New Death Messages
New Death Messages rewrites the text shown when a player dies, replacing the default lines with snarky or reference-based ones for falls, fire, lightning and other causes.
What it does
The mod changes the death message that appears when a player is killed. Vanilla lines are swapped for alternatives that name the cause in a playful way, and the text is built from the player name, the killing mob and the item used. Around 99 message variants are included, covering falls off ladders, vines, scaffolding and high places, damage from entities, lightning strikes, burns from fire and lava, and deaths involving renamed items.
The change is visible only on the player's own screen, since the mod runs on the client alone and needs no server install. Files are published for Forge and NeoForge for 1.20.1, with builds also covering 1.19.2, and the mod is released under the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial Share Alike 4.0 license, so it is not open source. Its latest file, 2.0.0, was released on 2024-01-11, after a first release on 2024-01-07.
Key features
Replacement death lines
Default death messages are replaced with new text written to be funnier or more pointed than the vanilla wording.
Fall-specific messages
Separate lines cover falls off ladders, vines, weeping and twisting vines, scaffolding and high places, with extra text when a player falls while holding a renamed item.
Fire and lightning messages
Burns from fire, lava and lightning strikes each have their own set of lines, including cases where another entity was fighting the player.
Message variables
Lines use placeholders for the player name, the killing mob and the item used, so each message names the actual cause of death.
Gallery
Compatibility
Latest build for each game version and loader.
Only full game releases are shown. This mod publishes no snapshot builds.
How it compares
No Villager Death Messages is an option on Forge and NeoForge for 1.16.5 – 1.21.1, under the MIT License and open source, but it changes only villager deaths and can be used with either side. Death Locator is server-side only for Fabric and Forge on 1.19.2 – 1.20.1, released under the GNU General Public License v3.0 only and open source, so it tracks where players die rather than changing the text. New Death Messages, by contrast, is client-side only, changes the message text for every death, and is not open source.
| Mod | Loaders | Game versions | Environment | Updated |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| New Death Messages | Forge and NeoForge | 1.19.2 – 1.20.1 | Client-side only | 2024-01-11 |
| No Villager Death Messages | Forge and NeoForge | 1.16.5 – 1.21.1 | Client or server, optional | 2024-10-14 |
| Death Locator | Fabric and Forge | 1.19.2 – 1.20.1 | Server-side only | 2025-03-25 |
Questions
Does New Death Messages need to be installed on the server?
Which loaders and versions does New Death Messages support?
Does New Death Messages change gameplay or only the text?
In the catalog
New Death Messages is one of 36,990 Utility mods on ModsFinder, and one of 14,575 Utility mods for Forge. 34,764 mods support Minecraft 1.20.1.
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What the author says
(Fall off ladder) "%1$s stepped down from their position as boss of a ladder", (Fall off vines) "%1$s discovered that they are not Tarzan",
Official listing
- Modrinth page
- modrinth.com/mod/new-death-messages
- Owner
- Neon_Cranberries
- Published
- 2024-01-07
- Updated on Modrinth
- 2024-01-11
- Facts verified
- 2026-10-15