Vitalboard: Live Health Display Add-On for Minecraft
Keeping track of who is hurt and who is healthy during a fight, a raid, or a chaotic multiplayer session is one of the small frustrations that every Minecraft player knows. Vanilla gives you almost nothing to work with. Vitalboard solves that problem with a clean, lightweight display that shows each player's current health right where you need it. No guesswork, no awkward pauses mid-combat.
What Vitalboard Does
At its core, Vitalboard is a data pack that surfaces live health values for every player on the server. Instead of hovering over a teammate or hoping someone calls out their HP, you get that information delivered automatically. The add-on supports three separate display locations, and you can mix and match them however you like:
- Below the player's name — a floating indicator that follows each player in the world.
- In the player list — the tab menu shows health values next to every name.
- In the sidebar — a dedicated scoreboard panel listing each player and their current HP.
The sidebar is disabled by default, which keeps the screen clean until you deliberately turn it on. That design choice matters for players who want the information available without cluttering their HUD during normal exploration.
Customizing Vitalboard to Fit Your Server
Configuration Command
Everything runs through a single command: /function vitalboard:_config. Running it opens a simple in-game menu where you can toggle each display location on or off and restore the defaults if you experiment too much. There is no config file to edit, no YAML to break, and no server restart required. Changes apply immediately.
Choosing Your Display Setup
Different playstyles call for different configurations. A PvP arena might want the floating nameplate display so fighters can read opponents at a glance. A survival SMP with a scoreboard-driven economy might prefer the sidebar. A large public server could lean on the tab list because it scales without taking up screen space. Vitalboard lets you decide, and switching between setups takes seconds.
Version Support and Installation
Vitalboard is built as a data pack, so it works across modern Java Edition releases that support the current function and scoreboard systems. It does not require any mod loader, which means it runs happily on vanilla servers, Paper, Fabric, or Forge setups alike. If your world runs a recent Java version, you are almost certainly covered.
How to Install Vitalboard for Minecraft
Installation is refreshingly simple. Follow these steps:
- Download Vitalboard for Minecraft from a trusted source and keep the .zip file intact.
- Open your world folder and locate the
datapacksdirectory. If it does not exist, create it. - Drop the Vitalboard zip into that folder.
- In-game, run
/reloadto load the data pack. - Verify it is active with
/datapack list, then open the config menu to set your displays.
If you are running a server, place the file in the world's datapacks folder rather than the root server directory. That is the single most common mistake new admins make.
For players who would rather skip manual file management entirely, the foxygame.net launcher handles the whole process in one click, pulling Vitalboard straight into the correct world folder and keeping it updated as new Minecraft releases arrive. It is a genuinely convenient shortcut if you juggle multiple worlds or play across several versions.
Removing Vitalboard Cleanly
Uninstalling is just as tidy as installing. Run /function vitalboard:uninstall and the add-on removes its displays along with any persistent data it stored. No orphaned scoreboard objectives, no leftover tags cluttering your world. That level of cleanup is rare in the data pack scene and worth appreciating.
What Is Coming Next
The developer has outlined a clear roadmap. Future updates plan to add other player statuses, most notably hunger, so you can monitor food levels the same way you track health. There is also work planned for displaying information about mobs and other entities, which would open the door to boss fights and mob farm monitoring. It is an ambitious direction for a small utility add-on.
Final Thoughts
Vitalboard fills a gap that vanilla Minecraft has left open for years. It is small, focused, and does one job extremely well: showing you who is healthy and who is about to drop. Whether you run a competitive PvP server, a cooperative survival world, or a busy public realm, having live health visible at all times changes how you play. Download Vitalboard, spend two minutes configuring it, and you will wonder how you ever managed without it.