HudForge

Sidebar, TAB, name tags and boss bars from one file

HudForge writes the sidebar, the TAB list, the name above a player's head, the boss bar and the action bar from a single file. It is free, runs on Paper and Spigot from 1.20.4 to 26.x, and comes configured: drop it in and the scoreboard is already there.

Animated gradients from one tag, frame animations, colours that change when a number crosses a line, and a scoreboard that doesn't flicker because it is never rebuilt.

How it works in play

No flicker, at any refresh rate: the scoreboard is built once and only the line text is rewritten after that. The default is four ticks, five repaints a second.
A moving gradient is one tag: <shine:#C879FF:#FFFFFF:1600>TEXT</shine> and the light travels across the text. The last number is the cycle in milliseconds.
Everyone sees the same frame: animation frames come from the clock, not from a counter per player, so two players standing together see the same thing.
One file for five displays: sidebar, TAB header and footer, name tags, boss bars and the action bar are written in the same place, in the same syntax.
Profiles instead of a tree: the first profile that matches wins. Match by world, by permission, by a condition, or by nothing at all.

What you get

Sidebar: a title and lines of any length. A line past the scoreboard's limit is split where it doesn't break a colour tag.
TAB list: header and footer, plus the order players are listed in, set per profile by a weight.
Name tags: a prefix and suffix above the head, per profile.
Boss bars: as many as you like per profile, each with its own colour, style and fill. Bars from a profile a player has left are taken down.
Action bar: the short line above the hotbar.
Frame animations: <anim:name>, with the frames written in the config. Two are included: a dot of light running along a separator, and a breathing diamond.
Conditions: %if:%hud_ping%>150?<red>high:<green>good%. Numbers compare as numbers, so 9 is not greater than 100.
Built-in values: %hud_player% %hud_ping% %hud_tps% %hud_online% %hud_max% %hud_world% %hud_x% %hud_y% %hud_z% %hud_health%.
PlaceholderAPI: when it's installed, anything another plugin publishes can go on the board.
Colours: <gradient:#A:#B> and &b&l both work, so an old config can be pasted in as it is.

Writing a profile

This is a complete profile. Anything you leave out isn't checked.

profiles:
  vip:
    worlds: [survival]          # only in this world
    permission: hudforge.vip    # only for this permission
    weight: 100                 # higher up the TAB list

    sidebar:
      title: "<shine:#C879FF:#FFFFFF:1600><bold>MY SERVER</bold></shine>"
      lines:
        - "<anim:separator>"
        - "<white>%hud_player%"
        - "<gray>ping %if:%hud_ping%>150?<red>%hud_ping%ms:<green>%hud_ping%ms%"

    tablist:
      header: ["", "<white>MY SERVER", ""]
      footer: ["<gray>tps %hud_tps%"]

    nametag:
      prefix: "<gold>VIP "

    bossbars:
      event:
        text: "<white>Double XP weekend"
        color: PURPLE
        style: PROGRESS
        progress: "1.0"

Configuration

config.yml holds the refresh rate, the frame animations and every profile, with a comment next to each key.
Profiles are read in the order you write them and the first match wins, so put the specific ones first.
metrics-id turns anonymous usage statistics off when it's set to 0.

Commands and permissions

/hud reload re-reads the config without a restart (hudforge.admin, operators by default).
/hud hide hides the sidebar for the player who runs it. It needs hudforge.hide, which nobody has until you grant it.
/hud itself needs hudforge.use, which everyone has. Every node is declared in plugin.yml.

Requirements

Paper or Spigot from 1.20.4 to 26.x. Forks like Purpur work too. Java 17 is enough on older servers.
Optional: PlaceholderAPI, LuckPerms and Vault.

The plugin never refuses to start because an optional plugin is missing. On Spigot the red numbers on the sidebar stay, because hiding them needs Paper, and %hud_tps% reads 20.

FAQ

Why from 1.20.4?
The sidebar lines use the long team prefixes that came with that version.

Can I paste a config from another scoreboard plugin?
Colour codes with & work as they are. You'll need to move the lines into a profile.

Does it need PlaceholderAPI?
No. The ten built-in values work without it.

For questions or bug reports, use the discussion tab on this page or our Discord.