Heed The Light
by ras_rap
Heed The Light is a Minecraft mechanic in which darkness hurts a player who stays in low light too long, with a grace period before the damage begins.
What it does
Standing in low light for longer than a grace period starts damage at a set interval, and the damage increases the longer the player remains in the dark. A subtle vignette darkens the screen edges during the grace period, signalling that the player should find light. Keeping a torch in hand or placing light sources close by keeps the player safe.
Every value is adjustable: the light threshold, the grace period, the damage interval and the base damage can all be changed. The in-game settings screen is reachable through Mod Menu and uses Cloth Config. With LambDynamicLights installed, dynamic light sources held by players or dropped nearby count toward the light level.
Architectury API and Cloth Config API are required. Mod Menu is optional and adds the settings screen. Heed The Light runs on client and server, so the server and every player need it. Files are published for Fabric, Forge and NeoForge across 17 release versions, 1.20.1 – 1.21.11, under the MIT License and the source code is public.
Key features
Darkness damage
Low light levels below a configurable threshold start hurting the player once the grace period has run out.
Escalating hits
Damage ramps up the longer the player stays in the dark, so lingering becomes steadily more dangerous.
Screen-edge warning
A subtle vignette darkens the edges of the screen during the grace period as an early signal.
Configurable values
The light threshold, grace period, damage interval and base damage can all be changed in the config.
Light source support
With LambDynamicLights, dynamic light sources count toward the light level around the player.
Gallery
Compatibility
Latest build for each game version and loader.
1.21.x11 of 11 versions with builds
1.20.x6 of 6 versions with builds
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
How it compares
Simple Grace Period is a Fabric-only server-side mod for 26.2, open source under the MIT License, so it covers a single newer version. Sunshine Grace is server-side only, open source under the GNU Lesser General Public License v3.0 only, and spans 1.20 – 26.3 on all three loaders, so players do not need to install it. JustFly is a client and server mod for Fabric and NeoForge, released under the MIT License, and it is not open source.
| Mod | Loaders | Game versions | Environment | Updated |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Heed The Light | Fabric, Forge and NeoForge | 1.20.1 – 1.21.11 | Client and server | 2026-08-04 |
| Simple Grace Period | Fabric | 26.2 | Server required, client optional | 2026-06-30 |
| Sunshine Grace | Fabric, Forge and NeoForge | 1.20 – 26.3 | Server-side only | 2026-10-03 |
| JustFly | Fabric and NeoForge | 1.21.4 – 1.21.11 | Client and server | 2026-02-12 |
Questions
Does Heed The Light need Architectury API on Forge?
Does the server need Heed The Light?
Can the settings be changed in game?
In the catalog
Heed The Light is one of 29,952 Game mechanics mods on ModsFinder, and one of 19,630 Game mechanics mods for Fabric. 19,862 mods support Minecraft 1.21.11.
Similar mods
What the author says
The dark is dangerous. Stay in darkness too long, and it will start to hurt. Heed the Light adds a simple, brutal mechanic to Minecraft 1.20.1: when you linger in low light levels (6 or below by default), a brief grace period begins — and when it ends, the darkness starts dealing damage. The longer you stay in the…
Official listing
- Modrinth page
- modrinth.com/mod/htl
- Owner
- ras_rap
- Published
- 2026-08-03
- Updated on Modrinth
- 2026-08-04
- Facts verified
- 2026-10-15