Capt Tatsu built BSL Shaders for Minecraft: Java Edition around warm sunlight, heavy bloom, soft volumetric fog and water that picks up the color of the sky. The file on this page is v8.2.08, released in February 2024 and tagged by the author for game versions up to 1.20.4. Capt Tatsu has since moved to the v10 series, which follows the newest releases, so if you play the very latest Minecraft, take the current build from his official site. For 1.20.4 and older, v8.2.08 runs fine on both OptiFine and Iris.
There is no Bedrock version, and Capt Tatsu has said he won’t make one. Packs called “BSL” for Bedrock or Pocket Edition come from other people. The “BSL resource pack” some players search for is BSL Minipacks, a separate small pack by the same author with a cleaner UI, denser grass and a sky colormap tuned for the shader.
Five settings to change before you judge it
Most complaints about BSL are fixed in Shader Options, not by swapping packs. Open Video Settings, then Shaders, select BSL and click Shader Options. Hovering over any option shows what it does.
- Too blurry or glowy. The strong bloom is on purpose. Lower Bloom Strength or Bloom Radius under Post Effects, or raise Bloom Contrast.
- Gray, washed-out nights and rain. That tint is the Desaturation option under Lighting. Turn it off.
- Too blue or too bright. Use the Color menu, then Color Grading & Tonemap for exposure.
- Shadow quality. Leave the loader’s own Shadow Quality slider alone. Change Shadowmap Resolution and Shadow Distance inside Shader Options instead, and use the built-in FXAA or TAA rather than raising Render Quality, which costs far more.
- Top half of the sky is solid white. Video Settings, Details, switch Sky on.
One quirk of v8.2.08: fast leaves are forced off, because the shader skips lighting on transparent pixels. Set Graphics to Fancy and Trees to Default or Fancy. Newer v10 builds lifted this restriction.
Profiles: one zip, five quality levels
Some packs ship separate Lite and Extreme downloads. BSL doesn’t. Every quality level lives in the same zip, and the Profile switch at the top of Shader Options moves between Minimum, Low, Medium, High and Ultra. The profiles differ mainly in shadow map resolution and shadow distance, plus a few costly extras.
Start on Medium, walk through a forest and a village, then go up or down one step. Capt Tatsu’s recommended video settings are Fancy graphics, render distance 8 or more, Smooth Lighting at maximum and Sky on. On integrated graphics he asks for 8 GB of RAM in dual channel. If even Low stutters, try a lighter pack such as Sildur’s Enhanced Default or Potato Shaders, and read our FPS guide before blaming the shader.
Realistic resource packs and Advanced Materials
BSL can read the normal and specular maps that many HD packs include, the data behind wet-looking stone, shiny metal and bumpy bricks. It is switched off by default to save performance. Turn it on in Shader Options, Material, Advanced Materials. Rain reflections build on the same system, so they stay invisible until Advanced Materials is on.
Since v8.1.03 the material format defaults to labPBR, the format most current PBR packs use. A pack made for an older specular format needs the format option changed. Capt Tatsu’s own suggestions are vanilla, NAPP, Misa’s Realistic and Bare Bones. For big packs from our HD textures section, like Hera Ultra Photo Realism, check whether the pack actually ships normal and specular maps. Without them, Advanced Materials changes nothing.
OptiFine or Iris for BSL
Both loaders run the same zip. OptiFine suits you if you already rely on its zoom, connected textures or custom skies. Iris runs alongside Sodium on Fabric and Quilt, and on NeoForge for 1.21 and newer; BSL even has a few Iris-only touches, such as dynamic hand light. Never install both at once.
- Install OptiFine with its jar, or run the Iris installer, which sets up Iris and Sodium as a launcher profile.
- Keep the downloaded zip packed. Safari users should untick “Open safe files after downloading” first.
- OptiFine: Options, Video Settings, Shaders, Shaders Folder. Iris: Options, Video Settings, Shader Packs, Open Shader Pack Folder.
- Drop the zip in, return to the game and click BSL. In Iris, O opens this screen from anywhere and R reloads the pack.
BSL also has a famous descendant: Complementary Shaders by EminGT began as a BSL edit, and Capt Tatsu lists it as derived from his pack.