PREREQUISITES

Make sure you've read Rendering Concepts first. This page builds on those concepts and discusses how to render objects in the world.

This page explores some more modern rendering concepts. You'll learn more about the two split phases of rendering: "extraction" (or "preparation") and "drawing" (or "rendering"). In this guide, we will refer to the "extraction/preparation" phase as the "extraction" phase and the "drawing/rendering" phase as the "drawing" phase.

To render custom objects in the world, you have two choices. You can inject into existing vanilla rendering and add your code, but that limits you to existing vanilla render pipelines. If existing vanilla render pipelines don't suit your needs, you need a custom render pipeline.

Before we get into custom render pipelines, let's look at vanilla rendering.

The Extraction and Drawing Phases

As mentioned in Rendering Concepts, recent Minecraft updates are working on splitting rendering into two phases: "extraction" and "drawing".

All data needed for rendering is collected during the "extraction" phase. This includes, for example, writing to the buffered builder. Writing vertices to the buffered builder via buffer.addVertex is part of the "extraction" phase. Note that even though many methods are prefixed with draw or render, they should be called during the "extraction" phase. You should add all elements you want to render during this phase.

When the "extraction" phase is done, the "drawing" phase starts, and the buffered builder is built. During this phase, the buffered builder is drawn to the screen. The ultimate goal of this "extraction" and "drawing" split is to allow for drawing the previous frame in parallel to extracting the next frame, improving performance.

Now, with these two phases in mind, let's look at how to create a custom render pipeline.

Custom Render Pipelines

Let's say we want to render waypoints, which should appear through walls. The closest vanilla pipeline for that would be RenderPipelines#DEBUG_FILLED_BOX, but it doesn't render through walls, so we will need a custom render pipeline.

Defining a Custom Render Pipeline

We define a custom render pipeline in a class:

private static final RenderPipeline FILLED_THROUGH_WALLS = RenderPipelines.register(RenderPipeline.builder(RenderPipelines.DEBUG_FILLED_SNIPPET)
		.withLocation(Identifier.fromNamespaceAndPath(ExampleMod.MOD_ID, "pipeline/debug_filled_box_through_walls"))
		.withDepthTestFunction(DepthTestFunction.NO_DEPTH_TEST)
		.build()
);

Extraction Phase

We first implement the "extraction" phase. We can call this method during the "extraction" phase to add a waypoint to be rendered.

private static final ByteBufferBuilder allocator = new ByteBufferBuilder(RenderType.SMALL_BUFFER_SIZE);
private BufferBuilder buffer;

private void renderWaypoint(WorldRenderContext context) {
	PoseStack matrices = context.matrices();
	Vec3 camera = context.worldState().cameraRenderState.pos;

	matrices.pushPose();
	matrices.translate(-camera.x, -camera.y, -camera.z);

	if (buffer == null) {
		buffer = new BufferBuilder(allocator, FILLED_THROUGH_WALLS.getVertexFormatMode(), FILLED_THROUGH_WALLS.getVertexFormat());
	}

	renderFilledBox(matrices.last().pose(), buffer, 0f, 100f, 0f, 1f, 101f, 1f, 0f, 1f, 0f, 0.5f);

	matrices.popPose();
}

private void renderFilledBox(Matrix4fc positionMatrix, BufferBuilder buffer, float minX, float minY, float minZ, float maxX, float maxY, float maxZ, float red, float green, float blue, float alpha) {
	// Front Face
	buffer.addVertex(positionMatrix, minX, minY, maxZ).setColor(red, green, blue, alpha);
	buffer.addVertex(positionMatrix, maxX, minY, maxZ).setColor(red, green, blue, alpha);
	buffer.addVertex(positionMatrix, maxX, maxY, maxZ).setColor(red, green, blue, alpha);
	buffer.addVertex(positionMatrix, minX, maxY, maxZ).setColor(red, green, blue, alpha);

	// Back face
	buffer.addVertex(positionMatrix, maxX, minY, minZ).setColor(red, green, blue, alpha);
	buffer.addVertex(positionMatrix, minX, minY, minZ).setColor(red, green, blue, alpha);
	buffer.addVertex(positionMatrix, minX, maxY, minZ).setColor(red, green, blue, alpha);
	buffer.addVertex(positionMatrix, maxX, maxY, minZ).setColor(red, green, blue, alpha);

	// Left face
	buffer.addVertex(positionMatrix, minX, minY, minZ).setColor(red, green, blue, alpha);
	buffer.addVertex(positionMatrix, minX, minY, maxZ).setColor(red, green, blue, alpha);
	buffer.addVertex(positionMatrix, minX, maxY, maxZ).setColor(red, green, blue, alpha);
	buffer.addVertex(positionMatrix, minX, maxY, minZ).setColor(red, green, blue, alpha);

	// Right face
	buffer.addVertex(positionMatrix, maxX, minY, maxZ).setColor(red, green, blue, alpha);
	buffer.addVertex(positionMatrix, maxX, minY, minZ).setColor(red, green, blue, alpha);
	buffer.addVertex(positionMatrix, maxX, maxY, minZ).setColor(red, green, blue, alpha);
	buffer.addVertex(positionMatrix, maxX, maxY, maxZ).setColor(red, green, blue, alpha);

	// Top face
	buffer.addVertex(positionMatrix, minX, maxY, maxZ).setColor(red, green, blue, alpha);
	buffer.addVertex(positionMatrix, maxX, maxY, maxZ).setColor(red, green, blue, alpha);
	buffer.addVertex(positionMatrix, maxX, maxY, minZ).setColor(red, green, blue, alpha);
	buffer.addVertex(positionMatrix, minX, maxY, minZ).setColor(red, green, blue, alpha);

	// Bottom face
	buffer.addVertex(positionMatrix, minX, minY, minZ).setColor(red, green, blue, alpha);
	buffer.addVertex(positionMatrix, maxX, minY, minZ).setColor(red, green, blue, alpha);
	buffer.addVertex(positionMatrix, maxX, minY, maxZ).setColor(red, green, blue, alpha);
	buffer.addVertex(positionMatrix, minX, minY, maxZ).setColor(red, green, blue, alpha);
}

Note that the size used in the BufferAllocator constructor depends on the render pipeline you are using. In our case, it is RenderType.SMALL_BUFFER_SIZE.

If you want to render multiple waypoints, call this method multiple times. Make sure you do so during the "extraction" phase, BEFORE the "drawing" phase starts, at which point the buffer builder is built.

Render States

Note that in the above code we are saving the BufferBuilder in a field. This is because we need it in the "drawing" phase. In this case, the BufferBuilder is our "render state" or "extracted data". If you need additional data during the "drawing" phase, you should create a custom render state class to hold the BufferedBuilder and any additional rendering data you need.

Drawing Phase

Now we'll implement the "drawing" phase. This should be called after all waypoints you want to render have been added to the BufferBuilder during the "extraction" phase.

private static final Vector4f COLOR_MODULATOR = new Vector4f(1f, 1f, 1f, 1f);
private static final Vector3f MODEL_OFFSET = new Vector3f();
private static final Matrix4f TEXTURE_MATRIX = new Matrix4f();
private MappableRingBuffer vertexBuffer;

private void drawFilledThroughWalls(Minecraft client, @SuppressWarnings("SameParameterValue") RenderPipeline pipeline) {
	// Build the buffer
	MeshData builtBuffer = buffer.buildOrThrow();
	MeshData.DrawState drawParameters = builtBuffer.drawState();
	VertexFormat format = drawParameters.format();

	GpuBuffer vertices = upload(drawParameters, format, builtBuffer);

	draw(client, pipeline, builtBuffer, drawParameters, vertices, format);

	// Rotate the vertex buffer so we are less likely to use buffers that the GPU is using
	vertexBuffer.rotate();
	buffer = null;
}

private GpuBuffer upload(MeshData.DrawState drawParameters, VertexFormat format, MeshData builtBuffer) {
	// Calculate the size needed for the vertex buffer
	int vertexBufferSize = drawParameters.vertexCount() * format.getVertexSize();

	// Initialize or resize the vertex buffer as needed
	if (vertexBuffer == null || vertexBuffer.size() < vertexBufferSize) {
		vertexBuffer = new MappableRingBuffer(() -> ExampleMod.MOD_ID + " example render pipeline", GpuBuffer.USAGE_VERTEX | GpuBuffer.USAGE_MAP_WRITE, vertexBufferSize);
	}

	// Copy vertex data into the vertex buffer
	CommandEncoder commandEncoder = RenderSystem.getDevice().createCommandEncoder();

	try (GpuBuffer.MappedView mappedView = commandEncoder.mapBuffer(vertexBuffer.currentBuffer().slice(0, builtBuffer.vertexBuffer().remaining()), false, true)) {
		MemoryUtil.memCopy(builtBuffer.vertexBuffer(), mappedView.data());
	}

	return vertexBuffer.currentBuffer();
}

private static void draw(Minecraft client, RenderPipeline pipeline, MeshData builtBuffer, MeshData.DrawState drawParameters, GpuBuffer vertices, VertexFormat format) {
	GpuBuffer indices;
	VertexFormat.IndexType indexType;

	if (pipeline.getVertexFormatMode() == VertexFormat.Mode.QUADS) {
		// Sort the quads if there is translucency
		builtBuffer.sortQuads(allocator, RenderSystem.getProjectionType().vertexSorting());
		// Upload the index buffer
		indices = pipeline.getVertexFormat().uploadImmediateIndexBuffer(builtBuffer.indexBuffer());
		indexType = builtBuffer.drawState().indexType();
	} else {
		// Use the general shape index buffer for non-quad draw modes
		RenderSystem.AutoStorageIndexBuffer shapeIndexBuffer = RenderSystem.getSequentialBuffer(pipeline.getVertexFormatMode());
		indices = shapeIndexBuffer.getBuffer(drawParameters.indexCount());
		indexType = shapeIndexBuffer.type();
	}

	// Actually execute the draw
	GpuBufferSlice dynamicTransforms = RenderSystem.getDynamicUniforms()
			.writeTransform(RenderSystem.getModelViewMatrix(), COLOR_MODULATOR, MODEL_OFFSET, TEXTURE_MATRIX);
	try (RenderPass renderPass = RenderSystem.getDevice()
			.createCommandEncoder()
			.createRenderPass(() -> ExampleMod.MOD_ID + " example render pipeline rendering", client.getMainRenderTarget().getColorTextureView(), OptionalInt.empty(), client.getMainRenderTarget().getDepthTextureView(), OptionalDouble.empty())) {
		renderPass.setPipeline(pipeline);

		RenderSystem.bindDefaultUniforms(renderPass);
		renderPass.setUniform("DynamicTransforms", dynamicTransforms);

		// Bind texture if applicable:
		// Sampler0 is used for texture inputs in vertices
		// renderPass.bindTexture("Sampler0", textureSetup.texure0(), textureSetup.sampler0());

		renderPass.setVertexBuffer(0, vertices);
		renderPass.setIndexBuffer(indices, indexType);

		// The base vertex is the starting index when we copied the data into the vertex buffer divided by vertex size
		//noinspection ConstantValue
		renderPass.drawIndexed(0 / format.getVertexSize(), 0, drawParameters.indexCount(), 1);
	}

	builtBuffer.close();
}

Cleaning up

Finally, we need to clean up resources when the game renderer is closed. GameRenderer#close should call this method, and for that you currently need to inject into GameRenderer#close with a mixin.

public void close() {
	allocator.close();

	if (vertexBuffer != null) {
		vertexBuffer.close();
		vertexBuffer = null;
	}
}

package com.example.docs.mixin.client;

import org.spongepowered.asm.mixin.Mixin;
import org.spongepowered.asm.mixin.injection.At;
import org.spongepowered.asm.mixin.injection.Inject;
import org.spongepowered.asm.mixin.injection.callback.CallbackInfo;

import net.minecraft.client.renderer.GameRenderer;

import com.example.docs.rendering.CustomRenderPipeline;

@Mixin(GameRenderer.class)
public class GameRendererMixin {
	@Inject(method = "close", at = @At("RETURN"))
	private void onGameRendererClose(CallbackInfo ci) {
		CustomRenderPipeline.getInstance().close();
	}
}

Final Code

Combining all the steps from above, we get a simple class that renders a waypoint at (0, 100, 0) through walls.

package com.example.docs.rendering;

import java.util.OptionalDouble;
import java.util.OptionalInt;

import com.mojang.blaze3d.buffers.GpuBuffer;
import com.mojang.blaze3d.buffers.GpuBufferSlice;
import com.mojang.blaze3d.pipeline.RenderPipeline;
import com.mojang.blaze3d.platform.DepthTestFunction;
import com.mojang.blaze3d.systems.CommandEncoder;
import com.mojang.blaze3d.systems.RenderPass;
import com.mojang.blaze3d.systems.RenderSystem;
import com.mojang.blaze3d.vertex.BufferBuilder;
import com.mojang.blaze3d.vertex.ByteBufferBuilder;
import com.mojang.blaze3d.vertex.MeshData;
import com.mojang.blaze3d.vertex.PoseStack;
import com.mojang.blaze3d.vertex.VertexFormat;
import org.joml.Matrix4f;
import org.joml.Matrix4fc;
import org.joml.Vector3f;
import org.joml.Vector4f;
import org.lwjgl.system.MemoryUtil;

import net.minecraft.client.Minecraft;
import net.minecraft.client.renderer.MappableRingBuffer;
import net.minecraft.client.renderer.RenderPipelines;
import net.minecraft.client.renderer.rendertype.RenderType;
import net.minecraft.resources.Identifier;
import net.minecraft.world.phys.Vec3;

import net.fabricmc.api.ClientModInitializer;
import net.fabricmc.fabric.api.client.rendering.v1.world.WorldRenderContext;
import net.fabricmc.fabric.api.client.rendering.v1.world.WorldRenderEvents;

import com.example.docs.ExampleMod;

public class CustomRenderPipeline implements ClientModInitializer {
	private static CustomRenderPipeline instance;
	// :::custom-pipelines:define-pipeline
	private static final RenderPipeline FILLED_THROUGH_WALLS = RenderPipelines.register(RenderPipeline.builder(RenderPipelines.DEBUG_FILLED_SNIPPET)
			.withLocation(Identifier.fromNamespaceAndPath(ExampleMod.MOD_ID, "pipeline/debug_filled_box_through_walls"))
			.withDepthTestFunction(DepthTestFunction.NO_DEPTH_TEST)
			.build()
	);
	// :::custom-pipelines:define-pipeline
	// :::custom-pipelines:extraction-phase
	private static final ByteBufferBuilder allocator = new ByteBufferBuilder(RenderType.SMALL_BUFFER_SIZE);
	private BufferBuilder buffer;

	// :::custom-pipelines:extraction-phase
	// :::custom-pipelines:drawing-phase
	private static final Vector4f COLOR_MODULATOR = new Vector4f(1f, 1f, 1f, 1f);
	private static final Vector3f MODEL_OFFSET = new Vector3f();
	private static final Matrix4f TEXTURE_MATRIX = new Matrix4f();
	private MappableRingBuffer vertexBuffer;

	// :::custom-pipelines:drawing-phase
	public static CustomRenderPipeline getInstance() {
		return instance;
	}

	@Override
	public void onInitializeClient() {
		instance = this;
		WorldRenderEvents.BEFORE_TRANSLUCENT.register(this::extractAndDrawWaypoint);
	}

	private void extractAndDrawWaypoint(WorldRenderContext context) {
		renderWaypoint(context);
		drawFilledThroughWalls(Minecraft.getInstance(), FILLED_THROUGH_WALLS);
	}

	// :::custom-pipelines:extraction-phase
	private void renderWaypoint(WorldRenderContext context) {
		PoseStack matrices = context.matrices();
		Vec3 camera = context.worldState().cameraRenderState.pos;

		matrices.pushPose();
		matrices.translate(-camera.x, -camera.y, -camera.z);

		if (buffer == null) {
			buffer = new BufferBuilder(allocator, FILLED_THROUGH_WALLS.getVertexFormatMode(), FILLED_THROUGH_WALLS.getVertexFormat());
		}

		renderFilledBox(matrices.last().pose(), buffer, 0f, 100f, 0f, 1f, 101f, 1f, 0f, 1f, 0f, 0.5f);

		matrices.popPose();
	}

	private void renderFilledBox(Matrix4fc positionMatrix, BufferBuilder buffer, float minX, float minY, float minZ, float maxX, float maxY, float maxZ, float red, float green, float blue, float alpha) {
		// Front Face
		buffer.addVertex(positionMatrix, minX, minY, maxZ).setColor(red, green, blue, alpha);
		buffer.addVertex(positionMatrix, maxX, minY, maxZ).setColor(red, green, blue, alpha);
		buffer.addVertex(positionMatrix, maxX, maxY, maxZ).setColor(red, green, blue, alpha);
		buffer.addVertex(positionMatrix, minX, maxY, maxZ).setColor(red, green, blue, alpha);

		// Back face
		buffer.addVertex(positionMatrix, maxX, minY, minZ).setColor(red, green, blue, alpha);
		buffer.addVertex(positionMatrix, minX, minY, minZ).setColor(red, green, blue, alpha);
		buffer.addVertex(positionMatrix, minX, maxY, minZ).setColor(red, green, blue, alpha);
		buffer.addVertex(positionMatrix, maxX, maxY, minZ).setColor(red, green, blue, alpha);

		// Left face
		buffer.addVertex(positionMatrix, minX, minY, minZ).setColor(red, green, blue, alpha);
		buffer.addVertex(positionMatrix, minX, minY, maxZ).setColor(red, green, blue, alpha);
		buffer.addVertex(positionMatrix, minX, maxY, maxZ).setColor(red, green, blue, alpha);
		buffer.addVertex(positionMatrix, minX, maxY, minZ).setColor(red, green, blue, alpha);

		// Right face
		buffer.addVertex(positionMatrix, maxX, minY, maxZ).setColor(red, green, blue, alpha);
		buffer.addVertex(positionMatrix, maxX, minY, minZ).setColor(red, green, blue, alpha);
		buffer.addVertex(positionMatrix, maxX, maxY, minZ).setColor(red, green, blue, alpha);
		buffer.addVertex(positionMatrix, maxX, maxY, maxZ).setColor(red, green, blue, alpha);

		// Top face
		buffer.addVertex(positionMatrix, minX, maxY, maxZ).setColor(red, green, blue, alpha);
		buffer.addVertex(positionMatrix, maxX, maxY, maxZ).setColor(red, green, blue, alpha);
		buffer.addVertex(positionMatrix, maxX, maxY, minZ).setColor(red, green, blue, alpha);
		buffer.addVertex(positionMatrix, minX, maxY, minZ).setColor(red, green, blue, alpha);

		// Bottom face
		buffer.addVertex(positionMatrix, minX, minY, minZ).setColor(red, green, blue, alpha);
		buffer.addVertex(positionMatrix, maxX, minY, minZ).setColor(red, green, blue, alpha);
		buffer.addVertex(positionMatrix, maxX, minY, maxZ).setColor(red, green, blue, alpha);
		buffer.addVertex(positionMatrix, minX, minY, maxZ).setColor(red, green, blue, alpha);
	}
	// :::custom-pipelines:extraction-phase

	// :::custom-pipelines:drawing-phase
	private void drawFilledThroughWalls(Minecraft client, @SuppressWarnings("SameParameterValue") RenderPipeline pipeline) {
		// Build the buffer
		MeshData builtBuffer = buffer.buildOrThrow();
		MeshData.DrawState drawParameters = builtBuffer.drawState();
		VertexFormat format = drawParameters.format();

		GpuBuffer vertices = upload(drawParameters, format, builtBuffer);

		draw(client, pipeline, builtBuffer, drawParameters, vertices, format);

		// Rotate the vertex buffer so we are less likely to use buffers that the GPU is using
		vertexBuffer.rotate();
		buffer = null;
	}

	private GpuBuffer upload(MeshData.DrawState drawParameters, VertexFormat format, MeshData builtBuffer) {
		// Calculate the size needed for the vertex buffer
		int vertexBufferSize = drawParameters.vertexCount() * format.getVertexSize();

		// Initialize or resize the vertex buffer as needed
		if (vertexBuffer == null || vertexBuffer.size() < vertexBufferSize) {
			vertexBuffer = new MappableRingBuffer(() -> ExampleMod.MOD_ID + " example render pipeline", GpuBuffer.USAGE_VERTEX | GpuBuffer.USAGE_MAP_WRITE, vertexBufferSize);
		}

		// Copy vertex data into the vertex buffer
		CommandEncoder commandEncoder = RenderSystem.getDevice().createCommandEncoder();

		try (GpuBuffer.MappedView mappedView = commandEncoder.mapBuffer(vertexBuffer.currentBuffer().slice(0, builtBuffer.vertexBuffer().remaining()), false, true)) {
			MemoryUtil.memCopy(builtBuffer.vertexBuffer(), mappedView.data());
		}

		return vertexBuffer.currentBuffer();
	}

	private static void draw(Minecraft client, RenderPipeline pipeline, MeshData builtBuffer, MeshData.DrawState drawParameters, GpuBuffer vertices, VertexFormat format) {
		GpuBuffer indices;
		VertexFormat.IndexType indexType;

		if (pipeline.getVertexFormatMode() == VertexFormat.Mode.QUADS) {
			// Sort the quads if there is translucency
			builtBuffer.sortQuads(allocator, RenderSystem.getProjectionType().vertexSorting());
			// Upload the index buffer
			indices = pipeline.getVertexFormat().uploadImmediateIndexBuffer(builtBuffer.indexBuffer());
			indexType = builtBuffer.drawState().indexType();
		} else {
			// Use the general shape index buffer for non-quad draw modes
			RenderSystem.AutoStorageIndexBuffer shapeIndexBuffer = RenderSystem.getSequentialBuffer(pipeline.getVertexFormatMode());
			indices = shapeIndexBuffer.getBuffer(drawParameters.indexCount());
			indexType = shapeIndexBuffer.type();
		}

		// Actually execute the draw
		GpuBufferSlice dynamicTransforms = RenderSystem.getDynamicUniforms()
				.writeTransform(RenderSystem.getModelViewMatrix(), COLOR_MODULATOR, MODEL_OFFSET, TEXTURE_MATRIX);
		try (RenderPass renderPass = RenderSystem.getDevice()
				.createCommandEncoder()
				.createRenderPass(() -> ExampleMod.MOD_ID + " example render pipeline rendering", client.getMainRenderTarget().getColorTextureView(), OptionalInt.empty(), client.getMainRenderTarget().getDepthTextureView(), OptionalDouble.empty())) {
			renderPass.setPipeline(pipeline);

			RenderSystem.bindDefaultUniforms(renderPass);
			renderPass.setUniform("DynamicTransforms", dynamicTransforms);

			// Bind texture if applicable:
			// Sampler0 is used for texture inputs in vertices
			// renderPass.bindTexture("Sampler0", textureSetup.texure0(), textureSetup.sampler0());

			renderPass.setVertexBuffer(0, vertices);
			renderPass.setIndexBuffer(indices, indexType);

			// The base vertex is the starting index when we copied the data into the vertex buffer divided by vertex size
			//noinspection ConstantValue
			renderPass.drawIndexed(0 / format.getVertexSize(), 0, drawParameters.indexCount(), 1);
		}

		builtBuffer.close();
	}
	// :::custom-pipelines:drawing-phase

	// :::custom-pipelines:clean-up
	public void close() {
		allocator.close();

		if (vertexBuffer != null) {
			vertexBuffer.close();
			vertexBuffer = null;
		}
	}
	// :::custom-pipelines:clean-up
}

Don't forget the GameRendererMixin as well! Here is the result: