Minecraft with RTX ray tracing launches for Windows 10

MinecraftBlocky aesthetics were vastly improved with the introduction of ray tracing enabled by Nvidia’s RTX graphics cards earlier this year. And now, that feature is coming out of beta, and ray tracing with path tracing is available for all Windows 10. Minecraft gamers with GPUs that support it, Nvidia announced in a blog post Tuesday.

If you missed the beta or other examples in 2020, ray tracing allows for realistic physics-based lighting in games. Minecraft traditionally sidesteps realism in favor of a pixel art, fantasy sandbox aesthetic, but the combination works well here. Changes in lighting are most immediately noticeable in reflections in the water, shadows that dynamically respond to light sources, and different light intensities.

Image: Banv

Along with lighting, RTX ray tracing also enables more detailed “physics-based rendering” (PBR) in texture packages, including the ability to set the relative reflectivity of each object. Minecraft Gamers on Windows 10 will have access to a special PBR version of the default texture pack to use while gaming, or until their favorite creator releases their own updated pack.

Image: Nvidia

Running the game with ray tracing looks like it could be a big hit for performance, but Nvidia says that support for DLSS 2.0 on RTX cards, which stands for Deep Learning Super Sampling, should keep the game running at a high frame rate.

Using artificial intelligence to save time on high-resolution image playback, RTX 2060 owners can get around 60 frames per second playing back at 1920 x 1080 resolution in Nvidia quality mode. Gamers with GeForce RTX 3080 and 3090 cards should be able to reproduce “more than” 60 fps in 4K, says Nvidia. All of these benchmarks were set under Nvidia’s specific testing conditions that can be viewed on their blog.

You will need at least a GeForce RTX 2060 or better to work Minecraft with ray tracing, and relying on an older card might be your best bet, given how difficult it can be to get a new 30 series card. Head over to the Nvidia blog for full instructions on how to enable ray tracing on your game, download some custom maps, and update your texture packs to support PBR.