Sodium Plus (1.18.2 → 1.21.5) – OptiFine’s Spirit With Sodium’s Power

I first heard about Sodium Plus through a Reddit thread. A player described it as “OptiFine without the bloat, and with a ton of smart tweaks.” I’ve tested many optimization packs before Adrenaline, Simply Optimized, Fabulously Optimized but I wanted to see if Sodium Plus lived up to the hype.

To make it fair, I decided to install the pack, leave most settings at default, and record what happened. The results were eye-opening: a mix of clever design choices, real FPS gains, and a few caveats that make it both exciting and a little rough around the edges.

What Is Sodium Plus?

At its core, Sodium Plus is a client-side optimization modpack. It’s built around Sodium (the high-performance renderer for Fabric/Quilt) but adds dozens of quality-of-life mods and bugfixes. The goal is to re-create OptiFine’s convenience zooming, minimaps, full-bright toggles while staying lean and modular.

• Supported Versions: 1.18.2 → 1.21.5
• Loader: Fabric / Quilt only (Forge not supported)
• Nature: Client-side (safe for multiplayer)
• Distribution: Available on Mocmodhub.com and GitHub

This isn’t just Sodium slapped into a pack it’s carefully curated for performance and usability.

Testing Setup & First Run

I launched Sodium Plus with default settings. One thing surprised me right away:

• The pack defaulted to 32 chunk render distance, with most graphics maxed.
• Immediately, I was skeptical“This is going to kill performance.”

And sure enough, when I spawned into a forest biome, FPS started around 60–70, dipping into the 40s when flying fast. Still playable, but not smooth on a high-refresh monitor.

After dialing render distance down to 12 chunks (a more realistic survival setting), things improved:

• Max FPS: ~110
• Average FPS: ~89

That’s not just playable that’s solid, especially when you consider I was recording video at the same time.

What’s Included in Sodium Plus?

The real strength of Sodium Plus isn’t just FPS it’s the thoughtful list of mods packed in. Highlights include:

• Performance Core: Sodium, Lithium, FerriteCore, Memory Leak Fix, Dynamic FPS, Entity Culling, MoreCulling.
• QoL Mods: BetterF3, Chest Tracker, Xaero’s Minimap, Zoomify, Full Brightness Toggle, Jade.
• Visual Touches: Drip Sounds, Sound Physics Remastered, Animations, Better Mount HUD.
• Multiplayer-Friendly Tools: Simple Voice Chat (built-in), Chat Heads.

Not every addition will be for everyone Chest Tracker, for example, changes client-side behavior in ways some players dislike. The developer even mentioned they might make a “fair play edition” without those mods.

But overall, the selection feels like a Swiss Army knife for client optimization.

Real Gameplay Impressions

Here’s what it felt like to play with Sodium Plus enabled:

• Exploring Plains Biomes: Consistent 80–90 FPS, smooth enough for casual survival.
• Flying with Elytra: FPS dips into the 50s–60s at 32 chunks, but stabilizes above 70 when set to 12–16 chunks.
• Building in Villages: Noticeably less stutter compared to vanilla. Entities culled properly, chunks loading faster.
• Caves with Full Bright Toggle: A small but game-changing QoL feature you can instantly brighten your view without spamming torches.

And perhaps the coolest feature: Simple Voice Chat baked right in. In multiplayer, this made co-op play feel more alive no need to run Discord in the background.

Community Voices

On Reddit and YouTube, feedback on Sodium Plus is generally positive, though not uncritical:

• “One of the best modpacks in terms of performance.”
• “You can install shaders on Sodium Plus that’s one plus that Simply Optimized doesn’t have.”
• “Running around we get around 60 to 80 FPS… enough to play the game.”
• “Dips to 20 FPS when flying with 32 chunks this doesn’t feel smooth on a high-refresh monitor.”

This balance of praise and critique makes Sodium Plus stand out: it’s powerful, but it isn’t magic. You’ll still want to tweak settings for best results.

FAQs

Q: Can I use Sodium Plus with shaders?
Yes! Unlike some other optimization packs, Sodium Plus supports Iris shaders, so you can enjoy both performance and enhanced visuals.

Q: Will it get me banned on servers?
No—this is client-side only. The developer notes that you might have issues with older versions, but you won’t get banned for using it.

Q: Is there a CurseForge version?
Yes. GitHub releases include a CurseForge-format pack for easier installation.

Q: What about “Chest Tracker” isn’t that unfair?
It’s client-side only, but if you don’t like it, you can remove it manually. The dev has hinted at a “fair play” edition.

Q: How does it compare to other modpacks?
It performs better than Simply Optimized in shader support, though some players argue Adrenaline can hit higher peak FPS in benchmark tests.

Strengths & Caveats

Strengths

• Huge FPS boost over vanilla.
• All-in-one pack no need to hunt for individual mods.
• Shaders supported out of the box.
• Built-in QoL like Zoomify, Full Bright, BetterF3.
• Community-trusted and actively maintained.

Caveats

• Defaults to 32 chunks, which hurts FPS new players may think it’s “laggy” until they tweak settings.
• Occasional stutters when generating terrain.
• Some mods (like Chest Tracker) may feel like “too much” for purists.
• Dips below 30 FPS at times with everything maxed.

Sodium Plus isn’t just about raw framerate. It’s about making Minecraft smoother, smarter, and easier to live with. Whether you’re a survival builder, a Redstone tinkerer, or a multiplayer adventurer, the pack combines the best optimization mods with QoL extras that make the game feel modern.

In my testing, it held 89 FPS on average with peaks above 100 and still allowed shader compatibility. That’s impressive.

It’s not flawless you’ll need to dial down the defaults and maybe disable a few mods but once tuned, Sodium Plus is arguably the best Fabric optimization pack right now.

For anyone tired of OptiFine’s monolithic design but still craving performance and convenience, this is the pack to try.