Popups

Popups are temporary HUD elements that appear in response to events and automatically disappear after a duration. They’re perfect for damage indicators, notifications, quest updates, and any information that should briefly grab the player’s attention. A Popup is a HudObject that:

Appears temporarily when triggered by an event
Automatically disappears after a configured duration
Can be stacked (multiple popups showing simultaneously)
Supports animations and movement effects
Can be queued when too many appear at once

Unlike Huds, Popups are event-driven and temporary. They show up, animate, then fade away.

Basic Structure

Popups are defined in YAML files in the popups/ directory:

my_popup_name:
  triggers:          # What causes this popup to show
    1:
      class: entity_attack
  layouts:           # What to display
    1:
      name: damage_layout
      gui:
        x: 0
        y: 0
      pixel:
        x: 128
        y: 32
  duration: 20       # How long to display (ticks)

Here’s the actual entity health popup from BetterHud’s source:

entity_health_popup:
  move:
    duration: 3
    pixel:
      x-equation: 0
      y-equation: 40t       # Move up 40 pixels per second
  push: true               # Stack multiple popups
  key-mapping: true        # Allow per-entity tracking
  triggers:
    1:
      class: entity_attack  # Show when attacking entity
  layouts:
    1:
      name: entity_health_image
      gui:
        x: 0
        y: 0
      pixel:
        x: 128              # Center of screen
        y: 32               # Near top
    2:
      name: entity_health_text
      gui:
        x: 0
        y: 0
      pixel:
        x: 128
        y: 32
  duration: 20             # Show for 1 second (20 ticks)

This popup:

Triggers on attack

When a player attacks an entity, the entity_attack trigger fires

Shows health info

Displays the entity’s health using both image and text layouts

Moves upward

Animates upward at 40 pixels per second using y-equation: 40t

Stacks multiple hits

With push: true, hitting the same entity multiple times shows multiple popups

Disappears

After 20 ticks (1 second), the popup fades away

The referenced layouts are defined in layouts/entity-layout.yml:

entity_health_image:
  images:
    1:
      name: player           # Show player head/icon
      y: -20
    2:
      name: entity_health_empty  # Background bar
    3:
      name: entity_health_white  # Bar overlay
    4:
      name: entity_health_red    # Damage indicator

entity_health_text:
  texts:
    1:
      name: entity_font
      pattern: "Health: <#FFD800>[entity_health] // [entity_max_health]"
      placeholder-string-format:
        number: "#,###"      # Format numbers with commas
      y: -16
      x: -32
      scale: 0.5
      align: left

Popups can combine images and texts in their layouts to create rich notifications.

Triggers

Triggers determine when a popup appears:

my_popup:
  triggers:
    1:
      class: entity_attack   # Built-in trigger class
      cooldown: 5           # Minimum ticks between triggers

Common Trigger Classes

Trigger	When it Fires	Use Case
`entity_attack`	Player attacks entity	Damage indicators
`player_death`	Player dies	Death messages
`player_join`	Player joins server	Welcome messages
`player_quit`	Player leaves server	Goodbye messages
`command`	Command executed	Command feedback
`custom`	API call	Plugin integration

Use the API to trigger popups programmatically:

popup.show(UpdateEvent.of(player), hudPlayer);

Duration and Timing

Control how long popups display:

my_popup:
  duration: 40        # Display for 40 ticks (2 seconds)
  frame-type: local   # Use popup-local timing (default)

Frame Types

Local Timing

frame-type: local - Each popup has its own animation timeline starting from 0

Global Timing

frame-type: global - All popups share the global tick counter

Local timing is recommended for most popups as it ensures animations play consistently regardless of when the popup was triggered.

Movement and Animation

Popups can move and animate during their lifetime:

my_popup:
  move:
    duration: 3          # Movement speed (higher = slower)
    pixel:
      x-equation: 10t    # Move right 10 pixels per second
      y-equation: -30t   # Move up 30 pixels per second
  layouts:
    # ...

Animation Variables

t - Time since popup appeared (0 to duration)
Mathematical functions - sin, cos, exp, log, etc.

Movement Examples

Float Up
Bounce
Fade In
Spiral

move:
  pixel:
    x-equation: 0
    y-equation: -20t  # Negative = upward

move:
  pixel:
    x-equation: 0
    y-equation: 30sin(t * pi)

move:
  duration: 10
  pixel:
    x-equation: 5 - t/2  # Move less as time goes on
    y-equation: 0

move:
  pixel:
    x-equation: 10cos(t)
    y-equation: 10sin(t)

Stacking Popups

Control how multiple popups interact:

my_popup:
  max-stack: 5          # Allow up to 5 popups simultaneously
  push: true            # Stack new popups (don't replace old ones)
  group: damage_group   # Group name for organization

Push Behavior

Push Enabled

push: true - New popups stack above old ones. Old popups remain visible.

Push Disabled

push: false - New popups replace old ones in the same group.

Stack Sorting

Control the order of stacked popups:

my_popup:
  push: true
  sort-type: recent     # Most recent on top
  # Options: recent, old

When max-stack is reached, the oldest popup is removed to make room for the new one.

Organize related popups into groups:

damage_popup:
  group: combat_notifications
  max-stack: 3
  # ...

heal_popup:
  group: combat_notifications
  max-stack: 3
  # ...

Popups in the same group:

Share the same stack limit
Can be hidden/shown together
Are positioned relative to each other

Use groups to prevent too many notifications from cluttering the screen. All notifications in a group share the stack limit.

Key Mapping

Track popups per-entity or per-object:

entity_health_popup:
  key-mapping: true     # Each entity gets its own popup
  push: true
  triggers:
    1:
      class: entity_attack

With key-mapping: true:

Attacking Entity A and Entity B shows two separate popups
Each entity’s popup updates independently
Perfect for per-target damage indicators

The “key” is typically the entity UUID or a unique identifier from the trigger event.

Showing Popups via API

Trigger popups programmatically:

import kr.toxicity.hud.api.BetterHud;
import kr.toxicity.hud.api.popup.Popup;
import kr.toxicity.hud.api.update.UpdateEvent;

// Get popup by name
Popup popup = BetterHud.getInstance()
    .getPopupManager()
    .getPopup("my_popup");

// Create update event with custom variables
Map<String, String> variables = new HashMap<>();
variables.put("damage", "15");
variables.put("killer", "Zombie");

UpdateEvent event = UpdateEvent.of(player)
    .withVariables(variables);

// Show popup
if (popup != null) {
    popup.show(event, hudPlayer);
}

With Skript

command /damage:
    trigger:
        set {_vars::damage} to 42
        set {_vars::type} to "critical"
        show popup "damage_popup" to player with variable of {_vars::*}

Variables passed in the UpdateEvent can be used as placeholders in the popup layout.

Hiding Popups

Remove popups programmatically:

// Hide a specific popup
popup.hide(hudPlayer);

// Hide all popups in a group
String groupName = popup.getGroupName();
var group = hudPlayer.getPopupGroupIteratorMap().remove(groupName);
if (group != null) {
    group.clear();
}

Advanced: Conditions

Show popups only when conditions are met:

my_popup:
  conditions:
    - "<player_health> < 5"      # Only show when low health
    - "<player_world> = 'world'"  # Only in specific world
  triggers:
    # ...

Complete Example

A full-featured damage indicator popup:

damage_indicator:
  # Trigger
  triggers:
    1:
      class: entity_attack
      cooldown: 2
  
  # Stacking
  max-stack: 8
  push: true
  sort-type: recent
  key-mapping: true
  group: combat_indicators
  
  # Timing
  duration: 25
  frame-type: local
  
  # Movement
  move:
    duration: 2
    pixel:
      x-equation: 5cos(t * 2)
      y-equation: -40t
  
  # Display
  layouts:
    1:
      name: damage_text
      gui:
        x: 50
        y: 40
      pixel:
        x: 0
        y: 0

With the layout:

damage_text:
  texts:
    1:
      name: damage_font
      pattern: "<red>-[damage]"
      scale: 1.5
      align: center
  animations:
    duration: 25
    x-equation: 0
    y-equation: 0

Best Practices

Performance

Limit max-stack to reasonable numbers (5-10)
Use appropriate duration values (don’t make them too long)
Add cooldown to frequently-triggered popups

User Experience

Don’t overwhelm players with too many popups
Use movement to direct attention (up = good, down = bad)
Keep popup text concise
Use groups to organize related notifications

Design

Test animations at different frame rates
Ensure popups don’t obscure important UI elements
Use consistent styling across popup types

Next Steps

Triggers

Learn about all available trigger types

Layouts

Configure text and image layouts

API: Popups

Trigger popups programmatically

Huds

Learn about persistent HUD displays

Get Started

Core Concepts

Configuration

Platform Guides

Advanced

Basic Structure

Triggers

Common Trigger Classes

Duration and Timing

Frame Types

Local Timing

Global Timing

Movement and Animation

Animation Variables

Movement Examples

Stacking Popups

Push Behavior

Push Enabled

Push Disabled

Stack Sorting

Key Mapping

Showing Popups via API

With Skript

Hiding Popups

Advanced: Conditions

Complete Example

Best Practices

Next Steps

Triggers

Layouts

API: Popups

Huds

Build docs developers (and LLMs) love

Get Started

Core Concepts

Configuration

Platform Guides

Advanced

​What is a Popup?

​Basic Structure

​Real Example: Entity Health Popup

​Popup Layouts

​Triggers

​Common Trigger Classes

​Duration and Timing

​Frame Types

Local Timing

Global Timing

​Movement and Animation

​Animation Variables

​Movement Examples

​Stacking Popups

​Push Behavior

Push Enabled

Push Disabled

​Stack Sorting

​Popup Groups

​Key Mapping

​Showing Popups via API

​With Skript

​Hiding Popups

​Advanced: Conditions

​Complete Example

​Best Practices

​Next Steps

Triggers

Layouts

API: Popups

Huds

Build docs developers (and LLMs) love

What is a Popup?

Basic Structure

Real Example: Entity Health Popup

Popup Layouts

Triggers

Common Trigger Classes

Duration and Timing

Frame Types

Movement and Animation

Animation Variables

Movement Examples

Stacking Popups

Push Behavior

Stack Sorting

Popup Groups

Key Mapping

Showing Popups via API

With Skript

Hiding Popups

Advanced: Conditions

Complete Example

Best Practices

Next Steps