CurseForge · Minecraft mod
Starlight (Forge)
Rewrites the light engine to fix lighting performance and lighting errors
Quick answer
Which Starlight (Forge) release matches 1.20.2 Forge?
Starlight (Forge) Starlight 1.1.3 1.20.2 (Forge) targets 1.20.2 with Forge. The project page does not say whether it belongs on the client. The project page does not say whether it belongs on the dedicated server. No extra mods listed for this file.
Where it goes
Is Starlight (Forge) required on the client, server, or both?
The project page does not say whether it belongs on the client. The project page does not say whether it belongs on the dedicated server.
The source does not explicitly classify this release as client-only or server-only.
What else does Starlight (Forge) Starlight 1.1.3 1.20.2 (Forge) need?
Starlight 1.1.3 1.20.2 (Forge) on 1.20.2 Forge. Every mod below is checked against that same setup.
This file does not list any required mods. Do not add a library just because a different file uses it.
This file does not list any required or optional mods.
Before you install it
Add Starlight (Forge) without breaking your instance.
Built for Starlight (Forge) Starlight 1.1.3 1.20.2 (Forge) on 1.20.2 Forge. Pick another file and the loader, install side or required mods may change.
- 01
Stick to this file
Use Starlight 1.1.3 1.20.2 (Forge). It targets 1.20.2 with Forge; another release may have different loader, side or dependency requirements.
- 02
Bring the mods it needs
This file does not list any required mods. Do not add a library just because a different file uses it.
- 03
Put it on the correct side
The project page does not say whether it belongs on the client. The project page does not say whether it belongs on the dedicated server.
- 04
Pick the file you checked
Use the “Get this file” button beside Starlight 1.1.3 1.20.2 (Forge). It opens that exact file at the source.
About this project
What does Starlight (Forge) add?
Starlight
Fabric mod for rewriting the light engine to fix lighting performance and lighting errors.
Future updates past 1.20
Please see: https://gist.github.com/Spottedleaf/6cc1acdd03a9b7ac34699bf5e8f1b85c
This project is available as a part of Moonrise
Compatibility
Starlight can be installed either on the dedicated server or client. It is not required to be installed on both sides.
If you have Starlight on the server, clients can use Vanilla/Phosphor/Starlight to connect. Likewise, if you have Starlight on
the client, you can connect to Vanilla/Phosphor/Starlight servers.
Starlight cannot be installed with Phosphor, they are completely incompatible.
Browsing through Starlight's Issue Tracker will show
further mod incompatibilities. Starlight is a rather destructive light engine rewrite, so it should be
expected to break mods more often.
Purpose
Starlight was developed for higher scale dedicated servers, as they suffered performance problems due to how ungodly slow the
light engine was. The only solution was to create an extremely invasive mod which rewrote the entire light engine.
I ported the mod to fabric so that I can update it during snapshots, and decided that publishing it for
all users, especially client users, would be beneficial. However, it does have the downside of being an invasive mod:
Being invasive didn't affect higher scale servers because they run on Bukkit.
Further reading on the technical details of how Starlight achieves its performance
can be read here: TECHNICAL_DETAILS.md
Performance for 1.20:
Here are a few graphs showing performance in 2 areas on: Block editing at high y-levels, and normal block light updates:
Light engine time chunk generation Graph has been removed as a benchmark as it is invalid for 1.20. Starlight and Vanilla are close enough on 1.20 that
this test is also useless.

Performance for 1.19.4 and below:
Here are a few graphs showing performance in 3 critical areas: Chunk generation, Block editing at high y-levels, and normal block light updates:



Project description from CurseForge.
Pick your setup
Starlight (Forge) by Minecraft version and loader
Choose the version and loader you play, then open the matching release.
1.20.2
1 loader build1.20.1
1 loader build1.20
1 loader build1.19.4
1 loader build1.19.3
1 loader build1.19.2
1 loader build1.19.1
1 loader build1.19
1 loader build1.18.2
1 loader build1.18.1
1 loader build1.17.1
1 loader buildCheck the dependencies, then try the file in a copied instance before changing a world you care about.
Recent files
Starlight (Forge) versions and loaders
Starlight 1.1.3 1.20.2 (Forge)
starlight-1.1.3+forge.c562a3a.jar
27 Oct 2023
Looking for an older file? The official CurseForge project page is in Resources.