Set up InteractionVisualizer on Minecraft

InteractionVisualizer makes function blocks visible while they work. Items appear to sit on a crafting table, furnaces show a progress bar, and enchanting tables are animated too. It does this with packets sent to each player, so none of it exists in your world.

Checked against InteractionVisualizer 2026.1.4, which lists Paper, Purpur, Spigot and Folia on Minecraft 1.13 to 26.3, October 2026.

What you need

• A Paper or Purpur server on a Minecraft version the plugin lists. Vanilla servers have no Plugins tab; switch software in JAR Manager first (see Change your Minecraft version or mod loader).
• No other plugin on a current server. The plugin's page asks for ProtocolLib only on Minecraft 1.12.2 or below, and for the LightAPI Fork only on 1.16.5 or below.
• Optional plugins it supports include PlaceholderAPI, EssentialsX, SuperVanish, PremiumVanish, OpenInv and CMI. With SuperVanish, PremiumVanish, CMI or EssentialsX, all animations are disabled while a player is in vanish.

Install it

1. Open the Plugins tab and pick the Modrinth button. The plugin is also on Hangar.
2. Search for InteractionVisualizer and click Install.
3. Restart from the Console tab.
4. Type iv in the Console. It prints the plugin's version.

The plugin's page lists these steps: add the jar, start the server, edit the config, restart. That fits our panel, since you edit the config in the File Manager while the server is stopped.

Turn displays on or off

Open plugins/InteractionVisualizer/config.yml, which the plugin creates on its first start. Three sections matter first:

• Blocks has one entry per block, such as Anvil, CraftingTable, EnchantmentTable, Furnace and Loom. Each has Enabled: true. Set it to false to switch that display off.
• Modules has ItemStand, ItemDrop and Hologram, each with Enabled. These are the three kinds of display, and a player can switch each kind off for themselves.
• Settings has DisabledWorlds, which lists worlds where nothing shows, and DefaultDisableAll, which starts new players with everything off.

HideIfViewObstructed in Settings is marked "might be resource intensive" in the file, so leave it false unless you need it.

The Database section stores each player's toggle choices. It defaults to SQLITE. Keep that setting.

Commands

iv is short for interactionvisualizer.

• iv reload reloads the config. It needs interactionvisualizer.reload, which is for operators by default.
• iv refresh redraws the displays for the player who runs it, so it works in game only.
• iv toggle <itemstand/itemdrop/hologram> <block/entry> <true/false> [player] turns one display type for one block on or off. It needs interactionvisualizer.toggle, which everyone has by default, and toggling another player needs interactionvisualizer.toggle.others. From the Console you must name a player.
• iv update checks whether a newer version exists. It needs interactionvisualizer.update, which is for operators by default.

What the three modes mean: itemstand is items laid flat on blocks, itemdrop is items shown as dropped items, and hologram is floating text such as a furnace's progress bar.

Common problems

• Nothing shows. Check that the block's Enabled and its module's Enabled are both true, and that the player has not toggled the display off. DefaultDisableAll: true hides everything by default.
• An error about blockdata.json. This usually follows an unclean shutdown. Stop the server and, in the plugin's folder, replace blockdata.json with one of the copies in its backup folder.
• Players cannot see a display they toggled off. iv toggle saves each player's choice in the database, so they run the same command with true to turn it back on.