Screenshot 1 of 1. MinecraftHub-generated cover art for Overflowing Bars: a floating mountain block island with a workshop of crafting tables and furnaces, under a night sky
What Overflowing Bars works with.
| Platform | Java Edition |
|---|---|
| Loaders | Fabric, NeoForge |
| Minecraft versions | 1.18.2, 1.19.4, 1.20.4, 1.21.11, 26.1.2, 26.2, 26.3 |
| Environment | Client |
Overflowing Bars is a client-side Minecraft Java mod for Fabric and NeoForge that expands the health, armor and armor toughness bars past their vanilla limits. Instead of piling on extra rows of icons, it stacks the bars into layers and keeps the HUD compact. It needs Puzzles Lib on both loaders, and Forge builds have stopped.
Loaders and versions
- Fabric: Minecraft 1.18.2 to 26.3. The newest build requires Fabric API, Puzzles Lib and Forge Config API Port.
- NeoForge: Minecraft 1.20.4 to 26.3. The newest build requires Puzzles Lib.
- Forge: Minecraft 1.18.2 to 1.20.4, builds stopped after September 2024. The newest build requires Puzzles Lib and Forge Config API Port, optionally Forge Config Screens; builds for 1.18.2 to 1.20.1 require Puzzles Lib.
What it changes on the HUD
When a stat goes beyond vanilla, a row counter shows how many layers you have. You do not need to memorise a colour scheme to read it. The base layer uses vanilla colours and stacked layers share a single highlight colour, so there is no rainbow display to decode.
- Compact health: stack health beyond ten hearts without adding rows.
- Armor beyond vanilla: high armor values take only as much space as they need.
- Armor toughness bar: a dedicated bar for a defensive stat vanilla never displays.
- Layer counters: a numeric indicator on every stacked bar.
- Chat fix: chat messages no longer cover armor related HUD elements.
- Layout options: positioning, stacking behaviour, counters and display can be adjusted.
Installing and configuring it
Put the mod file and its required libraries in your mods folder, then launch with the matching Fabric or NeoForge profile. If you are new to loaders, the guides on installing Fabric and Forge and NeoForge cover the setup.
Settings open in game through Mod Menu, which Fabric needs installed separately. You can also edit the text files in the config folder, named with the mod ID and a client, common or server suffix.
Limits worth knowing
The mod changes how values are drawn, not what the game allows. For armor and toughness values beyond vanilla limits to work properly, the creator points to AttributeFix by DarkhaxDev. The dependency list is also longer on Fabric than on NeoForge, so check it before you play.
The layered armor bar was inspired by LocusWay's Overpowered Armor Bar. The toughness icon and the original bar idea come from cadaverous_queen's Rustic, and the stacking hearts idea comes from mDiyo's Mantle.
Questions about Overflowing Bars.
4 questions
Does Overflowing Bars work on multiplayer servers?
It is a client-side mod, so you install it only on your own machine. Servers are not supported and need nothing added. Because it only changes how your HUD draws health, armor and toughness, you can use it while playing on a server that does not have it.
Which mods does Overflowing Bars need?
Puzzles Lib is required on both Fabric and NeoForge. Fabric also needs Fabric API and Forge Config API Port. In-game settings on Fabric are reached through Mod Menu, which is a separate install. Check the loader section above for the exact list per loader.
How do I show armor values above vanilla limits?
Overflowing Bars draws high armor and toughness values in stacked layers, but it does not raise the limits itself. For proper support of values beyond vanilla caps, the creator recommends installing AttributeFix alongside it.
Is there a Forge version of Overflowing Bars?
Forge builds exist for older releases, but they stopped in September 2024 while Fabric and NeoForge continued. On a current setup, use the Fabric or NeoForge build instead, with the libraries each one requires.
