Safe Offhand
by mrkoszos
Safe Offhand lets players lock individual hotbar slots so that an accidental offhand swap cannot move the item in them.
What it does
Each hotbar slot can be locked or left free on its own. When a locked slot is selected and the offhand swap key is pressed, the swap is cancelled and an actionbar message reports that it was blocked. Free slots keep the normal offhand behavior, and swaps made from the inventory screen are not affected.
The mod changes only the offhand swap key on the client, so opening the inventory with that key and interacting with hovered items still works as it does in vanilla. Settings such as whether the mod is enabled are adjusted through Mod Menu. Safe Offhand is a lightweight Fabric mod that runs on the client alone, so servers need nothing installed and players join without it.
The code is open source under the MIT License. Files are published for Fabric only, across nine release versions 1.21.8 – 26.3, and the latest build, 1.1.0, targets 26.3.
Key features
Lockable hotbar slots
Any hotbar slot can be marked as locked, so the item in it stays put when the offhand swap key is pressed.
Blocked swap message
A locked slot that is selected and swapped shows an actionbar message, making it clear the swap was stopped.
Selective protection
Only the slots a player chooses are protected, while free slots keep working as usual.
Mod Menu configuration
Enabling the mod and setting up locked slots are handled in Mod Menu, with no config file editing.
Compatibility
Latest build for each game version and loader.
26.x5 of 5 versions with builds
1.21.x4 of 4 versions with builds
Only full game releases are shown. This mod publishes no snapshot builds.
Use cases
Protecting tools and totems
A player can lock the hotbar slot that holds a totem or a tool, so the offhand key cannot move it out of place during a fight.
Quick swaps elsewhere
Free slots still allow offhand swaps, so a player can keep using the key for shields or torches in other slots.
Who it’s for: Players who often press the offhand key by mistake and want certain hotbar items to stay in their slots. The mod is useful in combat-heavy play and on any client that runs Fabric.
How it compares
Hover Totem is a Fabric mod for 1.21.11 under a custom license, and it is client-side only. Auto Totem Swaper is released under the MIT License, but it runs on client and server and covers 1.21 – 1.21.11, so it changes swap behavior on both sides. Swap Helper is client-side only and reaches 1.21 – 26.1.2, but it is released under All rights reserved.
| Mod | Loaders | Game versions | Environment | Updated |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Safe Offhand | Fabric | 1.21.8 – 26.3 | Client-side only | 2026-10-06 |
| Hover Totem | Fabric | 1.21.11 | Client-side only | 2026-07-30 |
| Auto Totem Swaper | Fabric | 1.21 – 1.21.11 | Client and server | 2026-03-18 |
| Swap Helper | Fabric | 1.21 – 26.1.2 | Client-side only | 2026-10-11 |
Questions
Does Safe Offhand need to be installed on the server?
Which game versions does Safe Offhand support?
Can the locked slots be changed in game?
In the catalog
Safe Offhand is one of 17,631 Equipment mods on ModsFinder, and one of 8,894 Equipment mods for Fabric. 8,071 mods support Minecraft 26.3.
More from mrkoszos
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What the author says
Safe Offhand is a lightweight client-side Fabric mod that prevents accidental swaps to the offhand. The mod adds lockable hotbar slots. When a locked hotbar slot is selected, pressing the offhand swap key will be blocked. Unlocked slots still work normally, and inventory-based offhand swaps are left untouched.
Official listing
- Modrinth page
- modrinth.com/mod/safeoffhand
- Owner
- mrkoszos
- Published
- 2026-06-29
- Updated on Modrinth
- 2026-10-06
- Facts verified
- 2026-10-15