VCat Visual Effects

A visual-effects framework that gives any entity glowing auras, halos, volumetric flames and screen-space domains, synced to every client automatically.

VCat Visual Effects attaches a visual-effect container to every entity in the world. Drop any number of effects into it, and the framework handles the rest — syncing state to tracking clients, expiring effects on time, and rendering them either as world-space geometry or as a full-screen screen-space pass.

It currently ships with 41 built-in effects and a public API, so other mods can register their own effect types and renderers and use it as a dependency.

Features

• Works on any entity — players, mobs, projectiles, even invisible markers. No per-entity setup required.
• Automatic synchronisation — effects are server-authoritative and pushed to every tracking client, including players who join later, change dimension, or die and respawn.
• Two rendering paths — world-space geometry with custom core shaders, or a depth-reconstructed full-screen post-processing pass.
• Animation built in — grow-in, fade-in and fade-out, and life progress are computed on both sides from a single start timestamp, with no per-tick packets.
• No dependencies — nothing beyond Minecraft Forge.
• Shader-pack aware — the screen-space pass detects Oculus / Iris through a reflective bridge and defers to the pack's own composite step so it can still read the depth buffer.

Built-in effects

World-space effects (16)

Rendered as geometry in the world, each with its own core shader.

orbit_sphere · helix_trail · soft_trail · block_crack_light · red_eye_flash · tilted_halo · doom_corona · abyssal_rift_eye · holy_judgement_halo · astral_crown · blood_moon_backwheel · causal_chains · inverted_cross_mark · volumetric_flame · phantom_rift_shards · supreme_chaos_cosmos

Screen-space effects (25)

Rendered by a single depth-reconstruction post-processing chain, so they can occlude against and refract the real scene.

Utility effects (8)

screen_space_shockwave · depth_occluded_halo · contact_edge_glow · outline_scan · volumetric_light_column · depth_refraction_heatwave · depth_refraction_pressure · black_cat_head_fog_field

Domain expansions (8) — the showcase effects:

Domain components (9)

malevolent_shrine_domain · malevolent_shrine_slash · malevolent_shrine_target_glow · malevolent_shrine_fire · malevolent_shrine_fire_legacy · malevolent_shrine_black_domain · malevolent_shrine_black_mist · malevolent_shrine_void · malevolent_shrine_starfield

This catalogue keeps growing

Everything listed above reflects the current release. Development is ongoing, so:

• More effects are on the way — the total count will grow in future updates.
• Existing effects are still being refined — shading, colour, timing and motion are re-tuned as they are polished, and the full-screen effects continue to receive performance optimisation.

That means the exact number of effects, and the precise look of any single one, may change between versions. If you are describing this mod somewhere else, prefer "40+ effects" over a fixed number so your text does not go stale.

Commands

Requires permission level 2 (command blocks work).

/vcatvisual add <targets> <effect> [duration] [data]
/vcatvisual remove <targets> <effect>
/vcatvisual clear <targets>
/vcatvisual random <targets> [count] [duration]

duration — -1 for permanent, 0 or omitted to use the effect's default, or a tick count.

data is an optional NBT compound that tunes the effect. Common keys:

Examples

Permanent 25-block cosmic domain centred on yourself, without replaying the grow-in animation every tick:

/vcatvisual add @s vcat_visual_effects:cosmic_domain -1 {Radius:25f,KeepStart:1}

Give every mob within 8 blocks three random effects lasting 200 ticks:

/vcatvisual random @e[type=!minecraft:player,distance=..8] 3 200

Clear everything nearby:

/vcatvisual clear @e[type=!minecraft:player,distance=..8]

Requirements

Both sides are required because the effect-type registry is not synced over the network. Install it on your server and on every connecting client, exactly like any other content mod.

For developers

VCat Visual Effects is designed to be depended on. Register your own effect types into the shared vcat_visual_effects:entity_visual_effect_types registry, then attach them to any entity from the server side.

private static final DeferredRegister<EntityVisualEffectType> TYPES =
        DeferredRegister.create(VCatRegistries.ENTITY_VISUAL_EFFECT_TYPE_KEY, MyMod.MODID);

public static final RegistryObject<EntityVisualEffectType> MY_GLOW =
        TYPES.register("my_glow", () -> new EntityVisualEffectType(
                EntityVisualEffectType.properties()
                        .defaultDuration(40)
                        .renderDistance(64.0D)
                        .persistent()
        ));

CompoundTag data = new CompoundTag();
data.putFloat("Radius", 6.0F);
EntityVisualEffectSystem.addEffect(entity, new ResourceLocation(MyMod.MODID, "my_glow"), 100, data);

Client-side, bind a renderer to draw it:

EntityVisualEffectRenderers.register(id, (event, entity, effect) -> {
    // draw your geometry during RenderLevelStageEvent
});

The framework already filters by render distance, invisibility and first-person camera before your renderer is called.

Full API documentation — effect type properties, the lifetime and synchronisation model, the data key reference, and how to write a world-space renderer — is in the README on GitHub.

Configuration

config/vcat_visual_effects-common.toml

License

VCat Visual Effects is released under a custom non-commercial license, VCatNC-1.0. In short:

• You may use, modify and redistribute the code and shaders for non-commercial purposes.
• You must reference this mod as a declared dependency — you may not copy its code, shaders or assets into your own jar.
• Derivative works must keep the same license.
• Textures, models, sounds and the logo remain all rights reserved.
• Commercial use requires separate written permission.

The full terms are in LICENSE.md. Using the code means you accept them.