Cloud's Unobtrusive Shields++
Java resource pack listed for Minecraft 1.16–1.18. Download on the author's site.
⬇ Download on CurseForge
This pack makes shields block much less of your vision, while positioning them to better match how they look in 3rd person. It also improves shield positioning & scaling across the board, such as for 3rd person blocking. Additionally, it gives shields unique break particles, and a separate position in your hotbar while blocking.

Effects include lower & symmetrically-held shields, and consistent sizing. Through painstaking math & model simulations, I've arrived at a set of highly precise numbers for every possible display position - 3rd person (both hands), 1st person (both hands), GUIs, dropped items (including villagers & foxes), item frames, and even heads.
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Q: Seems simple enough. "Painstaking" how?
A: Shields have a very weird origin point in vanilla. This makes things like working with staggered rotations about multiple axes really complex, which I guess shows in the way Mojang ended up handling shield positioning. I set out to make my display positions symmetrical for both hands, among other things.
Q: What did you mean when you mentioned villagers & foxes?
A: Their hand and mouth positions are based on that of dropped items. After testing, I opted to make dropped items rotate around the wood of the shield rather than around the handle, in part to let these two mobs' positions look better. But I don't have fine control over the individual positions, and the focus is on how shields look on the ground.
Q: Why are shields on heads smaller?
A: I tried to make them bigger to match the size of held shields, but vanilla doesn't allow scaling like this for worn items.
- Edition: Minecraft Java
- File type: .zip (resource pack)
- Minecraft versions listed: 1.18.1, 1.18.2, 1.18
- How to install: Download the .zip resource pack — do not unzip it. → Put it in .minecraft/resourcepacks. → Enable it in Options → Resource Packs.
- Where to get it: Opens on CurseForge — not every file is mirrored on our own servers.
Install steps are the general flow for this file type — How to install Minecraft Java resource packs walks through it step by step.
Cloud's Unobtrusive Shields++ is a free Minecraft Java resourcepack. Compatible with Minecraft 1.18.1, 1.18.2, 1.18, 1.17.1 and newer. Downloaded 27,998 times (via CurseForge). Download it and open it directly in the game.