Updated 25 October 2026. Facts on this page come from minecraft.wiki, minecraft.net and the live Artemis PvP server; sources are listed at the bottom.
Minecraft Video Settings Explained (Java Edition)
Java Edition's Video Settings are split into Display (frame rate, VSync, GUI scale, fullscreen, brightness, graphics API) and Quality and Performance (a Fast, Fancy or Fabulous! preset plus render distance, simulation distance, clouds, particles, smooth lighting, biome blend and more). Lower render distance, particles and clouds first if your game lags.
What do the Display settings do?
| Setting | What it does |
|---|---|
| Max Framerate | Caps FPS (default 120) |
| VSync | Matches FPS to your monitor to stop tearing; can add input delay |
| Reduce FPS when | Drops to 30 FPS after 1 minute AFK and 10 after 10, or 10 FPS when minimized |
| GUI Scale | Size of menus and the HUD; Ctrl + scroll in this screen changes it |
| Fullscreen | Also toggled with F11 |
| Brightness | Lightens dark areas on screen only; no gameplay effect |
| Graphics API | Default, OpenGL, or Vulkan (experimental) |
What do the Quality and Performance settings do?
- Preset: Fast, Fancy or Fabulous!. Fabulous! uses screen shaders for weather, clouds and particles behind glass and water, which is heavy on laptops; Fast turns off transparent leaves and similar effects.
- Render and simulation distance: how far you see and how far the world runs; see render vs simulation distance.
- Biome Blend: how smoothly grass and water colors fade between biomes; lower is faster.
- Clouds, Particles, Entity Shadows, Entity Distance: cutting these gives quick FPS.
- Smooth Lighting: soft shading; minor performance cost.
- Chunk Builder: Threaded is fastest; Fully Blocking matches pre-1.18 behaviour.
- Mipmap Levels, Texture Filtering: how smooth distant textures look.
What are the best settings for FPS?
Use the Fast preset, render distance 8-12, simulation distance 6-8, particles Minimal, clouds off, entity shadows off and biome blend off. Keep VSync off if you want the most frames. Full guide: how to improve FPS and, for fights, best PvP settings.
Are Bedrock settings the same?
Bedrock has its own Video menu with render distance, a graphics mode, Vibrant Visuals on supported devices and its own options. See Vibrant Visuals.
Which settings help on ArtemisPvP?
Frequently asked questions
What does Fabulous graphics do?
It uses screen shaders to draw weather, clouds and particles correctly behind glass and water, at a big performance cost.
Does brightness change gameplay?
No. It only lightens your screen; mobs still spawn by real light levels.
Sources
Every fact on this page was checked against these pages; the wording is ours.