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AFK Display

by Vanilla Tweaks

Automatically grays out player names in the tab list when they go AFK. Shows who is active and who is away.

Overview

AFK Display makes it easy to tell who is actually at their keyboard by graying a player name in the tab list once they stop moving. A timer watches for activity and, after the idle threshold passes, dims the name; any movement restores it to normal colour. The away timeout can be adjusted to suit how patient a server wants to be. Nothing about gameplay changes, so it is purely a presence indicator for multiplayer.

It is built for multiplayer servers where players want a quick read on who is active versus away in the tab list. It comes from Vanilla Tweaks, sits in the Utility category, and is rated a simple, drop-in pack to run. Everything happens through vanilla data pack functions, so no mod loader such as Fabric or Forge is required to use it on Minecraft 1.20 through 1.21.4.

Category
Utility
Complexity
Simple
Install Method
World & Server
Popularity
Popular

Features

How It Works

Under the hood, AFK Display relies on plain data pack mechanics rather than any client mod. Here is what happens in-game once it is loaded:

  1. 1A repeating function compares each player position against their last recorded position.
  2. 2When no movement is seen for the configured time the player is flagged as AFK.
  3. 3Flagged players get a grayed team color applied to their tab-list name.
  4. 4Any detected movement clears the flag and restores the normal name color.

Supported Versions

1.201.20.11.20.41.211.21.4

Compatibility

May conflict with other tab list modification packs.

  • Conflicts with other tab-list packs that recolor or reformat player names, since both compete for the same display.
  • May overlap with packs using teams for name coloring, as AFK state relies on a team color assignment.
  • Coexists with sidebar and action-bar packs because it does not touch those display slots.

AFK Display is a pure data pack and does not ship a resource pack, so it changes server-side behaviour without altering textures, models or sounds on the client.

Tags

afktab listmultiplayerdisplay

How to Install

AFK Display installs as a standard Java Edition data pack and runs on both singleplayer worlds and multiplayer servers. Recent 1.21 releases bumped the data pack format, so keep the pack's pack.mcmeta in step with your server version.

  1. 1.Download the AFK Display pack as a .zip and keep it zipped.
  2. 2.Open the target world folder — a singleplayer save under .minecraft/saves, or the world folder on your server.
  3. 3.Drop the .zip into that world's datapacks folder, creating the folder if it does not exist.
  4. 4.Load the world (or run /reload if it is already open) and run /datapack list to confirm it is enabled.

The pack is built for Minecraft 1.20 through 1.21.4, so it loads on vanilla Java without Fabric, Forge or any other mod loader. Drop it in and it begins monitoring movement right away, though a /reload ensures its scheduled functions start cleanly.

View full install guide

Frequently Asked Questions

What Minecraft versions does AFK Display support?

It supports Java Edition 1.20, 1.20.1, 1.20.4, 1.21, and 1.21.4.

Does this pack need any mods?

No. It is a server-side vanilla data pack and needs no Fabric, Forge, or resource pack.

How does it know a player is AFK?

A timer detects no player movement for the set timeout, then marks that player as away.

Can I change how long until someone shows as AFK?

Yes. The AFK timeout is configurable so you can make it shorter or longer.

What does an AFK player look like?

Their name appears grayed out in the tab list and returns to normal once they move.

Does it affect gameplay at all?

No. It only changes the tab-list name color and does not alter any game mechanics.

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