Sodium

Sodium: A Client-Side Rendering Upgrade

Sodium is one of the best-known Minecraft optimization mods. It replaces the game's rendering engine to smooth out frame rates and cut down on micro-stutter — but it's strictly a client-only mod. It changes how a player's PC draws the world; it has zero effect on server-side game logic.

That means Sodium doesn't belong in your server's mods folder at all. Instead, recommend it as part of the client-side setup you hand out to your players.

Pairing tip: Sodium works great alongside Iris Shaders if your players want shader support, and pairs naturally with Lithium, which handles the server-side performance gains Sodium can't provide on its own.

Plan the rollout and operation

Sodium belongs in a recommended client profile, not the server installation. Give players a tested combination of Minecraft, loader, and Sodium while leaving quality settings and view distance personal. Check joining, the resource pack, and typical dense areas with a clean profile. If only one player sees graphical problems, they can isolate Sodium and other rendering mods locally; no server restart or world change is required.

For a clean rollout, create a separate client profile and record the Minecraft, loader, and mod versions. Start without other optional mods, join the server, and check menus, the resource pack, dimension travel, and the actual feature. Add rendering, interface, and convenience mods back one at a time afterward. Publish the tested combination as a recommendation, not a server promise, because hardware and local settings differ. After an update, compare logs and behaviour with a fresh profile before reusing old configuration files. Keep the mod out of the server directory while its project page explicitly classifies it as client-side. On failure, the world remains untouched: the affected player disables the local file or returns to the documented version. For support, request a screenshot of the active profile instance, latest.log, and a list of other graphics mods; these show whether the loader, driver, or an overlap is responsible instead of the server.