Alternate Current vs VulkanMod

Alternate Current is a free, MIT-licensed mod for Minecraft: Java Edition that changes how redstone dust calculates power and updates blocks. It builds networks from connected wires and spreads power from wires receiving power outside a network. The project says this makes updates deterministic and less dependent on location, while retaining high Vanilla parity.

The mod focuses on reducing server work. Its README says redstone dust contributes up to 20 times less MSPT with Alternate Current, and that network-level optimizations can reduce updates by up to 20%. Listed Minecraft versions include 1.14 through 1.21.11, with some specific releases also listed; supported versions and loaders vary by release. Modrinth lists Fabric, Forge, NeoForge, Ornithe and Quilt, and server-side and singleplayer environments. The project links to its source repository, issue reporting and a Discord server. Its GitHub repository has no detected security policy and no published security advisories.

VulkanMod is a free Minecraft client mod that replaces the default OpenGL renderer with a Vulkan-based engine intended to improve performance. Its listed optimizations cover terrain rendering, chunk building and entities, alongside reduced CPU and GPU overhead. It also supports native Wayland on Linux and windowed fullscreen mode. Installation requires Fabric, followed by placing VulkanMod.jar in the .minecraft/mods folder, and a GPU with at least Vulkan 1.2 support. The project lists Minecraft versions 1.21.3, 1.21.4, 1.21.5, 1.21.10 and 1.21.11. Shader support is not available, and there is no estimated release date; the README points users to Beryl for shaders. Mods that use OpenGL calls are unsupported, including Sodium, Iris Shaders, Create and Distant Horizons. Release 0.6.0 notes a terrain-rendering improvement when backface culling is enabled, an update checker, and fixes for alpha cutout sampling and a memory leak.