A shader intended to make Minecraft render only with ASCII characters. ASCII Shader is a cursed pack from BouncingElf10. It targets high-tier hardware and up and runs through Iris or OptiFine on Minecraft 1.8.9 – 1.21.1. Licensed LGPL-3.0-only, so the download is mirrored right here on MineSpecs — no ads, no redirects.

How to install ASCII Shader

1. 1Install a shader loader for Minecraft 1.9 – 1.21.1 — Iris (pairs with Sodium) or OptiFine. ASCII Shader is a shaderpack, so it needs a loader to run.
2. 2Download the ASCII Shader .zip from the button above — keep it zipped. It is mirrored on MineSpecs, so there is no ad-gate or redirect.
3. 3Drop the .zip into your .minecraft/shaderpacks folder (%appdata%\.minecraft\shaderpacks on Windows, ~/Library/Application Support/minecraft/shaderpacks on macOS).
4. 4Launch the game, open Options → Video Settings → Shaders, and select ASCII Shader.

First time? How to install Minecraft shaders

Performance & what to expect

ASCII Shader is rated high performance impact. It is demanding — treat it as a showcase pack rather than a survival daily-driver, and expect to tune render distance. The look is cursed.

More cursed shaders

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ASCII Shader is created by BouncingElf10 and mirrored here under its LGPL-3.0-only licence. MineSpecs is an unofficial fan project and is not affiliated with BouncingElf10, Mojang Studios or Microsoft.