Performance presets¶

A preset is a list of video settings merged into the instance's options.txt, and into OptiFine's optionsof.txt when OptiFine is in use. It never changes what is installed, never touches JVM flags, and never changes operating system display settings.

The four presets¶

Preset	Summary	Trade-offs, as the launcher states them
Maximum FPS	Highest and steadiest frame rate.	View distance 12, fast graphics, no clouds, no smooth lighting, minimal particles, no mipmaps, no entity shadows.
Balanced default	Vanilla look with sensible limits.	View distance 10, fast clouds, reduced particles.
Quality	Best visuals the game supports.	View distance 16, fancy graphics and clouds, maximum smooth lighting and mipmaps; lower frame rate.
Battery Saver	Caps work to keep laptops cool and quiet.	60 FPS cap with VSync, view distance 6, fast graphics, no clouds, minimal particles.

Under the preset the launcher adds that these are set by default, that you can change any of them in the game's Video Settings, and that Xol keeps your changes.

No frame-rate figure is attached to any preset, and nothing here should be read as a performance claim.

Exact values¶

These options.txt keys are written on both 1.8.9 and 1.7.10:

Key	Meaning	Maximum FPS	Balanced	Quality	Battery Saver
`renderDistance`	View distance in chunks	`12`	`10`	`16`	`6`
`fancyGraphics`	Fancy or fast graphics	`false`	`true`	`true`	`false`
`ao`	Smooth lighting: 0 off, 1 minimum, 2 maximum	`0`	`1`	`2`	`1`
`particles`	0 all, 1 decreased, 2 minimal	`2`	`1`	`0`	`2`
`maxFps`	Frame rate limit. 260 is the game's "Unlimited".	`260`	`260`	`260`	`60`
`enableVsync`	VSync	`false`	`false`	`false`	`true`
`mipmapLevels`	Mipmap levels	`0`	`2`	`4`	`1`
`fboEnable`	Framebuffers	`true`	`true`	`true`	`true`
`snooperEnabled`	The game's own usage reporting to Mojang	`false`	`false`	`false`	`false`
`anaglyph3d`	3D anaglyph	`false`	not written	not written	not written

These keys exist only on 1.8.9:

Key	Meaning	Maximum FPS	Balanced	Quality	Battery Saver
`renderClouds`	Clouds: `true` fancy, `fast`, `false` off	`false`	`fast`	`true`	`false`
`useVbo`	Vertex buffer objects	`true`	`true`	`true`	`true`
`entityShadows`	Entity shadows	`false`	`true`	`true`	`false`

These keys exist only on 1.7.10:

Key	Meaning	Maximum FPS	Balanced	Quality	Battery Saver
`clouds`	Clouds on or off	`false`	`true`	`true`	`false`
`advancedOpengl`	Advanced OpenGL	`false`	`false`	`false`	`false`
`anisotropicFiltering`	Anisotropic filtering level	`1`	not written	not written	not written

"Not written" means the preset leaves that line of options.txt as it is. When OptiFine is in the instance, each preset also writes a set of OptiFine's own settings into optionsof.txt, and every preset switches OptiFine's Smooth FPS off.

Frame rate on a new instance¶

A new instance starts with Max Framerate: Unlimited (maxFps:260) and VSync off. Only Battery Saver caps the frame rate, which is the point of that preset.

An instance created by an older Xol is given those two settings once, the next time it is launched, and only when you have not chosen your own values in Options ▸ Video Settings. Xol records what it wrote. Anything that differs from that is yours and is never overwritten. If you prefer a cap, set it in the game, and Xol will not change it back.

The hardware-based limit¶

When a preset is applied, its view distance is capped for weak hardware. The cap only ever lowers the value.

This computer has	View distance is capped at
2 CPU cores or fewer, or 4 GB of memory or less	8
3 or 4 CPU cores	12
More than that	32 (no effect on any current preset)

When the cap changes a preset's value, the launcher says so under the preset: "On this computer (4 CPU cores, 8 GB RAM) view distance is limited to 12."

With these numbers the cap affects Maximum FPS, Balanced and Quality on 2-core or 4 GB machines (12, 10 and 16 become 8), and Quality on 3 or 4-core machines (16 becomes 12). On anything larger, Maximum FPS keeps its own 12.

When a preset is applied¶

In full the first time an instance is prepared, and whenever you choose a different preset.
On every launch after that, one key at a time: a key is put back when it is missing, when it still holds exactly what Xol wrote there last time, or when Xol never wrote it and it still holds the game's own default. A key you changed in Minecraft's own video settings is yours and stays yours.
Only the keys in the tables are replaced or added. Every other line of options.txt (key binds, language, sound, everything else) is left alone.
Once per instance, a key whose preset value has changed in a new Xol is corrected. This happens only when you did not choose the current value yourself: the key is missing, still holds what Xol wrote, or holds a value an earlier Xol wrote. The first of these corrections is the Maximum FPS view distance, which is now 12.
With OptiFine in the instance, Xol also keeps OptiFine's ofRenderDistanceChunks equal to renderDistance. OptiFine reads its own copy after options.txt and never writes it back, so an old line there would otherwise decide your view distance permanently, whatever the preset or the video settings say.
The file is written to a temporary name and renamed, so it cannot be left half-written.

The preset you last applied is recorded per instance, so two instances of the same profile can use different presets if you switch the preset before playing each.

What presets do not do¶

They do not install or remove mods, do not change memory or JVM arguments, and do not alter anything outside options.txt and, with OptiFine, optionsof.txt. For memory and Java, see Launch options.