Chat Bubbles
Chat Bubbles shows each chat message as a floating text bubble above the sender's head, so nearby players can see who is talking.
What it does
Messages appear as vanilla-looking bubbles that fade in, drift upward and fade out again. The bubbles are drawn with the same clean, name-tag-style text that Minecraft uses, which keeps them visually close to the rest of the interface.
The mod runs entirely on the client, so it can be added to vanilla servers, Realms and SMPs without the server or other players installing anything. Text color, background transparency, size, display duration and view distance can all be adjusted. The mod is built on the rendering pipeline introduced in Minecraft 26.3.
Installation needs Fabric API and Cloth Config API, which the settings screen uses. Mod Menu is optional and adds a way to open the configuration from the mods list. Chat Bubbles is published for Fabric only, for game versions 1.21.9 – 26.3, and is released under CC0 1.0 Universal, so its source code is open source.
Key features
Floating chat bubbles
Chat messages appear as text above the player's head and fade out after a set time.
Smooth animations
Bubbles fade in, float upward and fade out, so messages do not pop on and off the screen.
Adjustable appearance
Players can adjust the text color, the background opacity, the bubble size, how long each bubble stays visible, and the distance at which bubbles are shown.
Client-side operation
Only the player's client draws the bubbles, so the mod works on any server without being installed there.
Gallery
Compatibility
Latest build for each game version and loader.
Only full game releases are shown. This mod publishes no snapshot builds.
Requirements
Dependencies declared by the latest file for each loader.
Required 2
Optional 1
Use cases
Roleplay and social play
Messages stay attached to the speaker, which helps groups tell who is talking in busy scenes.
Multiplayer servers and Realms
Players who join vanilla servers or Realms can use the bubbles without any change to the server.
Who it’s for: Players who want chat shown above characters during roleplay, hanging out with friends or playing on SMPs. Players who prefer the standard chat window alone may not need it.
How it compares
Speech Heads is a Fabric mod for 1.21.1 with the client and server environment, under All rights reserved, so it is not open source and must run on both sides. WebCam Bubbles is also client and server, but for 1.21.4 under the MIT License, which makes it open source. Sky Bubble is client-side only and open source under the MIT License, but it covers 26.2 – 26.3 rather than the 1.21.9 – 26.3 range used here.
| Mod | Loaders | Game versions | Environment | Updated |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chat Bubbles | Fabric | 1.21.9 – 26.3 | Client-side only | 2026-10-08 |
| Speech Heads | Fabric | 1.21.1 | Client and server | 2026-07-11 |
| WebCam Bubbles | Fabric | 1.21.4 | Client and server | 2025-06-29 |
| Sky Bubble | Fabric | 26.2 – 26.3 | Client-side only | 2026-10-12 |
Questions
Does Chat Bubbles need Fabric API?
Does the server need Chat Bubbles?
Which game versions does Chat Bubbles support?
In the catalog
Chat Bubbles is one of 5,392 Social mods on ModsFinder, and one of 4,084 Social mods for Fabric. 8,071 mods support Minecraft 26.3.
More from UltimateGamerMC
Similar mods
What the author says
See who's talking. Chat Bubbles shows chat messages as clean floating text above players' heads, the way Minecraft should have done it. Perfect for SMPs, roleplay and hanging out with friends.
Official listing
- Modrinth page
- modrinth.com/mod/chat-bubbles
- Owner
- UltimateGamerMC
- Published
- 2025-10-22
- Updated on Modrinth
- 2026-10-08
- Facts verified
- 2026-10-15