Complementary Reimagined | Optimized Shaders

Complementary Reimagined is a Minecraft shader pack that enhances the game's vanilla look with high-quality lighting, reflections, and atmosphere. Built by Complementary Development (EminGT), it started as an edit of BSL Shaders back in 2018 and has since been completely rewritten into one of the most-downloaded shader packs around, with tens of millions of downloads. If you want shaders that make Minecraft prettier without abandoning its signature blocky charm, Reimagined is built exactly for that.

What Is Complementary Reimagined?

Complementary Reimagined is a Java Edition shader pack designed to complement Minecraft rather than replace it. Where some shader packs push toward photorealism, Reimagined keeps Minecraft's cartoon-and-fantasy styling intact while layering on colored lighting, soft shadows, bloom, and reflective water. It's one of two styles in the Complementary Shaders family. The other, Complementary Unbound, leans more realistic, and both ship together so you can swap styles any time.

You can run it on either Iris or OptiFine. Performance presets scale from "Potato" up to "Ultra," so it stays usable on everything from a laptop with integrated graphics to a high-end desktop.

What Complementary Reimagined Adds

Reimagined keeps Minecraft's look while adding the effects that make scenes pop.

Nearly every block gets custom effects: glowing ores that light up while you mine, shimmering water reflections, vivid sky colors, and dynamic fog that responds to weather and time of day. A large settings menu lets you tune fog density, shadow range, water opacity, block-light colors, and more, so you can dial the look to your taste and your hardware.

How to Install Complementary Reimagined

Reimagined is a shader pack, not a mod, so you need a shader loader rather than a mod loader. Pick one of these two paths:

1. Install a shader loader. Either Iris (recommended for Fabric/Quilt setups and better mod compatibility) or OptiFine (standalone and simple).
2. Launch Minecraft and open Options → Video Settings → Shaderpacks.
3. Open the shaderpacks folder from that menu.
4. Drop the Reimagined .zip in. Do not unzip it. Shader packs load straight from the zip.
5. Select Complementary Reimagined in the list (refresh if it doesn't show up right away).

Compatibility and Performance

Reimagined runs on a wide range of hardware:

• Performance: the Potato-to-Ultra preset ladder means even integrated GPUs can run it. For the best experience, dedicate at least 4GB of RAM to Minecraft and run on Java 17 or newer.
• Mod compatibility: Iris pairs cleanly with most Fabric mods. OptiFine is the safer pick if your modpack already depends on it.

If a scene looks wrong or a block doesn't render as expected, check the in-shader options: most visual quirks come down to a single toggle.

FAQ

Do I need Iris or OptiFine? Either works. Iris is lighter and plays nicely with Fabric modpacks. OptiFine is standalone and simpler to set up if you don't run other mods.

Is Complementary Reimagined free? Yes, the shader pack itself is free. The developer offers early and development builds to supporters, but the released pack costs nothing.

Will it kill my framerate? Probably not as much as you'd expect. The performance presets let you trade visual fidelity for frames, so you can find a balance that works on your machine.

What's the difference between Reimagined and Unbound? Reimagined preserves Minecraft's vanilla look. Unbound goes for a more realistic, atmospheric style. Both install together, so try each and pick the one you prefer.

Can I use it with other shader packs? No, Minecraft loads one shader pack at a time. To compare, swap them in the shaderpacks menu.

More shader packs to try: Complementary Unbound, Complementary Shaders, and Iris Shaders.