Dynamic RPG Resource Bars

Animated, adjustable resource bars for Minecraft.

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Resource Pack Guide

Warning

This guide applies to 26.1.2 only.

This guide covers everything you need to make a resource pack: file layout, animation, scaling, and the in-game HUD editor.

Quick start: recolor the bars

1. Create a pack at resourcepacks/my_bars/ with a pack.mcmeta.
2. Drop a recolored health_bar.png into assets/dynamic_resource_bars/textures/gui/.
3. Enable the pack in-game and reload with F3+T.

That's it! No additional .mcmeta or config is required if you aren't resizing things. Even if you are, for non-animated textures, the mod generally auto-detects PNG dimensions and applies sensible defaults per layer.

File layout

my_pack/
├── pack.mcmeta
└── assets/dynamic_resource_bars/textures/gui/
    ├── health_bar.png              ─┐
    ├── health_bar.png.mcmeta        │
    ├── stamina_bar.png              │  Bars (animated vertical strips,
    ├── stamina_bar.png.mcmeta       │  default 256×1024 = 32 frames of 32px)
    ├── mana_bar.png                 │
    ├── mana_bar.png.mcmeta          │
    ├── air_bar.png                  │
    ├── air_bar.png.mcmeta          ─┘
    │
    ├── health_bar_poisoned.png     ─┐
    ├── health_bar_withered.png      │
    ├── health_bar_frozen.png        │  Bar variants inherit
    ├── health_bar_scorched.png      │  their parent's animation
    ├── stamina_bar_warning.png      │  settings
    ├── stamina_bar_critical.png     │
    ├── stamina_bar_hunger.png       │
    ├── stamina_bar_mounted.png      │
    ├── stamina_bar_blood.png       ─┘
    │
    ├── health_background.png       ─┐
    ├── health_foreground.png        │
    ├── stamina_background.png       │  Static layers
    ├── stamina_foreground.png       │  (default 256×256)
    ├── mana_background.png          │
    ├── mana_foreground.png          │
    ├── air_background.png           │
    ├── armor_background.png         │
    ├── armor_bar.png               ─┘  Armor bar is static by default, so no .mcmeta here
    │
    ├── absorption_overlay.png      ─┐
    ├── regeneration_overlay.png     │
    ├── protection_overlay.png       │
    ├── heat_overlay.png             │  Status overlays
    ├── cold_overlay.png             │
    ├── wetness_overlay.png          │
    ├── hardcore_overlay.png         │
    ├── comfort_overlay.png          │
    ├── nourishment_overlay.png     ─┘
    │
    ├── air/                        ── Bubble icons by tier — air_0…air_4
    │   ├── air_0.png … air_4.png      plus *_pop variants that flash briefly
    │   └── air_1_pop.png … air_4_pop.png   when crossing a tier
    │
    └── armors/                     ── Armor icons — tier_0.png … tier_10.png,
        └── tier_0.png … tier_10.png    picked by armorValue / maxExpectedArmor

All files are optional. The mod falls back to its bundled defaults for anything you don't override.

Texture sizes

PNG dimensions are auto-detected. Use whatever resolution you want as long as the bar's height divides evenly into frames:

Style	Bar size	Frame height
Standard	256 × 1024	32
HD 2x	512 × 2048	64
Compact	128 × 512	32

Bars use vertical strips: each frame is stacked top-to-bottom in the PNG. Backgrounds, foregrounds, and overlays can be any size.

Animation (.mcmeta for bars)

Standard Minecraft animation format. Only the height field is required for non-default frame sizes.

{
  "animation": {
    "frametime": 3,
    "interpolate": false,
    "height": 32
  }
}

Field	Default	Notes
frametime	3	Ticks per frame (lower = faster).
height	32	Frame height in pixels.
interpolate	false	Smooth blending between frames.

Variants (health_bar_poisoned.png, etc.) inherit the base bar's .mcmeta, so all variants for a bar must share frame dimensions.

Scaling (.mcmeta for backgrounds, foregrounds, overlays)

Bars sample UV space to show fill percentage and don't support scaling. Everything else does, via a dynamic_resource_bars.scaling block.

Simple modes

{ "dynamic_resource_bars": { "scaling": "stretch" } }

"none" (1:1 sampling), "stretch", or "tile".

Nine-slice

{
  "dynamic_resource_bars": {
    "scaling": {
      "type": "nine_slice",
      "left": 4, "right": 4, "top": 3, "bottom": 3,
      "edges": "stretch",
      "center": "stretch"
    }
  }
}

Corners are fixed; edges and center can each be "stretch" (default) or "tile".

Source region (texture smaller than its sheet)

If your graphic only fills part of the PNG (e.g., 80×10 in a 256×256 sheet), point the renderer at the right area:

{
  "dynamic_resource_bars": {
    "scaling": {
      "type": "nine_slice",
      "left": 2, "right": 2, "top": 2, "bottom": 2,
      "source": { "u": 0, "v": 0, "width": 80, "height": 10 }
    }
  }
}

u/v default to 0. source also works on simple modes.

Defaults when no .mcmeta is present

Layer	Default scaling
Background / Foreground	nine-slice (4,4,3,3), stretch
Animated overlay	nine-slice (3,3,2,2), tile
Static overlay	stretch
Bar	n/a (UV sampling)

The bundled EXAMPLE_*.mcmeta files in the mod's assets show every mode in working form — copy one and tweak.

In-game HUD editor

Open via the mod config menu. The editor lets you reposition every element live.

• Drag to move; Tab cycles through bars; arrow keys nudge by 1px; Shift+arrows resize.
• Right-click any element for a context menu (anchor, fill direction, reset, etc.).
• Each bar has draggable sub-elements: background, bar, foreground, and text. The selected element is outlined.
• Anchor a bar to one of nine screen regions so it stays in place when the window resizes.
• Fill direction can be horizontal or vertical.

Changes save to config/dynamic_resource_bars-client.toml.

Troubleshooting

Custom textures don't show up. Check the pack is enabled and at the top of the list, the path is exactly assets/dynamic_resource_bars/textures/gui/, and filenames match (e.g., health_bar.png, not healthbar.png). Reload with F3+T.

Bar looks stretched or cuts mid-frame. Texture height must be evenly divisible by height in the .mcmeta. All variants of a bar must use the same frame dimensions.

Nine-slice tiles in empty space. Your graphic doesn't fill the sheet — add a source region.

Tiled overlay has visible seams. The texture isn't seamless. Use your editor's offset/wrap test, or switch to nine-slice with stretched edges.

HD bars work but config sliders cap at 256px. Known limitation. Edit config/dynamic_resource_bars-client.toml directly and set, e.g., healthBarWidth = 512.

For anything else, check logs/latest.log — the mod logs detected dimensions and any .mcmeta parse errors.