.

In this guide, we’ll show you how to install the Optifine mod on Linux and how to use it to improve the game’s graphical performance.

Installing Minecraft Java Edition

As this guide focuses on Minecraft, we will demonstrate how to install the Minecraft Java Edition launcher on Linux before installing the mod to improve graphical performance.

To use Minecraft Java Edition on Linux, you will need to have the Java Runtime Environment set up on your Linux PC. In many cases, the Minecraft installer will automatically install this for you. However, keep in mind that if the Java Runtime does not automatically install it, you will need to do it manually.

To get started setting up Minecraft Java Edition on Linux, launch a terminal window on the desktop. Once the terminal window is open and ready to use, enter the commands below to get Minecraft working on your Linux PC.

Ubuntu

On Ubuntu, you can get Minecraft working by downloading and installing the latest DEB package.

wget https://launcher.mojang.com/download/Minecraft.deb -O ~/Downloads/Minecraft.deb

cd ~/Downloads

sudo apt install ./Minecraft.deb

Debian

To get Minecraft working on Debian, you’ll need to install the latest DEB package from Minecraft.net.

wget https://launcher.mojang.com/download/Minecraft.deb -O ~/Downloads/Minecraft.deb

cd ~/Downloads

sudo dpkg -i Minecraft.deb

sudo apt install -f

Arch Linux

The Minecraft official launcher is in the Arch Linux AUR. To install it, enter the commands below.

sudo pacman -S git base-devel

git clone https://aur.archlinux.org/trizen.git

cd trizen

makepkg -sri

trizen -S minecraft-launcher

Fedora

On Fedora Linux, you will need to install the Java Runtime Environment to get Minecraft working manually. Once the runtime is set up, you can download the latest generic Linux release of Minecraft Java Edition on your PC and enter the commands below to get it running.

wget https://launcher.mojang.com/download/Minecraft.tar.gz

tar xvf Minecraft.tar.gz

cd minecraft-launcher/

Launch Minecraft with:

./minecraft-launcher

OpenSUSE

On OpenSUSE, users can get the latest Minecraft Java Edition installed through the OBS. To get it working, head over to this page here, choose your release, and install it with the “1 Click Install” button.

Install Forge mod framework

The Optifine mod works in Minecraft with the help of the Forge mod framework. As a result, we must demonstrate how to install Forge to get Optifine working. To start the installation, open up a terminal window. Then, use the wget command below to download the latest Forge.

wget https://files.minecraftforge.net/maven/net/minecraftforge/forge/1.16.4-35.0.18/forge-1.16.4-35.0.18-installer.jar -O ~/Downloads/forge-1.16.4-35.0.18-installer.jar

After downloading the Forge mod framework installer to your Linux PC, you will need to install it. To start the installation, open up the installer file using the command below.

java -jar ~/Downloads/forge-1.16.4-35.0.18-installer.jar

Once the Forge installer is open on your Linux PC, select the “Install client” option in the installer window. Then, click on the “OK” button with the mouse to begin the installation.

When the installation is complete, Forge will be set up in Minecraft Java Edition for Linux. From here, move on to the next step of the guide.

Installing the Optifine mod

Installing Optifine on Linux is easy, thanks to how Forge works. You won’t need to run any installer or anything like that. Instead, just create a “mods” folder in your Minecraft directory and place the Optifine file inside.

Using the mkdir command, create the new “mods” folder in your Minecraft directory.

mkdir -p ~/.minecraft/mods/

After creating the new “mods” folder in your Minecraft directory, head over to the Optifine download page and grab the latest version of Optifine. Once the file is done downloading to your computer, use the CD command to move into the “Downloads” directory.

cd ~/Downloads

Inside of the “Downloads” directory, use the mv command to move the Optifine mod into your Minecraft folder.

mv OptiFine*.jar ~/.minecraft/mods/

Configure Optifine in Minecraft on Linux

Now that Optifine is installed launch Minecraft and start up the game. Then, follow the step-by-step instructions below to learn how to configure Optifine to improve graphical performance.

Step 1: Select the “Options” button on the Minecraft main menu. After selecting this button, select “Video Settings.”

Step 2: Find the “Graphics” area, and change it from “Fancy” to “Fast”. Then, find “Smooth Lighting” and change it from “Maximum” to “Off” or “Minimum.”

Step 3: Locate “Render Distance” and change it to 5 or 6. Then, locate “Entity Shadows” and set it to “Off.”

Step 4: Locate the “Performance” button, and click on it. Then, once inside the “Performance” area, look through the settings and tweak them to your liking. Click “Done” when done.

Step 5: Locate “Animations” and go through the settings to tweak the animations. Turning off animations makes the game faster! Click “Done” when done.

Step 6: Find “Details” and go through the settings to tweak it to your desired configuration. Tweaking “Details” will give a considerable performance increase. Select “Done” when done.