Why do blocks look flat with shaders on — POM / parallax not working
You have a shader but POM (Parallax Occlusion Mapping) is off, or it's set to the wrong PBR mode so the height maps aren't read. Turn POM on in the shader's Materials/Parallax tab and set PBR to LabPBR. This is different from no shader at all.
Still seeing it?
What are you seeing?
POM is the most common thing people leave off. It's what gives bricks real depth and cracks real recession. Turn it on in the shader settings.
- Video Settings → Shader Packs → gear icon next to your shader
- Find Materials / Surface / Parallax (name varies by shader)
- Set PBR / Resource Pack to LabPBR (not OldPBR or Integrated PBR)
- Turn Parallax Occlusion Mapping (POM) ON, and set POM Quality / samples higher for deeper relief
If lighting and shadows are also missing, you don't have a shader loaded — that's a different page. POM only exists inside a shader.
POM is on but the parallax/occlusion map resolution is too low for a high-res pack. In the shader settings, raise the Parallax / POM map size (try 128) and increase POM samples. That clears the torn-edge artifacts.
Some lighter shaders ship POM off by default or omit it for performance. Complementary, BSL, Kappa and SEUS PTGI all support it — switch to one of those and enable POM for the carved-depth look.
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