Offhand Hotbar

Offhand Hotbar

A (hopefully) novel inventory management improvement

by
3.4K Downloads
fabricequipmentstorageutility
Rent Server with this Mod

Screenshots

Side-by-side layout
Stacked layout
Vertical layout (swapped)
Double hotbars

About this Mod

Offhand Hotbar turns the third row of your inventory into a hotbar for your offhand, making your inventory management more flexible. For example, you can hold tools and weapons in mainhand and building blocks in offhand, or you could have weapons in mainhand and various consumables in offhand.

By default, the scroll wheel controls your mainhand selection and number keys control your offhand selection, but this is configurable.

The mod contains several visual layouts to choose from:

Side-By-Side Stacked Vertical
Side-by-side layout Stacked Layout Vertical Layout

(see Gallery if images are too small on mobile)

Warning: It is possible the rapid item movement may get flagged by anticheat, use on public servers at your own risk.

The mod is still in beta, so please send any feedback or suggestions you think would improve usability to the issues page!

Mechanics

Under the hood, this works by shuffling around items whenever you change selection.

Because gui slots are controlled by the server, it is not easy to replace the inventory slot with the offhand slot in containers, so opening any sort of container or other inventory screen will swap items so that the third row of your inventory is consistent. The original offhand slot becomes the "default" offhand item that is equipped when a container is opened.

The swap hands keybind (default F) still works to swap your currently selected main and offhand items.

Known bugs

Your offhand item and selected item may get swapped around if you disconnect ungracefully (e.g. the server kicks you)

Configuration

Display Mode

The visual layout to use. The options are:

  • Side by Side (default)
  • Stacked
  • Stacked Swapped
  • Vertical
  • Vertical Swapped

If you have a suggestion for another layout, feel free to open a github issue.

Scroll Controls

If the scroll wheel should control the mainhand or offhand (default: mainhand)

Keyboard Controls

If the number keys should control the mainhand or offhand (default: offhand)

Keybinds

In 1.21.1 you must go to the Controls > Keybinds section to set these, but in 1.21.5+ it is also available in the config screen (thanks Motschen!).

Control Opposite Hotbar

Holding this key will make scrolling and keyboard control the opposite hotbar. For example, if Scroll Controls is set to mainhand, then holding this key and scrolling will instead scroll the offhand. (default: Left Alt)

Scroll Inventory

Holding this key will cycle the three rows of your inventory when you scroll, which changes what is available in your offhand hotbar. (default: R)


Credits

This idea was inspired by an episode of The Spawn Chunks podcast

Available Versions

Offhand Hotbar 1.1.0+mc1.21.9alpha
MC 1.21.9, 1.21.10fabric
October 6, 2025
Offhand Hotbar 1.1.0+mc1.21.8alpha
MC 1.21.6, 1.21.7, 1.21.8fabric
September 8, 2025
Offhand Hotbar 1.1.0+mc1.21.1alpha
MC 1.21.1fabric
September 8, 2025
Offhand Hotbar 1.0.5+mc1.21.8beta
MC 1.21.6, 1.21.7, 1.21.8fabric
September 8, 2025
Offhand Hotbar 1.0.5+mc1.21.1beta
MC 1.21.1fabric
September 8, 2025

How to Install Offhand Hotbar on Your Server

1

Order Server

Order a Minecraft Java server with at least 3 GB RAM (4 GB recommended).

2

Set fabric Loader

In the panel under "Egg", select the fabric loader and matching Minecraft version (1.21.10).

3

Install Mod

Open the mod browser in the dashboard and search for "Offhand Hotbar". Click "Install" – done! Alternatively, upload the .jar via SFTP to the /mods folder.

Compatibility

Mod Loaders

fabric

Minecraft Versions

1.21.10, 1.21.9, 1.21.8 (+4 more)

Server-side

Unsupported

Recommended RAM

4 GB(min. 3 GB)

Frequently Asked Questions

Offhand Hotbar server crashes on startup – what to do?

Most common cause: wrong fabric version or insufficient RAM. Check the server log (latest.log) for "OutOfMemoryError" or "Mixin" errors. With Mado Hosting: ensure at least 3 GB RAM is allocated and the loader matches the mod version (1.21.10). You can switch loaders with one click in the panel.

Is Offhand Hotbar compatible with fabric?

Offhand Hotbar officially supports fabric for Minecraft 1.21.10, 1.21.9, 1.21.8. The Mado dashboard automatically detects incompatible loader combinations.

Server lagging with Offhand Hotbar – how to optimize performance?

Recommended RAM: 4 GB (per 8 players). Use /spark profiler to check if Offhand Hotbar consumes the most tick time. Common fixes: reduce server view-distance to 8-10, install "performant" or "starlight" as supplementary mods on Forge. With Mado Hosting, your server runs on NVMe SSDs with dedicated CPU cores for minimal latency.

Rent Modded Server

Install Offhand Hotbar with just one click on your server.

Recommended RAM
4 GBab €8/mo
Min. 3 GB | +1 GB pro 8 Spieler
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NVMe SSD Storage
DDoS Protection included

Details

License
MIT License
Server-side
Unsupported

Supported Versions

1.21.101.21.91.21.81.21.71.21.61.21.51.21.1