Vital Hearts
by Op4ww
Vital Hearts shows the health of the entity a player is looking at or has just struck, drawn as hearts above the target on the client.
What it does
The display appears when the crosshair rests on a living target or after the player hits one. Target health is drawn as a row of hearts, and damage and healing are shown as floating combat popups near the target, in a plain, readable style. Because the health display is triggered by looking at or hitting a target, the hearts stay hidden until they are needed.
Vital Hearts is a client-side only mod, so the server does not need it and players can join servers without installing it. It requires Fabric API, and Mod Menu is optional for its configuration screen. The mod is open source under the MIT License and has files for 26.1 and 26.1.1, with 1.0.0+26.1.1 for 26.1.1 as the latest Fabric build, published on 2026-04-05.
Key features
Target health hearts
A row of hearts shows the current health of the entity under the crosshair, making its condition readable at a glance.
Health shown after a hit
Striking a target brings up its health display, so the number of hearts updates during a fight without extra input.
Look-based display
Simply aiming at a living target also reveals its hearts, which covers cases where the player has not attacked yet.
Floating combat popups
Damage and healing numbers appear as short popups above the target, keeping the result of each hit visible in the same spot.
Lightweight design
All health display runs on the client, so the mod adds no load on the server and needs no changes to the world.
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 1
Optional 1
Use cases
Who it’s for: Players who want to read the health of mobs and other players during combat without opening a separate screen. It suits anyone on a Fabric client running Minecraft 26.1 or 26.1.1.
How it compares
TruHearts is a client-side only Fabric mod under the MIT License, open source, with files for 26.1 – 26.2, so it covers the same version range as Vital Hearts. Heart Indicator is also client-side only on Fabric and under the MIT License, but it is not open source and its files cover 1.21 – 26.3. Hardcore Additions is a different kind of mod: it is open source under the MIT License, targets only 26.2, and either side can run it, and neither needs it.
| Mod | Loaders | Game versions | Environment | Updated |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Vital Hearts | Fabric | 26.1 – 26.1.1 | Client-side only | 2026-04-05 |
| TruHearts | Fabric | 26.1 – 26.2 | Client-side only | 2026-08-03 |
| Heart Indicator | Fabric | 1.21 – 26.3 | Client-side only | 2026-09-22 |
| Hardcore Additions | Fabric | 26.2 | Client or server, optional | 2026-07-06 |
Questions
Does Vital Hearts need Fabric API?
Does the server need Vital Hearts?
Is Mod Menu needed to use Vital Hearts?
Which game versions does Vital Hearts support?
In the catalog
Vital Hearts is one of 29,952 Game mechanics mods on ModsFinder, and one of 19,630 Game mechanics mods for Fabric. 11,522 mods support Minecraft 26.1.1.
Similar mods
What the author says
Vital is a lightweight client-side Fabric mod for Minecraft Java Edition that displays target health as hearts and shows floating combat popups in a clean, readable style.
Official listing
- Modrinth page
- modrinth.com/mod/vital-hearts
- Owner
- Op4ww
- Published
- 2026-04-05
- Updated on Modrinth
- 2026-04-05
- Facts verified
- 2026-10-15