Action Bar / Keybind Router

Action Bar is a client-side utility mod for Minecraft (Forge) designed to mitigate the keybind clutter commonly found in large modpacks. By intercepting key state queries at the input level via Mixins, the mod allows the consolidation of active abilities from various mods into three centralized, easily accessible slots.

The original mods remain fully functional and react to virtual inputs triggered by the Action Bar, eliminating the need to assign dozens of individual physical hotkeys across the keyboard.

Core Mechanics

1. Slot-Based Routing

The mod provides three primary Action Slots (bound to R, G, and V by default). Discovered keybinds from other mods can be assigned directly to these slots. Pressing the designated Action Bar hotkey then triggers the corresponding mod ability.

2. Bypass Mode

For abilities that should retain their original physical hotkeys, a Bypass Mode can be enabled. Bypassed abilities are unmapped from the main Action Bar slots but remain visually tracked in the HUD as small index tabs docked behind the main slots. This provides a visual indicator for active skills without changing their physical controls.

3. Ability Filtering (Hiding)

Unused, passive, or irrelevant keybinds can be completely hidden from the selection menu to keep the interface clean. Hidden abilities can be revealed at any time in the management interface by holding a modifier key.

4. Continuous Input Support

The system fully supports hold-to-cast and channeling abilities. The physical press duration of an Action Bar hotkey is accurately mirrored to the target mod, ensuring that continuous-activation skills function exactly as intended.

User Interface

Management of the Action Bar is integrated directly into the vanilla inventory screen. The configuration interface appears adjacent to the player's character model:

• Slot Click (Left-click): Opens the dropdown selection list containing all discovered mod keybinds.
• Selection (Left-click): Assigns the selected ability to the active slot.
• Bypass Toggle (Ctrl + Left-click): Toggles Bypass Mode for the selected ability.
• Hide Toggle (Right-click): Hides the selected ability from the default dropdown list.
• Reveal Hidden (Hold Shift): Temporarily shows all hidden abilities within the selection list for reconfiguration.

The Resource Pack Exporter

Because automatically captured keybinds from other mods do not natively contain dedicated 16×16 Action Bar icons, the mod includes an integrated texture template generator:

• An "Export RP Template" button is accessible via the in-game pause menu.
• Clicking this button automatically generates a structured, ready-to-use Resource Pack template inside the .minecraft/resourcepacks folder.
• The template contains automatically generated, pre-named placeholder folders and grayscale template PNGs for every captured keybind.
• Players can open these template files in any image editor to draw custom 16×16 icons. Once the Resource Pack is enabled in the game settings, the custom icons will render on the HUD and in the inventory menus.

🌟 Looking for a complete progression system?

Action Bar originally started as an internal tool while developing my main project, Stones. After spending far too much time managing dozens of hotkeys from different mods, I wanted a cleaner way to organize active abilities. The solution eventually became useful enough to release as a standalone utility for everyone.

If you'd like to see Action Bar as part of a complete gameplay experience, take a look at Stones. It's a progression mod built around Minecraft's vanilla XP system where Action Bar serves as the primary interface for active abilities granted by magical runes.

Click the image to visit the Stones page.

Links & Support

🎥 Showcase Video (German Audio):
https://youtu.be/FHvxRGkN_3I

☕ Support the Project:
https://ko-fi.com/karlkarlmann