Bliss: a Minecraft shader pack built on chocapic13, with three separate release channels

What Bliss changes about chocapic's shaders

Bliss is described as a Minecraft shader which is an edit of chocapic v9, and the README explains the motivation in the author's own terms. The author always loved chocapic's shaders and how customisable they were, but wanted more, so they started tweaking the shader, adding settings, breaking things, and eventually wanted to impose their own visual style onto it.

The specific design goal is worth quoting because it is more interesting than a list of visual tweaks. The author wanted to emphasize a varying scene, where the lighting isn't always the same whenever or wherever you are. That design goal is the reason the pack has a distinct look rather than being a reskin of its base.

The primary language is GLSL, and the repository is small in structure. The top level holds a.github directory, CREDITS.txt, LICENSE.md, README.md and a shaders/ directory, so everything of substance lives in the shader files themselves with no build system, no package manifest and no runtime dependencies. There is nothing to compile and nothing to configure beyond the game's own shader settings.

The default branch is called Stable, and the project is not archived, with the last push on 2026-09-22.

The three version channels, and the words the README is careful about

The version scheme is the most confusing part of this project, and the README spends a paragraph on it for good reason.

Release versions are uploaded when the stable version is stable enough and has enough changes to warrant a release. These are the versions uploaded to Modrinth or Curseforge. The README then makes the point that matters: the release versions are not the very latest version.

Stable versions are not the absolute newest versions either, but they are more stable, and they are released regularly to be tested by anyone. The README asks people to report any issues they find.

Unstable versions are the absolute latest versions, released very frequently and likely to have bugs and issues or missing features. When that branch reaches a stable enough state it is merged into the Stable branch, and the README asks for issue reports there too.

So there is no channel that is both newest and safest, and that is stated rather than hidden. The release channel is what other people can download from a mod platform, the stable channel is for testing, and the unstable channel is where new work lands first. The tagged releases follow the same pattern, with release11 named Bliss v2.1.2, release10 named Bliss v2.1.1 and release9 named Bliss v2.1.0, dated between September and November 2025.

A practical consequence: if you are following the project closely, you should use the stable branch and report problems, which is what the maintainer asks for. If you only want something that works, use a release from Modrinth or Curseforge and expect it to be behind.

Downloading each channel, and the three different routes

The download instructions differ per channel, and the distinction is mechanical rather than a matter of taste.

For the stable version, you locate the green code button on the repository page, which the README stresses is not in the releases page, click it and select download zip. Once the zip finishes downloading you install it like a normal shader, and the README says explicitly that you do not need to unzip, extract or decompress it.

The unstable version works the same way with one extra step. You use the branch switcher drop-down in the top-left area of the page to select the Unstable branch, then take the green code button and download zip as before, and install it the same way without extracting.

The release version is the only one that comes from the releases tab on the right of the page. You find the release you want, look at the files attached to it, and download the file named similar to Bliss_(version)_chocapic13_shaders_edit.zip. Again you install it as a normal shader without extracting it.

That file name carries a piece of information worth noting. The suffix chocapic13_shaders_edit states the lineage of the pack inside the archive name itself, which is helpful when you have several shader packs in your resource pack folder and are trying to remember which is which.

The credits, and the visual features they explain

The acknowledgements section of the README is unusually specific about who contributed what, and reading it is the best explanation of the pack's feature set.

Chocapic13 is credited for the base shader, which is the foundation everything else is built on. WoMspace is credited for spending a lot of time creating a depth of field overhaul, which is a specific and visible feature rather than a general contribution. Null is credited for doing a huge amount of work creating the voxel floodfill coloured lighting, and that phrase describes a technique rather than an effect, since floodfill on a voxel grid is how light propagates between blocks.

Emin and Gri573 are credited for teaching the author how to stop a lot of light leaking, which is the classic failure mode of voxel lighting engines where light bleeds through solid geometry. RRe36 and Sixthsurge are credited for great ideas to steal.

Two community links follow, a Discord server invitation and a Ko-fi donation link, so the project is run by one person with a small community around it rather than by a team.

The repository also carries a CREDITS.txt file at the top level alongside LICENSE.md, and a shaders/ directory. That structure matters for the licensing question, because a shader pack that derives its rendering from another author's work carries obligations that a single LICENSE file may not fully describe, and the licence field in the project metadata is recorded as unknown.

Where Bliss is the wrong tool

The scope is narrow, and there are clear cases where it does not apply.

This is a Minecraft shader pack. It is written in GLSL for the Minecraft renderer and has no value outside that context, unlike a general shader framework. If you are looking for a graphics pipeline, a rendering engine or a tool for a different game, nothing here transfers.

It also does not work the same way for everyone. The base shader it edits is chocapic v9, and the archives are named for chocapic13 compatibility, so the pack tracks a specific lineage of that base. A future rebase of chocapic's own shader is a compatibility question the README does not answer, and the README also says nothing about which Minecraft versions or which shader loader versions are supported. That gap matters, because a shader pack that renders incorrectly on your version usually fails visually rather than loudly, and the pack provides no compatibility list to check against.

The depth of field overhaul and the varied lighting are GPU-hungry by nature. Nothing in the README describes quality settings, and a shader that varies lighting across a scene has more work to do per frame than a flat one. On integrated graphics or an older card, expect to lower your render distance and resolution rather than the shader's own options, since the pack does not expose granular quality controls in the documentation.

Finally, the versioning means you have to make a decision about which channel you install, and the README does not tell you which one to pick for a given situation beyond the general descriptions. If you are unsure, the release from a mod platform is the conservative choice, and the stable branch is where the maintainer wants testers to report problems.

Editorial conclusion

Adopt Bliss if you want a configurable Minecraft shader with lighting that changes across a scene rather than staying uniform, and you are willing to pick a release channel carefully. Do not adopt it as a stable, pinned dependency, because the release versions are explicitly not the latest code and the unstable branch is described as likely to have bugs, missing features or issues. Verify first that your Minecraft version and loader match the shader pack you download, since the archives are named for chocapic13 compatibility, and check CREDITS.txt and LICENSE.md in the repository because the work is an edit of another author's shader and the licence is recorded as unknown in the project metadata.

Frequently asked questions

Official sources

1. Issues
2. README
3. Releases
4. X0nk/Bliss-Shader on GitHub