The Static

A liminal backrooms mod with unsettlingly realistic lighting that makes you question why you installed it and possibly your life choices.

The Static is a horror-liminal mod that makes Minecraft feel like somewhere you were never supposed to end up. Built around a custom VHS post-processing pipeline and dynamic area lighting powered by Veil, it doesn't just look different — it feels wrong in exactly the right way.

Unlike most horror mods that rely on jump scares and entity spam, The Static focuses on atmosphere. The darkness is real. The lights flicker for a reason. The VHS grain isn't decoration — it's there for an immersive experience.

Still a work in progress, which is just a polite way of saying it may randomly look amazing or broken, so if you have any sugestions make sure to leave them on my github repo!

✨ Features

📺 VHS Post-Processing

A full custom shader pipeline applied to the final rendered frame — scanlines, lens distortion, chromatic aberration. Toggleable in-game with a keybind, and saves your preference between sessions.

🔦 Synced Area Lighting

Flashlights cast real volumetric area light visible to all players on the server. No more invisible torches — if someone's holding a light, you'll see it.

🌑 Pitch Black Nights

Nights are genuinely dark. Not "slightly harder to see" dark. Pitch black. Your gamma setting won't save you, only light will.

📥 Installation

1. Install NeoForge 21.1.x for Minecraft 1.21.1
2. Download and install Veil 3.4.0 — this is a required dependency
3. Place staticmod.jar into your mods folder
4. Launch the game

Not sure if it's working?

Press V in-game (default keybind) to toggle the VHS effect on and off. If the screen changes, you're good.

🗺️ Roadmap

The mod is actively in development. Here's what's coming:

• Level 0 dimension — procedurally generated rooms using jigsaw structures, yellow wallpaper, wet carpet, the works
• Ambient sound design — fluorescent hum, distant footsteps, doors closing somewhere you can't see
• More liminal blocks — furniture, props, wall variants, ceiling tiles
• Things that move when you aren't looking
• Making the mod work on more versions
• Better art
• etc...

My goal for this mod is to add as many levels as possible, all while all while keeping everything as close to the lore as I can.

🐛 Reporting Issues

Use the GitHub issue tracker to report bugs and crashes. Please include:

• Your NeoForge and Veil version
• A description of what happened
• Anything you think might help solve the issue!

🔗 Links

• Source Code
• Issue Tracker
• Veil (Required Dependency)