Elite Holograms

A lightweight and powerful Minecraft mod for creating and managing holographic displays in-game. Inspired by AdvancedHolograms, Elite Holograms runs on Forge, Fabric, and NeoForge across seven editions with a shared feature set and command set.

It is server-side only: players join with a vanilla client and still see everything. It also works standalone in single-player worlds and modpacks.

Features

• Create persistent holograms that stay loaded across server restarts.
• Manage multiple lines (add, insert, remove, set).
• Position control (create at your location or at explicit coordinates, teleport to holograms).
• Move holograms vertically with precise offsets (e.g., up/down 1.5 blocks).
• Fixed and player-facing display types: anchor a hologram to a yaw and pitch so it reads like a wall sign, or let it turn to face each viewer (the default).
• Backlights: light a hologram with a column of invisible full-bright minecraft:light blocks so it stays readable at night, without overwriting player builds.
• Clickable holograms: run a command when a player right-clicks a hologram, as the player or as the console. Works on both display types.
• Display settings for fixed holograms: scale the text, light it to any brightness without placing blocks, and choose how it turns towards the viewer.
• Configurable background panel: recolour the box behind a fixed hologram's text, change how solid it is, or remove it entirely.
• Scoreboard holograms: display top players from any scoreboard objective, with named themes for styling.
• Comprehensive built-in placeholder system with server and player-specific variables, including %player_rank%.
• Advanced permission system with support for LuckPerms, FTB Ranks, or operator (OP level 2) fallback.
• Easy-to-use commands with tab completion and intuitive syntax.
• Performance optimized for servers with proper shutdown handling and efficient hologram rendering.
• Rich text formatting: RGB gradients, hex colors, and rainbows using MiniMessage, plus legacy & codes.
• Animations: cycle text lines with custom intervals.
• Item displays: show floating items with text.

Documentation

Full documentation is available in the Wiki.

Supported Versions

Module	Minecraft	Loader	Minimum loader build	Java	Mod version
forge19	1.19.2	Forge	43	17	1.19.2-1.3.0
forge20	1.20.1	Forge	47	17	1.20.1-1.3.0
fabric20	1.20.1	Fabric	Loader 0.15.0	17	1.20.1-1.3.1
fabric21	1.21.1	Fabric	Loader 0.16.0	21	1.21.1-1.3.0
neo21	1.21.1	NeoForge	21.1.0	21	1.21.1-1.3.0
neo26	26.1.2	NeoForge	26.1.2.30-beta	25	26.1.2-1.3.0
neo262	26.2	NeoForge	26.2.0.57	25	26.2-1.3.0

The Fabric editions require Fabric API. The Forge and NeoForge editions have no additional dependencies.

All editions share the same config format and command set, so a world can move between them without converting anything. The one exception is fixed holograms, which need Minecraft 1.20.1 or newer (see the note below).

Placeholder System

Elite Holograms includes a built-in placeholder system that updates in real-time. No external placeholder API is required.

Server Placeholders

These show the same information for all players:

• %players%: Current online player count.
• %maxplayers%: Server maximum players.
• %tps%: Server TPS (Ticks Per Second).
• %uptime%: Server uptime in HH:MM:SS format.
• %memory%: Memory usage in "used/max MB (percentage%)" format.
• %server_time%: Real world time in HH:MM:SS format.

Player-Specific Placeholders

These show different information for each player viewing the hologram:

• %player%: Player's display name.
• %player_rank%: Player's rank (from LuckPerms/FTB Ranks, or "OP"/"Player").
• %player_health%: Current/max health (e.g., "20.0/20.0").
• %player_level%: Experience level.
• %player_world%: World name (Overworld/Nether/End/custom).
• %player_coords%: X, Y, Z coordinates.
• %player_gamemode%: Game mode (Creative/Survival/Adventure/Spectator).

Example Usage

/eh create welcome &bWelcome &f%player%&b to the server!
/eh addline welcome &7Your rank: &e%player_rank%
/eh addline welcome &7Players online: &a%players%&7/&a%maxplayers%
/eh addline welcome &7Server TPS: &a%tps%

Commands

Permissions: Commands require either specific permission nodes (if using a supported permission mod like LuckPerms or FTB Ranks) or operator (OP level 2) status. See the "Permissions" section below or PERMISSIONS.md for details.

Command	Description	Permission Node Suffix
/eh create [fixed|facing] <id> <text...>	Create a new hologram at your location	.create
/eh createat [fixed|facing] <id> <x> <y> <z> [text...]	Create a hologram at explicit coordinates	.create
/eh createitem [fixed|facing] <id> <item> [text...]	Create a hologram with a floating item above it	.create
/eh createscoreboard [fixed|facing] <id> <objective> [topCount] [updateInterval] [theme]	Create a scoreboard-based hologram showing the top X players for an objective, refreshing every N seconds	.create
/eh copy <source_id> <new_id>	Copy an existing hologram to a new one	.create (as it creates)
/eh settheme <id> <theme>	Restyle an existing scoreboard hologram	.create
/eh list [page]	List all holograms on the server	.list
/eh near [page]	List nearby holograms	.near
/eh info <id>	Display information about a hologram, including display type and rotation	.info
/eh delete <id>	Delete a hologram	.delete
/eh addline <id> <text...>	Add a line to a hologram	.edit
/eh setline <id> <#> <text...>	Change the text on a specific line	.edit
/eh removeline <id> <#>	Remove a line from a hologram	.edit
/eh insertline <id> <#> <text...>	Insert a line at a specific position	.edit
/eh animateline <id> <#> <interval> <frame1|frame2|...>	Cycle a line through frames on a timer	.edit
/eh movehere <id>	Move a hologram to your current location	.edit
/eh moveto <id> <x> <y> <z>	Move a hologram to explicit coordinates	.edit
/eh movevertical <id> <up|down> <amount>	Move a hologram up or down by the specified amount (e.g., 1.5)	.edit
/eh convert <id> fixed|face	Switch a hologram between fixed and player-facing	.edit
/eh setrotation <id> <yaw> [pitch]	Set the orientation of a fixed hologram	.edit
/eh background <id> <colour|opacity|none|reset>	Restyle the panel behind a fixed hologram's text	.edit
/eh display <id> <scale|brightness|billboard|reset>	Resize, light, or change how a fixed hologram turns	.edit
/eh click <id> <set|console <command>|none>	Run a command when a player clicks the hologram	.edit (.admin for console)
/eh backlight <id> <on|off|toggle> [height 1-10]	Light a hologram with a column of invisible light blocks	.backlight
/eh teleport <id>	Teleport to a hologram	.teleport
/eh reload	Reload holograms and scoreboard themes from storage, including hand edits to the files	.admin

All commands support tab completion for hologram IDs and relevant parameters. The base permission is eliteholograms. For example, to use /eh create, a player would need eliteholograms.create.

Note that the base /eh literal itself requires eliteholograms.list, so a player needs that node in addition to whichever specific node the subcommand uses.

The console and command blocks can run every command except those that act at the caller's own position: create, createitem, createscoreboard, copy, movehere, near and teleport. From the console, use createat and moveto instead.

Fixed vs. Player-Facing Holograms

Holograms come in two display types:

• facing (the default): the classic look. The text always turns to face each player, so it reads correctly from any angle.
• fixed: the text is anchored to a yaw and pitch and stays put, like a sign hung on a wall. Everyone sees it from the same angle, which is what you want for holograms mounted flat against a build, a shop wall, or a portal frame.

Pick the type when you create the hologram:

/eh create fixed shop_sign &6Welcome to the Shop!

A new fixed hologram is automatically turned to face you. To aim it yourself, or to tilt it:

/eh setrotation shop_sign 90
/eh setrotation shop_sign 90 -15

Yaw follows the in-game convention: 0 faces south, 90 west, 180 north, 270 east. Pitch runs from -90 (tilted up) to 90 (tilted down); leave it out to keep the hologram level.

Already have a hologram you want to pin down? Convert it in place. Its lines, animations, items and backlights all carry over:

/eh convert shop_sign fixed
/eh convert shop_sign face

/eh info <id> shows a hologram's current display type and rotation.

Forge 1.19.2: fixed holograms are not available. They are built on text_display entities, which Minecraft added in 1.19.4, so the 1.19.2 edition supports player-facing holograms only. The commands themselves still exist there, so the command set matches the other editions: /eh setrotation and /eh create fixed validate their arguments and then explain the version requirement rather than failing as unknown commands, and /eh convert <id> face succeeds as a no-op because every 1.19.2 hologram is already player-facing. Nothing is created when you ask for fixed, so a command copied from a newer server never silently produces the wrong thing.

The Background Panel

Vanilla draws a fixed hologram's text on a 25% opaque black panel, which is the dark box behind the letters. /eh background restyles it:

/eh background shop_sign colour #1E90FF
/eh background shop_sign opacity 60
/eh background shop_sign none
/eh background shop_sign reset

colour takes a named colour or a #RRGGBB hex value and tab-completes the names. opacity runs from 0 (invisible) to 100 (solid). none removes the panel entirely, leaving text floating with no box, and reset restores the vanilla look.

Size, Lighting and Billboarding

/eh display controls how a fixed hologram is drawn:

/eh display shop_sign scale 2.5
/eh display shop_sign brightness 15
/eh display shop_sign billboard vertical
/eh display shop_sign reset

• scale <0.1-10> resizes the text. Line spacing grows with the scale, so a scaled-up hologram does not overlap its own lines, and the top line stays where the hologram is.
• brightness <0-15|auto> lights the text regardless of the surrounding light level. 15 makes a hologram readable at night without placing a single block in the world, which is what most people were using /eh backlight for. auto restores world lighting.
• billboard <fixed|vertical|horizontal|center> controls how the hologram turns towards the viewer. vertical is the one worth knowing: the text follows the player horizontally but never tilts, so it stays readable from any direction without lying on its back when someone flies overhead. fixed is the default and does not turn at all.
• reset restores all three at once.

These settings apply to fixed holograms only. A player-facing hologram's text is an armor stand nameplate, which the client sizes, turns and lights itself, so the server has no say in it. The values are still stored, and take effect the moment you run /eh convert <id> fixed.

Clickable Holograms

A hologram can run a command when a player right-clicks it:

/eh click warp_sign console tp %player% 100 64 -200
/eh click shop_sign set trigger openshop
/eh click shop_sign none

• set <command...> runs the command as the clicking player, with their permissions.
• console <command...> runs it elevated, for a warp or a kit the player could not normally run themselves.
• none turns clicking off again.
• %player% anywhere in the command is replaced with the clicking player's name.

console requires eliteholograms.admin, not the eliteholograms.edit node that covers the rest of the command. Running a click command elevated would otherwise let anyone who can edit holograms hand themselves operator commands through a sign.

Clicking works on both fixed and player-facing holograms. It is backed by an invisible minecraft:interaction entity placed over the text, which is why it needs no client mod on any loader. The hitbox is created when the hologram spawns for a player and removed when it despawns, so the hologram has to be in range for clicking to do anything. Those hitboxes are never saved to the world, so they cannot accumulate.

Forge 1.19.2: clickable holograms are not available. minecraft:interaction was added in Minecraft 1.19.4, and there is no packet-only substitute, so that edition has no /eh click command at all.

Scoreboard Holograms

Create a hologram that renders entries from a scoreboard objective (works with online and offline player data):

/eh createscoreboard top_time TimePlayed 10 30
/eh createscoreboard top_time TimePlayed 10 30 ocean

• id: a unique hologram id (e.g., top_time)
• objective: scoreboard objective name (e.g., TimePlayed)
• topCount (optional): number of rows to show; default 5; range 1-10
• updateInterval (optional): refresh interval in seconds; default 30; range 5-300
• theme (optional): a named theme; defaults to the defaultTheme set in the theme config

Notes:

• Time-based objectives (e.g., playtime measured in ticks/seconds) are auto-formatted to human-friendly values.
• Entries include players even if they are currently offline.
• Themes ship with default, ocean, blood, mono, gold, and rainbow, and are editable in scoreboard_themes.json. Both <objective> and [theme] tab-complete.
• Use /eh settheme <id> <theme> to restyle an existing board, and /eh reload to pick up edits to the theme file without restarting.

Backlights

/eh backlight <id> on
/eh backlight <id> on 6
/eh backlight <id> toggle

Raises a column of invisible full-bright minecraft:light blocks behind the hologram so it stays readable at night. height is the number of blocks in the column, from 1 to 10, defaulting to 3. Only air and water cells are lit, so existing builds are never overwritten. Backlights follow the hologram when it moves, persist across restarts, and are removed when the hologram is deleted.

If the hologram is fixed, /eh display <id> brightness 15 is usually the better option: it lights the text itself without placing any blocks at all. Backlights remain the right tool for player-facing holograms, for Forge 1.19.2, and when you want the surrounding area lit too.

Move Hologram Vertically

/eh movevertical <id> up 1.5
/eh movevertical <id> down 0.25

Moves the hologram's base Y position by the provided amount and persists to storage.

Permissions

Elite Holograms features a flexible permission system:

• Supported Systems: Automatically detects and integrates with LuckPerms and FTB Ranks.
• Fallback: If no supported permission mod is found, commands default to requiring operator (OP level 2) status.
• Granular Nodes: Assign specific permissions for different actions. The base node is eliteholograms.
  • eliteholograms.create: Creating holograms (/eh create, /eh createat, /eh createitem, /eh createscoreboard, /eh copy, /eh settheme).
  • eliteholograms.delete: Deleting holograms (/eh delete).
  • eliteholograms.edit: Modifying existing holograms (/eh addline, /eh setline, /eh removeline, /eh insertline, /eh animateline, /eh movehere, /eh moveto, /eh movevertical, /eh convert, /eh setrotation, /eh background, /eh display, /eh click set, /eh click none).
  • eliteholograms.list: Listing all holograms (/eh list). Also required for the base /eh command.
  • eliteholograms.info: Viewing detailed hologram information (/eh info).
  • eliteholograms.near: Listing nearby holograms (/eh near).
  • eliteholograms.teleport: Teleporting to holograms (/eh teleport).
  • eliteholograms.backlight: Toggling hologram backlights (/eh backlight).
  • eliteholograms.admin: Administrative actions (/eh reload), and /eh click <id> console <command>.
• Elevated clicks are gated separately. /eh click console runs its command with server permissions, so it needs eliteholograms.admin rather than eliteholograms.edit. Without that split, anyone who could edit a hologram could hand themselves operator commands through a clickable sign.
• Console & Command Blocks: Always have full permission to execute hologram commands.

For a detailed guide on setting up permissions, please see PERMISSIONS.md.

Installation

1. Download the build matching your loader and Minecraft version from CurseForge or Modrinth.
2. Place the JAR file in your mods folder. A dedicated server, a single-player instance, and a modpack all work the same way.
3. Fabric only: also install Fabric API. The Fabric editions will not load without it.
4. (Optional) Install LuckPerms or FTB Ranks for granular permissions on a server.
5. Restart the server or launch the game.
6. Use /eh create to start creating holograms!

Building

The root Gradle build covers api, forge19, and forge20:

./gradlew :forge19:build :forge20:build

The Fabric and NeoForge editions are standalone Gradle builds with their own wrappers, because they need different Gradle and JDK versions (Loom 1.7.x pins fabric20 and fabric21 to Gradle 8.8 exactly, and the 26.x editions target Java 25). Build each from its own directory, for example:

cd neo262 && ./gradlew build
cd fabric20 && ./gradlew build
cd fabric21 && ./gradlew build

Output jars land in each module's build/libs. Use the unclassified jar; the -slim variant is the unshaded one without Adventure bundled.

Performance

• Optimized background thread management for placeholder updates and hologram visibility.
• Proper server shutdown handling to prevent hanging and ensure data is saved.
• Crash-safe storage: every save is written to a temporary file, flushed to disk and swapped in atomically, with the previous version kept as a backup. See Storage & Config.
• Efficient placeholder processing with robust error handling.
• Memory-conscious hologram rendering.

Storage & Config

Holograms and configuration are stored under the server or instance config directory:

Edition	Folder
Forge 1.19.2	config/eliteholograms/
Forge 1.20.1, Fabric 1.20.1, Fabric 1.21.1	config/elite-holograms/
NeoForge 1.21.1, 26.1, 26.2	config/eliteholograms/

The Forge 1.20.1 and Fabric editions read a storage_location setting from config.json in that folder if you want to point them somewhere else.

• holograms.json: every regular and item hologram.

• scoreboard_holograms.json: the scoreboard boards themselves, including their theme name, backlight state, and column height, plus the background, scale, brightness, billboard and click command so a styled board comes back the same way after a restart.

• scoreboard_themes.json: the named themes, created pre-populated on first run. Once it exists it is never overwritten, so your edits are preserved, even one with a typo in it, in which case the built-in themes are used until you fix it and run /eh reload. Delete it to restore the starters. A defaultTheme key controls which theme new boards use when none is specified.

How your holograms are protected

• Saves cannot leave a half-written file. Each save writes a complete temporary file, flushes it to disk and swaps it in with one atomic move, so a crash, kill or power cut leaves either the old version or the new one.
• The previous version is kept as holograms.json.bak and scoreboard_holograms.json.bak. If a file is ever found damaged, it is restored from its backup automatically on the next start.
• A damaged file is never overwritten. It is copied aside as <name>.corrupt-<timestamp> first, so whatever it held can still be recovered by hand.
• Holograms in a world that isn't loaded are kept, not deleted. If a hologram or board belongs to a dimension that is missing (a modded dimension whose mod was removed, say), it stays in the file untouched and loads again once that world is back. The log names each one.
• Hand edits are safe. You can edit either JSON file while the server is running and apply it with /eh reload; the mod notices the file changed and loads your edit instead of saving over it.

License

This project is licensed under the MIT License.