Let's be real for a second. Minecraft is a masterpiece, but sometimes the grind is just soul-crushing. You spend three hours strip mining at Y-level -59, your pickaxe is screaming for a Mending book, and all you have to show for it is six stacks of Deepslate Cobblestone and a single vein of Lapis. It's frustrating. That’s exactly why the xray resource pack 1.20.4 exists. It’s not necessarily about "cheating" in the malicious sense for everyone; for a lot of players, it’s about valuing their time.
If you’ve been around the block, you know how these packs work. They basically turn the common blocks—stone, dirt, gravel, and that annoying tuff—into invisible or transparent glass. What’s left? The good stuff. Diamonds, Netherite, Gold, and those elusive Dungeons you’ve been hunting for.
What’s the Deal with Version 1.20.4?
Minecraft 1.20.4 might feel like a minor "dot" update, primarily fixing that annoying bug where items could vanish when traveling through portals, but it’s the stable baseline for many current servers. Because it’s so stable, resource pack creators have perfected the "X-ray" look here. Unlike older versions where the lighting would glitch out and turn your screen into a strobe light, the modern xray resource pack 1.20.4 is surprisingly smooth.
Most of these packs, like the popular ones from creators like Sashafiied or the classic X-Ray Ultimate, rely on a simple JSON file swap. They tell the game engine, "Hey, don't render the texture for block ID 1 (Stone)."
But there’s a catch. Minecraft’s engine wasn't really built to show you 400 blocks of empty space at once. If you don't have a decent rig, or if you aren't using OptiFine or Iris/Oculus, your FPS will tank. Hard. You’re asking the GPU to calculate the light levels for every single ore vein in a 16-chunk radius. It’s a lot.
The Technical Hurdle: Why You Need OptiFine or Sodium
Honestly, if you just throw a raw X-ray pack into your resource folder and hit play, you’re going to be disappointed. You’ll see the ores, sure, but they’ll be pitch black. Why? Because the game thinks they’re still buried under rock where the sun doesn't shine.
✨ Don't miss: Stuck on the NYT Connections hints August 19? Let’s Solve This Puzzle
To make the xray resource pack 1.20.4 actually usable, you basically have to use a mod that allows for "Fullbright."
- OptiFine: The old reliable. Go into your shader settings or quality settings and turn off "Smooth Lighting."
- Sodium + Iris: The modern choice for Fabric users. You’ll need a secondary mod like "Gamma Utils" or "Night Vision" to actually see the ores in the dark.
- Vanilla: If you're a purist (which is weird if you're using X-ray), you can try the "Night Vision Potion" method, but that’s a hassle.
It’s Not Just About Diamonds Anymore
While everyone wants that blue shiny stuff, the 1.20.4 update made exploration a bit more complex. We have Trail Ruins and Ancient Cities now. A good X-ray pack helps you navigate the terrifying corridors of a Deep Dark biome without accidentally walking straight into a Shrieker.
You can literally see the Warden's "vibration" pathing if you’re lucky, but mostly, you’re looking for those chests. The loot tables in 1.20.4 are decent, and being able to skip the "oops, I fell into a lava lake" part of cave exploration is a huge plus for casual builders who just want materials.
The Elephant in the Room: Server Anticheat
Don't be the person who joins a high-stakes SMP (Survival Multiplayer) and mines a straight line to ten Diamond veins. You will get caught. Modern server plugins like Paper or Spigot have built-in "Anti-Xray" settings.
How does it work? It’s clever, actually. The server sends "fake" ore data to your client. To you, it looks like the ground is made of Diamonds. But as soon as you mine a block, the server realizes you’re looking at a fake and "poof," the Diamond turns back into Stone. It’s a game of cat and mouse. If you see a cluster of 50 Diamonds in a weird grid pattern, that’s a trap. Don't dig toward it.
If you're playing on a private server with friends, just ask. Some groups find it ruins the "vibe" of the game, while others realize that everyone has a job and kids and only two hours a week to play. In that context, using an xray resource pack 1.20.4 is just a tool for efficiency.
Installation is Simpler Than You Think
- Download the .zip file from a reputable source like CurseForge or Modrinth. Seriously, stay off those "free Minecraft skins" sites that look like they haven't been updated since 2012.
- Open Minecraft, go to Options > Resource Packs > Open Pack Folder.
- Drag that zip in.
- Move it to the top of the list on the right side.
If the game warns you that the pack was "made for an older version," you can usually ignore it for X-ray packs. The block IDs for stone haven't changed in years.
Better Alternatives?
Sometimes, you don't actually need to make the world transparent. If you're just looking for a specific structure, tools like ChunkBase are often better (and "safer" for your GPU). You plug in your world seed, and it gives you a map. It’s less immersive, but it doesn't mess with your textures.
But for raw ore gathering? Nothing beats the visual clarity of seeing a vein of Gold through a mountain.
Actionable Tips for Using X-ray Effectively
If you’re going to use an xray resource pack 1.20.4, do it right. First, always keep a "clean" resource pack ready to toggle with the F3+T command if you need to quickly see the actual terrain so you don't walk off a cliff.
Second, if you're on a server, mine in a "natural" pattern. Don't dig 45-degree angles directly to ores. It’s the easiest way for an admin looking at your logs to see you’re using a pack.
Lastly, pair your pack with a "Clear Glass" or "Lower Shield" texture. It makes the UI much cleaner.
The goal here is to reduce the friction of the game. Minecraft is a sandbox; play it the way that makes you happy. If that means skipping the boring rock-punching part to get to the building-with-cool-blocks part, then load up that pack and get to work.
Next Steps:
Check your current Minecraft version in the launcher to ensure you're on 1.20.4. Download the X-Ray Ultimate pack from a verified source like CurseForge, and pair it with the Sodium mod for the best frame rates. If you're on a multiplayer server, check the "rules" channel in their Discord first—getting banned is a high price to pay for a few extra ingots.