Skip to content
Chat Heads Mod | See who you're chatting with!
Chat Heads Mod
See who you're chatting with! • client-side • Fabric / Forge / NeoForge

💬 Mod Overview & Core Features

This clientside mod adds player heads next to chat messages, as seen on the screenshot above. It makes telling various people in chat apart a bit easier, and it looks hella nice.

Based on a request from Hugman on the Fabric Discord.

👤 Chat Heads

  • Player heads next to chat messages – quickly identify who is speaking.
  • Makes chat easier to read – visually distinguish between different players.
  • Clean and stylish – fits seamlessly into the chat interface.
  • Client-side only – no server installation required.

🔧 Settings & Compatibility

  • Cloth Config – needed to access the settings (optional).
  • Mod Menu – for Fabric, to easily access config (optional).
  • Works without config – uses default settings if Cloth Config is not installed.
  • Heuristic only mode – for servers where default settings don't work.

📦 Quick Facts

  • Creators: dzwdz (Owner) & Fourmisain (Maintainer)
  • Tags: Decoration, Social
  • Environments: Client-side only
  • Loaders: Fabric, Forge, NeoForge

🔗 Links

🛠️ Technical Summary

🧠 Architecture & Data

  • Client-side only – pure visual mod; no server-side changes.
  • Chat interception – intercepts chat messages and adds head rendering.
  • Sender detection – uses heuristic and UUID-based detection to match heads to players.
  • Configurable – settings via Cloth Config (optional).

📦 Loader & Dependencies

  • Fabric – requires Fabric Loader. Mod Menu (optional) for config access.
  • Forge – requires Forge for your MCPE version.
  • NeoForge – requires NeoForge for 1.20.4+.
  • Cloth Config – optional, for accessing settings.

⚙️ Core Mechanics

  • Head rendering – renders player heads next to chat messages.
  • Detection modes – default (UUID-based) and heuristic-only.
  • Performance – lightweight; minimal impact on FPS.
  • No network changes – all processing is done client-side.

🔧 Advanced Features

  • Heuristic-only mode – for servers where default detection fails.
  • Configurable head size – adjust the size of heads in chat.
  • Toggle on/off – enable or disable the mod at any time.
  • Compatible with most mods – works alongside other chat mods.
/* Technical highlights */
• Intercepts chat messages using Mixin hooks.
• Renders player heads using the game's built-in head rendering system.
• Uses UUID matching for accurate sender detection.
• Heuristic mode uses message patterns to guess the sender.
• Config is stored in /config/chatheads.json (if Cloth Config is installed).
• All changes are client-side; no network packets are sent.

📥 Installation Guide

🧵 Fabric Installation

RECOMMENDED Best performance & stability

1. Install the Fabric Loader (recommended version for your MCPE version).

2. Download Fabric API (optional but recommended).

3. Download ChatHeads-Fabric-[version].jar.

4. (Optional) Download Cloth Config and Mod Menu for settings access.

5. Place all JARs in .minecraft/mods/.

6. Launch using the Fabric profile.

Example mods folder:
└── mods/
    ├── fabric-api-0.92.0+1.20.1.jar
    ├── cloth-config-11.1.118-fabric.jar
    ├── modmenu-7.0.0.jar
    └── ChatHeads-Fabric-1.2.0+1.20.1.jar

✅ Note: Cloth Config and Mod Menu are optional but recommended.

⚙️ Forge / NeoForge Installation

ALTERNATIVE For modpacks relying on Forge or NeoForge

1. Install the recommended Forge or NeoForge version.

2. Download ChatHeads-Forge-[version].jar (or NeoForge version).

3. (Optional) Download Cloth Config for settings access.

4. Place all JARs in mods/.

5. Launch the Forge/NeoForge profile.

Example mods folder (Forge):
└── mods/
    ├── cloth-config-11.1.118-forge.jar
    └── ChatHeads-Forge-1.2.0+1.20.1.jar

⚠️ Note: Cloth Config is optional but recommended for settings access.

📌 Universal steps & recommendations

  • Client-side only – no server installation required. Works on any server!
  • Modpack: Available on Modrinth and CurseForge. Recommended launchers: Modrinth App, Prism Launcher, MultiMC.
  • Performance tip: The mod is lightweight; no significant performance impact.
  • Mod compatibility: Works with most mods; if you encounter issues, check the GitHub page.
  • Config location: /config/chatheads.json (if Cloth Config is installed).
⚡ Quick client setup:
1. Install Fabric/Forge/NeoForge for your MCPE version.
2. Add Chat Heads JAR to "mods" folder.
3. (Optional) Add Cloth Config for settings access.
4. Launch the game — the mod works automatically!
5. Adjust settings in the config menu if Cloth Config is installed.
✅ Fabric: Fabric Loader + ChatHeads-Fabric (+ Cloth Config optional) ✅ Forge/NeoForge: Forge + ChatHeads-Forge (+ Cloth Config optional) 📦 Place JARs in /mods folder 🖥️ Client-side only — no server needed

📋 Compatibility & Important Notes

🕹️ Supported versions

26.2 26.1.x 1.21.x 1.20.x 1.19.1–1.19.4 1.18.x 1.17.x 1.16.x

Platforms

Fabric Forge NeoForge

Environments: Client-side only

⚠️ Important Notes

🔹 Default settings: The default settings might not work on some servers. In this case try using the "Heuristic only" sender detection mode. Note that this might put wrong chat heads on some messages.
🔹 OptiFine incompatibility: Incompatible with newer versions of OptiFine (~1.20.1). Use Sodium and co instead.
🔹 Cloth Config: Cloth Config (and Mod Menu for Fabric) is needed to access the settings, but the mod works without it, using the default settings.

👥 Creators

Owner: dzwdz Maintainer: Fourmisain
Chat Heads Mod · by dzwdz & Fourmisain · made for social players.