How do I install GlowingBlocks + NPC + Heads!?

Install the matching mod loader (Forge, Fabric or NeoForge) for your Minecraft version. Download the .jar. Put it in the .minecraft/mods folder and launch that loader profile. Opens on Spigot — not every file is mirrored on our own servers.

What Minecraft version does GlowingBlocks + NPC + Heads! work with?

The listing gives Minecraft 1.19, 1.20, 1.20.6, among others. This is the version stated by the author or source site, not something we verified ourselves.

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GlowingBlocks + NPC + Heads!

Java mod listed for Minecraft 1.19–1.21. Downloads from the MC Java Mods app on Android.

Colored Outlines for Blocks, Player Heads & Citizens NPCs Highlight crates, guide players to NPCs, and bring important locations into view. Static colors…

⬇ Download on Spigot

Open in MC Java Mods Get it on Google Play →

Colored Outlines for Blocks, Player Heads & Citizens NPCs

Highlight crates, guide players to NPCs, and bring important locations into view.
Static colors or rainbow animation, private or global — saved across restarts.

✨ Glowing blocks stay fully clickable — outlines have no hitbox! ✨

NEW IN 2.0.0

✅ True per-player effects — every player can have their own private glow on the same block or NPC, alongside one global effect
✅ Hitbox-free outlines — clicks go straight to the real block, chests and crates open normally
✅ Fully working config.yml — rainbow palette, messages, limits, feature toggles and more
✅ Reliable /ge reload — reapplies all effects without losing unsaved changes
✅ NPC name tags stay hidden while glowing, also during rainbow animation
✅ Safer storage — atomic saves, no data loss for unloaded worlds, automatic migration from 1.0.0

✨ CORE FEATURES

Glowing Blocks & Heads

Any block can glow — 16 colors or animated rainbow
Player heads keep their skin inside the outline (ideal for crates!)
Fully clickable — the outline has no hitbox, so the block works exactly as before
Private or global — only you see it, or everyone does
Persistent — effects are saved and restored after a restart

Glowing NPCs (Requires Citizens)

Same colors, rainbow and private/global modes as blocks
Name tags are hidden while the NPC glows
Effects survive NPC despawn/respawn and server restarts
Citizens is optional — block features work without it

⚙️ Under the Hood

Display entities (BlockDisplay / ItemDisplay) — no hitbox, not saved into your worlds
Per-player visibility — each outline is shown only to the players who should see it
Configurable limits for saved blocks per player and global blocks
No ProtocolLib required — the GlowingEntities library is bundled in the JAR

COMMANDS & PERMISSIONS

Block Commands

Code (Text):

/glowblock [color|rainbow] [private|global] (aliases: /gb, /glow)
Permission: glowingblocks.glowblock
Look at a block (default range: 5 blocks) to make it glow.

/unglowblock [private|global] (aliases: /ugb, /unglow)
Permission: glowingblocks.unglowblock
Remove the glow from the block you're looking at.

NPC Commands (Requires Citizens)

Code (Text):

Admin Commands (/glowingentities, aliases: /ge, /glowing)

Code (Text):

Permission: glowingblocks.admin

/ge help Show command help
/ge list Show counts of saved block, animated and NPC effects
/ge save Save all effects to disk
/ge reload Reload config and data, then reapply all effects
/ge version Show the plugin version

Permissions (all default to OP)

glowingblocks.glowblock — create or change block effects
glowingblocks.unglowblock — remove block effects
glowingblocks.glownpc — create or change NPC effects
glowingblocks.unglownpc — remove NPC effects
glowingblocks.global — additionally required for global effects
glowingblocks.admin — admin commands (also allows global effects)

️ PRIVATE & GLOBAL

Private — only you see the effect. Every player can have their own on the same object.
Global — visible to every player nearby.
Both at once? Your private effect takes priority for you. Removing it reveals the global one again.

Without a mode argument, defaults.visibility from the config is used ( private by default).

AVAILABLE COLORS

16 Static Colors:

BLACK · DARK_BLUE · DARK_GREEN · DARK_AQUA
DARK_RED · DARK_PURPLE · GOLD · GRAY
DARK_GRAY · BLUE · GREEN · AQUA
RED · LIGHT_PURPLE · YELLOW · WHITE

Animated:

RAINBOW — cycles RED → GOLD → YELLOW → GREEN → AQUA → BLUE → LIGHT_PURPLE every second. Colors and speed are configurable.

Color names are case-insensitive.

USAGE EXAMPLES

Basic Block Glowing

Code (Text):

# Red glow only you can see
/gb RED private

# Rainbow glow for everyone
/gb RAINBOW global

# Remove your private glow
/ugb private

Crate Highlighting

Code (Text):

# Look at a player-head crate and run:
/gb GOLD global

# Players still open the crate by clicking —
# the outline has no hitbox, so clicks reach the real block.

Citizens NPCs

Code (Text):

# NPC with ID 12 glows gold for everyone
/glownpc 12 GOLD global

# Rainbow glow only you can see
/glownpc 12 RAINBOW private

# Remove the global glow
/unglownpc 12 global

Quest & Event Markers

Code (Text):

/gb YELLOW global # Quest marker
/gb GREEN global # Completed objective
/gb RED global # Danger zone
/gb AQUA global # Information point

USE CASES

✅ Crates — highlight crate locations without blocking interaction
✅ Quests — mark objectives, quest NPCs and important places
✅ Spawn & hubs — guide new players to teleport NPCs and portals
✅ Minigames & events — color-coded zones, objectives and teams
✅ Shops — make shop chests and NPCs stand out

REQUIREMENTS

✅ Paper 1.19.4 or newer (Spigot, Bukkit and Folia are not supported)
✅ Java 17+ (or newer if your server version requires it)
➕ Citizens — optional, only for NPC features
❌ ProtocolLib — not required

Tested on Paper 1.20.4 with and without Citizens 2.0.33.

⚙️ CONFIGURATION

Edit plugins/GlowingBlocks/config.yml and run /ge reload.

Code (Text):

rainbow:
enabled: true
interval-ticks: 20
colors: [RED, GOLD, YELLOW, GREEN, AQUA, BLUE, LIGHT_PURPLE]

defaults:
visibility: private
raycast-range: 5

features:
global-mode: true
rainbow-animation: true
npc-glow: true
auto-save: true
command-aliases: true

performance:
max-blocks-per-player: 1000
max-global-blocks: 500

All messages and the prefix are configurable (& color codes supported)
Disabling global or NPC features hides those effects but keeps their saved data
Invalid config is rejected on reload — your active settings stay untouched

Storage

Effects are saved in saves.yml — automatically (batched) and on shutdown, or manually with /ge save
Entries from unloaded worlds are kept, not deleted
Breaking or replacing a glowing block removes its effect — no floating outlines

⬆️ UPDATING FROM 1.0.0

Stop the server and replace the old JAR with the new one
Keep the plugins/GlowingBlocks/ folder — your old config keeps working
saves.yml is migrated automatically (backup: saves.yml.v1.bak)
Old private NPC effects had no owner saved, so they become global (a warning is shown in the console)
Start the server — a full restart is required, /ge reload does not load new plugin code

CHANGELOG

Version 2.0.0

✨ Independent private & global effects per player for blocks and NPCs
✨ New hitbox-free outlines based on Display entities — clicks reach the real block
✨ All config.yml options now work (rainbow palette, messages, limits, feature toggles)
✨ Private NPC glow — previously visible to everyone
Fixed private effects of different players overwriting each other
Fixed lost data for unloaded worlds and world names with dots
Fixed /ge reload losing unsaved changes and not reapplying effects
Fixed NPC name tags appearing when glow was enabled
Fixed NPC effects being deleted on server shutdown and lost after respawn
Fixed global blocks showing in other worlds and outlines left after breaking blocks
⚠️ Minimum server version is now Paper 1.19.4

Version 1.0.0

✨ First release: glowing blocks & heads, rainbow animation, Citizens NPCs, global/private modes, saves.yml storage

SUPPORT

Found a bug? Report it on GitHub Issues or in the discussion thread with:

Server software and version (e.g. Paper 1.21.4)
Citizens version (if the issue concerns NPCs)
Full error log from the console
Steps to reproduce

Need help? Join our Discord!

❤️ CREDITS

Plugin: TremeQ
Bundled library: GlowingEntities by SkytAsul (MIT License)

The bundled library includes local fixes for packet handling and effect cleanup.

⭐ Download now and make your server shine! ⭐

Like this plugin? Leave a review and rating! ❤️

Commands

/glowblock — Make the block you are looking at glow
/<command> [color|rainbow] [global]
/unglowblock — Stop the block you are looking at from glowing
/<command>
/glownpc — Make a Citizens NPC glow
/<command> <npc_id|name> [color|rainbow]
/unglownpc — Stop a Citizens NPC from glowing
/<command> <npc_id|name>
/glowingentities — Main plugin command
/<command> [reload|help|list|save]

Plugin details

Built for Minecraft 1.21+
Plugin version 1.0.0
Author TremeQ
Works with Citizens

Read from the plugin's own plugin.yml.

Quick facts

Edition: Minecraft Java
File type: .jar
Minecraft versions listed: 1.19, 1.20, 1.20.6
How to install: Install the matching mod loader (Forge, Fabric or NeoForge) for your Minecraft version. → Download the .jar. → Put it in the .minecraft/mods folder and launch that loader profile.
Where to get it: Opens on Spigot — not every file is mirrored on our own servers.

Install steps are the general flow for this file type — How to install Minecraft Java mods & modpacks walks through it step by step.

GlowingBlocks + NPC + Heads! is a free Minecraft Java mod. Compatible with Minecraft 1.19, 1.20, 1.20.6, 1.21. Downloaded 72 times (via Spigot). Download it and open it directly in the game.

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