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Minecraft: Java Edition
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DisplayHud
DisplayHud is a screen-space rendering system for Minecraft that turns Display Entities into fully controllable 2D HUD elements.
Rather than being limited to traditional text and image overlays, DisplayHud allows developers to build interfaces using Minecraft's native Display Entities — including Text Displays, Item Displays, and Block Displays.
This makes DisplayHud more than a simple HUD plugin. It can be used to create anything from a small status indicator in the corner of the screen to full-screen interfaces, animated menus, or even complete 2D games inside Minecraft.
Why DisplayHud?
Most Minecraft HUD systems are ultimately based on existing UI elements such as boss bars, titles, or fonts rendered through resource packs.
These approaches work well for conventional HUDs, but they become restrictive when you want to create something more dynamic.
DisplayHud takes a different approach.
It uses Display Entities combined with resource-pack core shaders to render entities in screen space. The result is a HUD system that retains the flexibility of Minecraft's Display Entity system while behaving like a 2D interface.
DisplayHud automatically compensates for differences in FOV and screen aspect ratio, allowing HUD elements to maintain stable screen positions across different player settings.
You can use this to build a small HUD occupying only part of the screen — or cover the entire screen and effectively create your own 2D interface layer inside Minecraft.
Beyond traditional HUDs
Because DisplayHud uses actual Display Entities rather than being limited to conventional HUD rendering techniques, it can do things that are difficult or impossible with bossbar-based systems.
| Feature | Traditional Bossbar HUD | DisplayHud |
|---|---|---|
| Text | ✓ | ✓ |
| Images / custom textures | ✓ | ✓ |
| 3D item & block models | ✗ | ✓ |
| Smooth interpolated movement | ✗ | ✓ |
| Arbitrary rotation | ✗ | ✓ |
| Runtime transformations | Limited | ✓ |
| Dynamic HUD modification | Limited | ✓ |
| Full-screen 2D interfaces | Limited | ✓ |
Display entities can be translated, scaled, rotated, animated, and modified while the game is running.
Minecraft's built-in display interpolation can also be used for smooth transitions and animations without having to manually recreate every frame.
This opens up possibilities such as:
- Animated health bars and status displays
- Custom inventories and menus
- 3D items or models embedded directly into the HUD
- Smoothly moving interface elements
- Rotating or transforming HUD components
- Full-screen game interfaces
- Cutscene overlays
- Minigame interfaces
- 2D games rendered entirely inside Minecraft
The goal is not simply to provide another way to draw a health bar.
DisplayHud provides a foundation for building screen-space interfaces using Minecraft's Display Entity rendering system.
How does it work?
DisplayHud uses a resource pack's core shaders to change how specially positioned Display Entities are rendered.
Displays placed below a specific Y threshold are detected by the shader and transformed into screen-space elements. Instead of appearing at their normal position in the Minecraft world, they are rendered relative to the player's screen.
Because only displays within this reserved coordinate range are processed as HUD elements, normal Display Entities used elsewhere in the world are unaffected.
This means DisplayHud can coexist with ordinary display-based models, decorations, animations, and other systems without treating every Display Entity as part of the HUD.
From the player's perspective, the result behaves like a conventional 2D interface: HUD elements remain anchored to the screen regardless of where the player looks.
Behind the scenes, however, they retain the capabilities of Display Entities.
Designed for dynamic interfaces
DisplayHud is particularly useful when a HUD needs to change continuously.
Instead of treating the HUD as a mostly static texture, individual display elements can be manipulated independently.
Position, scale, rotation, displayed content, models, and other properties can be changed at runtime, allowing developers to build interfaces that respond directly to gameplay.
Combined with interpolation, this makes it possible to create interfaces with smooth motion and transitions rather than HUD elements that simply jump between predefined positions.
And because Item and Block Displays are supported, interface elements are not restricted to flat images. Minecraft items, blocks, and custom resource-pack models can become part of the interface itself.
What can you build?
DisplayHud is intentionally designed as a foundation rather than a single predefined HUD.
A simple project might use it for a few icons, text labels, or animated indicators.
More complex projects can use the same system to construct an interface spanning most or all of the player's screen.
At that point, DisplayHud can effectively act as a 2D rendering layer inside Minecraft, making projects possible that would normally require much more restrictive HUD techniques.
If Minecraft can render it as a Display Entity, DisplayHud gives you a way to bring it into the player's interface.
Compatibility
Minecraft Java Edition:
1.21.8 – 1.21.11
DisplayHud is intended for server-side projects using its accompanying resource pack.
Normal Display Entities remain usable alongside DisplayHud, as only entities placed within DisplayHud's reserved rendering range are interpreted as HUD elements.
Documentation
The documentation contains information about setup, configuration, positioning, and creating HUD elements.
English documentation is currently being updated.
Source Code
DisplayHud is open source.
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