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Malionaro edited this page Sep 19, 2026 · 4 revisions

DashLoader Wiki — Unofficial Continuation (1.21.4 – 26.3)

This wiki belongs to the community fork (Malionaro/DashLoader). The original by AlphaQ (alphaqu/DashLoader, LGPL-3.0-only) stopped at 1.21.4. This fork ports DashLoader to 1.21.4 – 26.3.

Contents

Installation

  1. Install Fabric Loader ≥ 0.19.5 (plus Java 25 for 26.x, Java 21 for 1.21.x).
  2. Download the matching DashLoader file from Modrinth — the +1.21.x / +26.x in the filename must match your Minecraft version.
  3. Drop the .jar into the mods folder. Done — no further setup needed.

How it works

  1. First launch (SAVE): DashLoader observes normal loading and writes everything into the dashloader-cache/ folder next to your instance. A toast reports "Caching…". This launch is slower than normal — that's expected.
  2. Every later launch (LOAD): Data is loaded straight from the cache. Vanilla loading steps are skipped where possible → much faster startup, especially with large modpacks.
  3. Cache invalidation: Any change (mod added/removed/updated, resource pack switch, Minecraft update) automatically builds a fresh cache (detected via mod hash).

Configuration

  • In-game: ModMenu → DashLoader → Settings (or the file config/dashloader.json).
  • Individual modules can be toggled: CACHE_MODEL_LOADER, CACHE_SPRITE_CONTENT, CACHE_SPRITE_STITCHING, CACHE_ATLASES, CACHE_FONT, CACHE_SHADER, CACHE_SPLASH_TEXT and more.
  • showCachingToast, compression, maxCaches, singleThreadedReading, custom splash lines (customSplashLines, separated with ;).
  • Other mods can selectively disable options via dashloader:disableoption in their fabric.mod.json (e.g. VulkanMod does this for shaders/atlases).

Managing the cache

Action How
Rebuild the cache Delete the dashloader-cache/ folder, then launch once
Reload assets (resource pack / mod dev) F3 + T
Reload the cache /dash reload
Toggle the cache toast Config → Show Caching Toast

Troubleshooting

"Failed caching" / "Failed to save cache" on startup

  • Since this fork, a single uncacheable asset no longer aborts the save — it is skipped with a Skipping uncacheable … log line and loaded vanilla. If the error still occurs: back up logs/latest.log and report it as an issue.
  • Ultimate fix: delete dashloader-cache/ and let it rebuild once.

Game doesn't start at all / crash on startup

  • Check whether the crash also happens without DashLoader (the mod hash changes, so always test without it first).
  • A log snippet with Could not create DashObject … means the asset will be skip-handled on the next start; still report it as an issue (mod name + latest.log).

Transparent textures render opaque (with Sodium)

  • Known upstream bug with CacheSpriteContents enabled. Workaround: disable CACHE_SPRITE_CONTENT in the config.

First launch is slow

  • Normal — that's when the cache is built. Only the second launch shows the speedup.

Cache rebuilds on every launch

  • Happens with mod setups that change every start (e.g. dynamically generated content). Check the log for Mod hash; report an issue.

Known mod compatibility

This fork's principle: unknown assets are skipped, not crashed. Handled cases:

Mod / case Status
Refined Storage 2 (cable models, #121) ✅ Startup + cache fine (cable parts load vanilla)
Fusion / CTM sprites (#85) ✅ Startup + cache fine (custom sprites load vanilla)
Custom fonts / emoji fonts (Glyphix etc., #61) ✅ Broken fonts are skipped
Sodium ✅ Tested working on 26.2 (with Iris). Known limitation: transparent textures with CacheSpriteContents (see above)
Iris / Distant Horizons, Create, Xaero's ⚠️ Iris tested working on 26.2 — others unconfirmed on 1.21.4+, please test and report

Uncached assets cost some startup time, but the game runs.

For modpack makers

  • DashLoader is client-side only and safe to ship in packs.
  • For identical pack versions, a prebuilt dashloader-cache/ can be bundled → even the very first launch is fast for players.
  • Note: the cache is valid per mod combination (hash). Every pack change rebuilds it.

Versions & branches

Status Versions
✅ Stable 1.21.4 – 1.21.11
⚠️ Beta 26.1, 26.1.1, 26.1.2, 26.2, 26.3

GPU caches (atlases, shaders) are not cached on 1.21.5+ — Mojang removed the required hooks. CPU-side caching (models, fonts, sprites) still applies.

FAQ

Is this official? No — a community continuation. The original is archived/stopped at 1.21.4. All credit for the base goes to AlphaQ.

Forge / NeoForge? No (upstream: "wont fix"). Fabric only.

Older versions (1.20.x, 1.19.x)? This fork only maintains 1.21.4+. Upstream files for older versions exist but are not developed further here.

Where do I report bugs? In the issue tracker with latest.log attached (PrismLauncher: instance → Logs). Please delete dashloader-cache/ first and reproduce the error.

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