HeartDev
by CallaCalca
HeartDev is a NeoForge library that exposes the health bar rendering system to other mods, so developers can change how hearts look and behave.
What it does
Developers can reach the health bar rendering path through the mod's API. Textures for hearts can be overridden, and the behavior of hearts can be changed dynamically with a small amount of setup. Some effects are triggered by game state, which lets a developer test how a changed heart bar looks in play. Textures are provided for testing, so a custom heart bar can be built and checked against them.
The rendering approach was revisited from the Colorful Hearts mod, which served as an inspiration for understanding the system. The hearts were then reworked to match the needs of this library. The project is open source under the MIT License, and the author credits Colorful Hearts for the groundwork that made this rendering access possible.
Only the client runs the mod, so players need it and servers do not. Files are published for NeoForge across the 1.21 – 1.21.4 range, with 1.1.3.4.1-devonly21.0-21.1 for 1.21.1 as the latest alpha build, dated 2026-05-17.
Key features
Health bar rendering API
Developers get direct access to the code that draws the health bar, without rewriting it from scratch.
Texture overrides
Heart textures can be replaced through the API, changing how the health bar appears in the game.
Dynamic heart behavior
Heart behavior can be changed on the fly, with a small setup step, rather than fixed at load time.
Effect-driven appearance
Certain effects activate changes to how hearts are drawn, so the result can be checked against real game states.
Gallery
Compatibility
Latest build for each game version and loader.
Only full game releases are shown. This mod publishes no snapshot builds.
Use cases
Custom health bars
A modpack author can swap in a different heart look or add new heart states through the API.
Testing new heart designs
Bundled textures let a developer check a custom heart bar under different effects before release.
Who it’s for: Mod developers who want to change the health bar, and modpack authors who need a custom heart style. Players who only want to play with the default hearts do not need it.
Questions
Does HeartDev need to be installed on a server?
Which NeoForge versions does HeartDev support?
Where can the source code be found?
In the catalog
HeartDev is one of 3,514 Library mods on ModsFinder, and one of 1,449 Library mods for NeoForge. 17,979 mods support Minecraft 1.21.4.
More from CallaCalca
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What the author says
This Library allows developers to easily access the render health bar system, overriding textures and hearts behavours. It is possible to change the behavior and textures of hearts and the health bar, dynamically and, with a little setup, also simply. The library provides some effects that can be activated, thus…
Official listing
- Modrinth page
- modrinth.com/mod/heartdev
- Owner
- CallaCalca
- Published
- 2025-06-02
- Updated on Modrinth
- 2026-05-17
- Facts verified
- 2026-10-15