Lighting mode

  

Desktop/Console/Mobile-Only Content: This information applies only to the Desktop, Console, and Mobile versions of Terraria.

Color

White

Trippy

Retro

The four different lighting modes. The green light in the colored modes is caused by the Cursed Torch placed on the left.

The lighting mode determines the way light from all sources renders in the world. The lighting mode can be changed from the settings menu. On the  Desktop version, it can also be cycled by pressing ⇧ Shift+F9 while in-game.

The lighting mode also dictates whether the game will utilize certain performance-intensive visual effects, like the smoothing of liquid flow, along with the following shader effects:

• The reddish lighting and vignette applied during a Blood Moon
• The distortion effect around Celestial Towers
• The heat distortion effect in the Desert and The Underworld
• The amplified background dust effect seen during Sandstorms
• The sepia filter applied in a Constant world or while the Radio Thing is equipped

The effects above will only be applied in the Color or White lighting modes, and are deactivated in the Retro and Trippy modes. On the  Console version and  Mobile version, these effects are controlled by a separate setting and are unaffected by the lighting mode.

The chosen lighting mode will have an effect on the performance of some devices. Refer to the table below for each mode's performance impact.

Modes

Mode	Engine	Performance impact	Description
Color	New / Color	High	Determines light levels using pixel clusters that are smaller than tiles, which means that light transitions more smoothly. Default option on the  Desktop version and  Console version.
White	New / White	Mid–High	Same as Color, but all light is white, regardless of the color of the source.
Trippy	Old / Color	Medium	Light level is set per-tile, producing a more "blocky" or "pixelated" look. Default option on the  Mobile version.
Retro	Old / White	Low	Same as Trippy, but all light is white, regardless of the color of the source. This mode reproduces Terraria's look from before its 1.1 update.

Notes

• Light-producing animations become more active in the Retro and Trippy modes. Torches and other spark-releasing light sources produce sparks more actively. The same is true for the sparkle effect from Gold Chests and other sparkling items, as well as the bubbles released by Lava. This is most likely due to the difference in load.

History

 Desktop version

• Desktop 1.4.0.4: Fixed lighting related crash with non-Color modes.

• Desktop 1.4.0.1: Fixed an issue where blocks would not be visible at all in extremely dark locations in the Underworld with Trippy/Retro lighting.

• Desktop 1.3.5: Improved Retro lighting consistency.

• Desktop 1.3.0.5: Fixed a rare lighting crash.

• Desktop 1.3.0.2: Fixed an issue with black squares appearing on backgrounds when using Retro lighting.

• Desktop 1.2.3:
  • Optimized lighting code for better performance.
  • Lighting no longer loads on servers, saving memory.
  • Fixed a bug where the Platinum Candle did not emit light in a non-Color lighting mode.

• Desktop 1.1.1:
  • Lighting update will no longer skip as much on lower quality levels.
  • Fixed the shadow glitch of trippy lighting.
  • Lighting will now be set to Retro instead of crashing if Terraria is unable to switch to the new lighting mode.

• Desktop 1.1: New lighting engine that allows smooth sub-tile light transitions instead of per-tile, and colored light instead of all-white light. Lighting options added.

 Console version

• Console 1.4.0.5.4.1: Introduced.

 Nintendo Switch version

• Switch 1.4.0.5.5: Introduced.

 Mobile version

• Mobile 1.4.0.5.0: Introduced.