A modified message propagation algorithm is proposed for a low-complexity decoder of low-density parity-check (LDPC) codes, which controls the information propagated from variable and check nodes.The proposed threshold-based node deactivation for variable nodes and zero-forcing scheme for check nodes remarkably reduce decoding complexity required for similar error performance. In the proposed scheme, different thresholds, which are determined from the base matrix of the LDPC codes, are applied for each type of variable node. In addition, thresholds for deactivating variable nodes are increased while the decoding process is operated for a reduction in decoding complexity without early error floor, which is a drawback of the conventional threshold-based deactivation scheme. Simulation results show that the proposed scheme enables normalized min-sum decoders to decode successfully with less complexity than the conventional threshold-based deactivating scheme.