ChatBubblePlugin

Displays a floating chat bubble above a player's head whenever they type a message — a lightweight, native alternative to hologram-based chat plugins, built entirely on Paper's own Display entity API.

What it does

When a player sends a chat message, the plugin can show it two ways at once, or just one:

• Above their head — a TextDisplay bubble spawns above the player, automatically follows them while they move, and disappears on its own after a short delay.
• In the normal chat box — the regular chat message, exactly like vanilla.

Both are independent and fully toggleable. Turn off the normal chat box and keep only bubbles, keep both, or turn off bubbles and keep vanilla chat — it's entirely up to the server owner, and players can also opt out of their own bubble individually.

Features

• 🗨️ Floating chat bubble above the head, following the player in real time
• ✅ Toggle normal chat and bubble chat independently, globally, via command or config
• 🙋 Per-player opt-out with /bubbletoggle — saved permanently, no database needed
• 🎨 Configurable text color, background color, and background opacity
• 📏 Adjustable bubble height, so it never gets hidden behind nametags
• ⏱️ Configurable display duration and character limit
• 🔄 Reload settings on the fly with /chatbubble reload — no restart required
• 🧹 Automatic cleanup on player quit/death and plugin disable — no leftover entities

Commands

Configuration

All settings live in config.yml, generated on first run — no need to edit any code:

• settings.normal-chat.enabled — show messages in the normal chat box
• settings.bubble-chat.enabled — show messages as a bubble above the head
• settings.bubble-chat.height-offset — distance above the head
• settings.bubble-chat.duration-seconds — how long a bubble stays visible
• settings.bubble-chat.max-characters — truncates long messages
• settings.bubble-chat.text-color / background.color / background.opacity — appearance
• settings.bubble-chat.scale — bubble text size

Requirements

• Paper (or a Paper fork) 1.26.1.2
• Java 21

Notes

The plugin uses Paper's native TextDisplay entities rather than ArmorStands, so it stays lightweight and compatible with modern client rendering. No external dependencies are required.