diff --git a/core/src/main/java/com/seibel/distanthorizons/core/api/internal/ClientApi.java b/core/src/main/java/com/seibel/distanthorizons/core/api/internal/ClientApi.java
index bd13153e5..015146c7d 100644
--- a/core/src/main/java/com/seibel/distanthorizons/core/api/internal/ClientApi.java
+++ b/core/src/main/java/com/seibel/distanthorizons/core/api/internal/ClientApi.java
@@ -597,13 +597,21 @@ public class ClientApi
 	public void renderFade(Mat4f mcModelViewMatrix, Mat4f mcProjectionMatrix, float partialTicks, IClientLevelWrapper level)
 	{
 		// only fade when DH is rendering
-		if (Config.Client.Advanced.Debugging.rendererMode.get() == EDhApiRendererMode.DEFAULT
-			// only fade when requested
-			&& Config.Client.Advanced.Graphics.Quality.vanillaFadeMode.get() != EDhApiMcRenderingFadeMode.NONE
-			// don't fade when Iris shaders are active, otherwise the rendering can get weird
-			&& !DhApiRenderProxy.INSTANCE.getDeferTransparentRendering())
+		if (Config.Client.Advanced.Debugging.rendererMode.get() == EDhApiRendererMode.DEFAULT)
 		{
-			FadeRenderer.INSTANCE.render(mcModelViewMatrix, mcProjectionMatrix, partialTicks, level);
+			boolean renderFade =
+				(
+					// only fade when requested
+					Config.Client.Advanced.Graphics.Quality.vanillaFadeMode.get() != EDhApiMcRenderingFadeMode.NONE
+					// or if LOD-only mode is enabled (fading is used to remove the MC render pass)
+					|| Config.Client.Advanced.Debugging.lodOnlyMode.get()
+				)
+				// don't fade when Iris shaders are active, otherwise the rendering can get weird
+				&& !DhApiRenderProxy.INSTANCE.getDeferTransparentRendering();
+			if (renderFade)
+			{
+				FadeRenderer.INSTANCE.render(mcModelViewMatrix, mcProjectionMatrix, partialTicks, level);
+			}
 		}
 	}
 	
diff --git a/core/src/main/java/com/seibel/distanthorizons/core/render/renderer/shaders/FadeShader.java b/core/src/main/java/com/seibel/distanthorizons/core/render/renderer/shaders/FadeShader.java
index fd8227cc1..b2b6c356d 100644
--- a/core/src/main/java/com/seibel/distanthorizons/core/render/renderer/shaders/FadeShader.java
+++ b/core/src/main/java/com/seibel/distanthorizons/core/render/renderer/shaders/FadeShader.java
@@ -19,6 +19,7 @@
 
 package com.seibel.distanthorizons.core.render.renderer.shaders;
 
+import com.seibel.distanthorizons.core.config.Config;
 import com.seibel.distanthorizons.core.dependencyInjection.SingletonInjector;
 import com.seibel.distanthorizons.core.render.glObject.GLState;
 import com.seibel.distanthorizons.core.render.glObject.shader.ShaderProgram;
@@ -36,7 +37,6 @@ public class FadeShader extends AbstractShaderRenderer
 {
 	public static FadeShader INSTANCE = new FadeShader();
 	
-	private static final IMinecraftClientWrapper MC_CLIENT = SingletonInjector.INSTANCE.get(IMinecraftClientWrapper.class);
 	private static final IMinecraftRenderWrapper MC_RENDER = SingletonInjector.INSTANCE.get(IMinecraftRenderWrapper.class);
 	private static final IMinecraftGLWrapper GLMC = SingletonInjector.INSTANCE.get(IMinecraftGLWrapper.class);
 	
@@ -60,9 +60,9 @@ public class FadeShader extends AbstractShaderRenderer
 	
 	public int uStartFadeBlockDistance = -1;
 	public int uEndFadeBlockDistance = -1;
-	
 	public int uMaxLevelHeight = -1;
 	
+	public int uOnlyRenderLods = -1;
 	
 	
 	
@@ -87,16 +87,17 @@ public class FadeShader extends AbstractShaderRenderer
 		this.uDhInvMvmProj = this.shader.tryGetUniformLocation("uDhInvMvmProj");
 		this.uMcInvMvmProj = this.shader.tryGetUniformLocation("uMcInvMvmProj");
 		
-		this.uMcDepthTexture = this.shader.tryGetUniformLocation("uMcDepthMap");
+		this.uMcDepthTexture = this.shader.tryGetUniformLocation("uMcDepthTexture");
 		this.uDhDepthTexture = this.shader.tryGetUniformLocation("uDhDepthTexture");
 		this.uCombinedMcDhColorTexture = this.shader.tryGetUniformLocation("uCombinedMcDhColorTexture");
 		this.uDhColorTexture = this.shader.tryGetUniformLocation("uDhColorTexture");
 		
 		this.uStartFadeBlockDistance = this.shader.tryGetUniformLocation("uStartFadeBlockDistance");
 		this.uEndFadeBlockDistance = this.shader.tryGetUniformLocation("uEndFadeBlockDistance");
-		
 		this.uMaxLevelHeight = this.shader.tryGetUniformLocation("uMaxLevelHeight");
 		
+		this.uOnlyRenderLods = this.shader.tryGetUniformLocation("uOnlyRenderLods");
+		
 	}
 	
 	
@@ -108,8 +109,8 @@ public class FadeShader extends AbstractShaderRenderer
 	@Override
 	protected void onApplyUniforms(float partialTicks)
 	{
-		if (this.inverseMcMvmProjMatrix != null) this.shader.setUniform(this.uMcInvMvmProj, this.inverseMcMvmProjMatrix);
-		if (this.inverseDhMvmProjMatrix != null) this.shader.setUniform(this.uDhInvMvmProj, this.inverseDhMvmProjMatrix);
+		this.shader.setUniform(this.uMcInvMvmProj, this.inverseMcMvmProjMatrix);
+		this.shader.setUniform(this.uDhInvMvmProj, this.inverseDhMvmProjMatrix);
 		
 		
 		float dhNearClipDistance = RenderUtil.getNearClipPlaneInBlocksForFading(partialTicks);
@@ -122,10 +123,12 @@ public class FadeShader extends AbstractShaderRenderer
 		float fadeStartDistance = dhNearClipDistance * 1.5f;
 		float fadeEndDistance = dhNearClipDistance * 1.9f;
 		
-		if (this.uStartFadeBlockDistance != -1) this.shader.setUniform(this.uStartFadeBlockDistance, fadeStartDistance);
-		if (this.uEndFadeBlockDistance != -1) this.shader.setUniform(this.uEndFadeBlockDistance, fadeEndDistance);
+		this.shader.setUniform(this.uStartFadeBlockDistance, fadeStartDistance);
+		this.shader.setUniform(this.uEndFadeBlockDistance, fadeEndDistance);
 		
-		if (this.uMaxLevelHeight != -1) this.shader.setUniform(this.uMaxLevelHeight, this.levelMaxHeight);
+		this.shader.setUniform(this.uMaxLevelHeight, this.levelMaxHeight);
+		
+		this.shader.setUniform(this.uOnlyRenderLods, Config.Client.Advanced.Debugging.lodOnlyMode.get());
 	}
 	
 	public void setProjectionMatrix(Mat4f mcModelViewMatrix, Mat4f mcProjectionMatrix, float partialTicks)
diff --git a/core/src/main/resources/shaders/fade/fade.frag b/core/src/main/resources/shaders/fade/fade.frag
index 4e9c5d6e0..e9aad7845 100644
--- a/core/src/main/resources/shaders/fade/fade.frag
+++ b/core/src/main/resources/shaders/fade/fade.frag
@@ -4,18 +4,21 @@ in vec2 TexCoord;
 
 out vec4 fragColor;
 
-uniform sampler2D uMcDepthTexture;
-uniform sampler2D uDhDepthTexture;
-uniform sampler2D uCombinedMcDhColorTexture;
-uniform sampler2D uDhColorTexture;
 // inverted model view matrix and projection matrix
 uniform mat4 uDhInvMvmProj;
 uniform mat4 uMcInvMvmProj;
 
+uniform sampler2D uMcDepthTexture;
+uniform sampler2D uDhDepthTexture;
+uniform sampler2D uCombinedMcDhColorTexture;
+uniform sampler2D uDhColorTexture;
+
 uniform float uStartFadeBlockDistance;
 uniform float uEndFadeBlockDistance;
 uniform float uMaxLevelHeight;
 
+uniform bool uOnlyRenderLods;
+
 
 
 vec3 calcViewPosition(float fragmentDepth, mat4 invMvmProj) 
@@ -39,6 +42,15 @@ void main()
     // just the DH render pass
     vec4 dhColor = texture(uDhColorTexture, TexCoord);
     
+    // completely remove the MC render pass to only show LODs
+    // useful for debugging/troubleshooting, but doesn't improve performance since MC is still rendering
+    if (uOnlyRenderLods)
+    {
+        fragColor = dhColor;
+        return;
+    }
+    
+    
     // the DH texture will have white if nothing was written to that pixel.
     // TODO replace with a depth texture check, this feels janky
     if (dhColor == vec4(1))