How-to guide

From download to your first speech bubble, for players and for server owners. About five minutes.

1. Check what you are running#

   Busy Bodies 0.2.0 is made for Minecraft 26.3 on Java 25. Players need Fabric (with Fabric API) or NeoForge. Servers can run Fabric, NeoForge or Paper.

2. Download the right file#

   The Fabric and NeoForge files are on the Busy Bodies page on CurseForge. The Paper plugin has its own page, because CurseForge lists plugins apart from mods.

   You are	File	Goes in
   A player on Fabric	busybodies-fabric-26.3-0.2.0.jar	your mods folder, next to Fabric API
   A player on NeoForge	busybodies-neoforge-26.3-0.2.0.jar	your mods folder
   A Fabric or NeoForge server	the same file as the players	the server's mods folder
   A Paper server	busybodies-paper-26.3-0.2.0.jar, from Busy Bodies for Paper	the server's plugins folder

   The server needs it too. Without Busy Bodies on the server, players with the mod only see who has dozed off. Players without the mod can always join; they just see the game as usual.

3. Players: put it in#

   In the CurseForge app, open your profile and press Install on Busy Bodies. By hand, drop the file into the mods folder of your game and start it. On Fabric, Mod Menu is optional and adds a settings button.

4. Server owners: put it in and restart#

   Drop the file into mods (Fabric, NeoForge) or plugins (Paper) and restart the server. The first start writes busybodies-server.json with the default settings. When a player with the mod joins, the log says so:

   [BusyBodies] Alice joined with the mod

5. Try it with a friend#

   Stand within ten blocks of each other.

   • Press T and type: your friend sees the bubble and your hands.
   • Open a chest: they see the panel, your mouse and the items you move.
   • Press Esc: your panel shows a clock.
   • Stand still for five minutes and you doze off. To see it sooner, an operator can run /busybodies config sleepAfterSeconds 10.
   • Press F5 to see your own poses.

   

6. Pick your privacy#

   Run /bb settings (or use the Mods list) and choose a preset, or flip single switches. /bb privacy basics does the same from chat. Every switch is explained here.

   

7. Tune the server#

   Operators change settings live with /busybodies config, for example:

   /busybodies config idleChatNotice true
   /busybodies config detailDistance 16
   /busybodies config forceOff ["screen"]

   The same settings live in busybodies-server.json. The full list is here.

If something does not show#