Optifine – Make Minecraft run faster

Features

• FPS boost (examples)
  – doubling the FPS is common
  – decreases lag spikes and smooths gameplay
• Support for HD Textures (info)
  – HD textures and HD fonts (MCPatcher not needed)
  – custom terrain and item textures
  – animated terrain and item textures
  – custom HD Font character widths
  – custom colors
  – custom block color palettes
  – custom lighting
  – unlimited texture size
• Variable Render Distance (example)
  – from Tiny to Extreme (2 x Far) in 16m steps
  – sun, moon and stars are visible in Tiny and Short distance
• Configurable Smooth Lighting (examples)
  – from 1% – smooth lighting without shadows
  – to 100% – smooth lighting with full shadows
• Performance: VSync
  Synchronizes framerate with monitor refresh rate to remove split frames and smooth gameplay
• Smart Advanced OpenGL
  – more efficient, less artifacts
  – Fast – faster, some artifacts still visible
  – Fancy – slower, avoids visual artifacts
• Fog control
  – Fog: Fancy, Fast, OFF
  – Fog start: Near, Far
• Mipmaps (examples)
  – Visual effect which makes distant objects look better by smoothing the texture details
  – Mipmap level – OFF, 1, 2, 3, Max
  – Mipmap type – Nearest, Linear
• Anisotropic Filtering (examples)
  – Restores details in mipmapped textures
  – AF level – OFF, 2, 4, 8, 16 (depends on hardware support)
• Antialiasing (examples)
  – Smooths jagged lines and sharp color transitions
  – AA level – OFF, 2, 4, 6, 8, 12, 16 (depends on hardware support)
• Better Grass
  Fixes grass blocks side texture to match surrounding grass terrain
• Better Snow (examples, credit)
  Fixes transparent blocks textures to match surrounding snow terrain
• Clear Water (examples)
  Clear, transparent water with good visibility underwater
• Custom Sky (info)
  Use custom textures for the day and night skies. Multiple layers, blending options, time configuration.
• Random Mobs
  Use random mob textures if available in the texture pack
• Connected Textures (examples)
  Connects textures for glass, glass panes, sandstone and bookshelf blocks which are next to each other.
• Natural Textures (examples, idea)
  Removes the gridlike pattern created by repeating blocks of the same type. Uses rotated and flipped variants of the base block texture.
• FPS control
  – Smooth FPS – stabilizes FPS by flushing the graphics driver buffers (examples)
  – Smooth Input – fixes stuck keys, slow input and sound lag by setting correct thread priorities
• Chunk Loading Control
  – Load Far – loads the world chunks at distance Far, allows fast render distance switching
  – Preloaded Chunks – defines an area in which no new chunks will be loaded
  – Chunk Updates per Frame – allows for faster world loading
  – Dynamic Updates – loads more chunks per frame when the player is standing still
• Configurable Details
  – Clouds – Default, Fast, Fancy
  – Cloud Height – from 0% to 100%
  – Trees – Default, Fast, Fancy
  – Grass – Default, Fast, Fancy
  – Water – Default, Fast, Fancy
  – Rain and Snow – Default, Fast, Fancy
  – Sky – ON, OFF
  – Stars – ON, OFF
  – Sun & Moon – ON, OFF
  – Depth Fog – ON, OFF
  – Weather – ON, OFF
  – Swamp Colors – ON, OFF
  – Smooth Biomes – ON, OFF
  – Custom Fonts – ON, OFF
  – Custom Colors – ON, OFF
  – Show Capes – ON, OFF (supports HD capes)
• Configurable animations
  – Water Animated – OFF, Dynamic, ON
  – Lava Animated – OFF, Dynamic, ON
  – Fire Animated – OFF, ON
  – Portal Animated – OFF, ON
  – Redstone Animated – OFF, ON
  – Explosion Animated – OFF, ON
  – Flame Animated – OFF, ON
  – Smoke Animated – OFF, ON
  – Void Particles – OFF, ON
  – Water Particles – OFF, ON
  – Rain Splash – OFF, ON
  – Portal Particles – OFF, ON
  – Dripping Water/Lava – OFF, ON
  – Terrain Animated – OFF, ON
  – Items Animated – OFF, ON
• Fast Texturepack Switching
  Switch the current Texturepack without leaving the world
• Fullscreen Resolution
  Configurable fullscreen resolution
• Debug
  – Fast Debug Info – removes lagometer from debug screen
  – Debug Profiler – removes profiler from debug screen
• Time Control
  Default, Day Only or Night Only – works in only in Creative mode
• Autosave
  – Configurable Autosave interval
  – A fix for the famous Lag Spike of Death

So what are you waiting for? Give a try!