Smart Ping

Smart Ping

Mark blocks, mobs and players with one key. Compact markers, live distance, visible through walls.

Smart Ping lets you point at anything in the world and drop a small marker on it: a dot, the name underneath, and the distance underneath that. No giant glowing text, no clutter. Markers stay the same size at any distance, are always readable, and are visible through blocks. Pin the important ones and they stay forever, even after you leave and rejoin the world.

Minecraft 26.3 · Fabric · Client-side only (nothing to install on the server)

• Modrinth
• CurseForge
• Discord

Features

One key for everything

Press V while looking at something. Smart Ping works out what you are aiming at:

You look at · The marker shows
A player · Their nickname and the distance
A mob · Its name and the distance
A block · The block name and the distance

Targeting works at long range (up to 256 blocks), and entities in front of a block take priority over the block behind them.

Compact, readable markers

• Dot on top, name below it, distance below the name.
• Constant size at any distance, so far-away markers never become unreadable and close ones never fill the screen.
• Text always faces you, so it is always readable.
• Visible through blocks, so you can track a target behind walls.
• The whole marker (dot, name and distance) always stays on screen. If the target is off-screen or behind you, the marker sticks to the screen edge.
• Distance updates in real time as you or the target move.
• Mob and player markers follow the target as it moves.

Block pings

A single press creates a Block ping attached to the exact block coordinates.

• If the block is broken, the marker says so under the distance and the ping disappears after 10 seconds.
• Normal pings fade away by themselves (30 seconds by default, configurable).

Pinning

• Press V twice within 2 seconds on the same place to pin the ping. Pinned pings never disappear, even if you relog or restart the game. They are saved separately for every world and server.
• To unpin, press V twice within 2 seconds on the pinned marker. It will disappear after 10 seconds, and during that time you can pin it back with another double press.
• A pinned marker has a white ring, an unpinning marker has a grey ring with a countdown.
• Pinned block markers stay even if the block is broken (the marker just tells you the block is gone), until you unpin or delete them.

Settings and marker manager

Open it with Y (rebindable) or from Mod Menu.

Global options

• Ping lifetime: 10 / 20 / 30 / 60 / 120 seconds.
• Marker scale: from 25% to 200% in steps of 25%.
• Show distance: on or off.
• Color book: a reference of 64 popular colors shown as a color swatch, the color name and its code, for example ■ White: #FFFFFF.

Per-marker controls

• See the default name (the block or entity name) together with its coordinates.
• Give any marker your own custom name.
• Change its color with a #RRGGBB code (pick one from the color book).
• Hide a marker with the eye button (open eye = visible, closed eye = hidden). Hidden markers are kept but not drawn.
• Delete a marker.

Languages

English and Russian.

Controls

Key · Action
V · Ping what you are looking at
V ×2 (within 2 s, same place) · Pin the ping
V ×2 (within 2 s, on a pinned marker) · Unpin it (10 s to pin it back)
Y · Open Smart Ping settings

Both keys can be changed in Options → Controls → Smart Ping.

Requirements

• Minecraft 26.3
• Fabric Loader 0.19.5 or newer
• Fabric API
• Java 25
• Mod Menu (optional, adds a settings button)

Installation

1. Install Fabric Loader for Minecraft 26.3.
2. Put Fabric API and Smart Ping into your mods folder.
3. Launch the game and press V in a world.

FAQ

Do I need it on the server?
No. Smart Ping is client-side only and works on any server (and in singleplayer). Pings are visible only to you.

Where is my data stored?
Pinned pings: config/smartping/worlds/ (one file per world or server). Settings: config/smartping/config.json.

Can I use it in a modpack?
Yes, you are free to include it. A link back to this page is appreciated.

Known limitation
Marker positions are calculated from the player's view and the base FOV setting, so in third-person view or with strong dynamic FOV changes (sprinting, speed effects) a marker can be slightly offset.

Support and feedback

Found a bug or have an idea? Join the Discord