Dynamic Item Glow

# Dynamic Item Glow

You open a dungeon chest, kill a raid captain or find a death pile, and you’re faced with 27 slots of stuff. Which one is the enchanted book? Is that a plain diamond sword or a god sword? Dynamic Item Glow colors every item by how valuable it is – like the loot colors in your favorite RPG – so you can see the good stuff in half a second.

## Rarity colors

| Tier | Color | Examples |
|——|——-|———-|
| Common | no border (optional gray) | stone, dirt, plain tools |
| Uncommon | **Yellow** | experience bottles, dragon’s breath, renamed items |
| Rare | **Aqua** | enchanted items and books, diamond gear, golden apples, beacons |
| Epic | **Magenta** | netherite gear, enchanted golden apples, dragon eggs, highly enchanted gear |

The tier comes from Minecraft’s own item rarity (which already goes up when an item is enchanted), plus a few extras: **netherite** items count as Epic, **diamond** items as Rare, and items with a **custom name** are at least Uncommon.

## Where you see it

### Every inventory screen
– Your inventory, chests, double chests, ender chests, barrels, shulker boxes, furnaces, the Creative menu – every slot with a valuable item gets a **colored border** and a **soft glow behind the item**.

### Your hotbar
– The same borders on your hotbar and offhand slot while you play.

### Items on the ground
– Valuable dropped items get a **soft colored glow on the ground** and a short light beam, so you spot the good drops in a pile of rotten flesh and bones.
– The glow is drawn like a normal object: it is **hidden behind blocks**, so it never shows items through walls.

### Breathing animation
– **Epic** items and items with **3 or more enchantments** slowly pulse, so your best gear really stands out.

## Settings

Everything can be changed in `config/dynamic_item_glow.json` (created the first time you start the game):
– `slotBorders`, `hotbarBorders`, `groundGlow` – turn each part on or off
– `glowBehindItems` – the soft glow behind items in slots
– `showCommonBorder` – gray border on common items too
– `borderThickness` – 1 or 2 pixels
– `animation`, `animationSpeed` – the breathing effect
– `groundGlowMinTier` – `uncommon`, `rare` or `epic`: lowest tier that glows on the ground
– `groundBeamHeight` – height of the light beam (0 = no beam), `groundGlowDistance` – max distance in blocks
– `colors` – your own hex color for each tier, e.g. `”rare”: “#55FFFF”`

Restart the game after editing the file.

## Works everywhere

This is a **client-side only**, purely visual mod. Install it on your own game and it works in singleplayer and on any multiplayer server – the server does not need it. It only shows information about items you can already see.

## Requirements

– Minecraft **1.21 or 1.21.1**
– **Fabric Loader** 0.15.11 or newer
– **Fabric API**
– Java 21 (included with the official Minecraft launcher)

## Installation

1. Install Fabric Loader for Minecraft 1.21.1 (with the CurseForge app or the official Fabric installer).
2. Install **Fabric API** for 1.21.1 (listed as a required dependency; the CurseForge app installs it automatically).
3. Put the `dynamic-item-glow` .jar file in your `.minecraft/mods` folder.
4. Start the game with the Fabric profile and open a chest.

## Modpacks

You are free to include Dynamic Item Glow in any modpack, no need to ask.

## Also by this author

– **Smart Chest Organizer** – one-click chest sorting and quick deposit.
– **Smart Auto-Trash** – junk items are thrown out of your inventory automatically.
– **Dynamic Armor HUD** – armor and weapon durability always on screen.
– **Smart Tool Safety** – stops nearly broken tools from being used up.
– **Floating Damage Indicators** – damage numbers above mobs.

*The project logo is an illustration created with AI assistance; it is not an in-game screenshot. The screenshots in the gallery are real, unedited in-game captures.*