MapDistanceFix

A very simple Minecraft Fabric mod that fixes map player indicators to always show the player's position and direction, even when outside map boundaries, making it much easier to navigate treasure maps and other map items.

Why This Mod?

In vanilla Minecraft, when you're far from a map's boundaries, the player indicator either disappears entirely or shows as a generic "player_off_map" and "player_off_limits" decorations without directional information. This mod fixes that by:

Converting off-map player decorations to regular player decorations
Maintaining correct rotation to show which direction you're facing
Ensuring the player is always visible for better navigation

Features

Always Visible Player: Ensures the player icon is always visible on maps, even when far outside the map boundaries
Correct Direction: Shows the player's actual facing direction instead of a generic off-map indicator
Distance Display: Shows the distance from the player to the map center or to the nearest structure, helping you navigate to your destination
Configurable: Customize distance display settings via a JSON config file or in-game GUI using cloth config
In-Game Commands: Reload config and check status without restarting the game
Server-Side Only: No client modifications required if the mod is installed on the server

Optional Dependencies

Cloth Config - Enables in-game configuration GUI
Mod Menu - Provides access to the config screen from the mod list

Both mods are optional. Without them, you can still configure the mod by editing the JSON config file directly or via in-game commands

Configuration

The mod creates a configuration file at config/mapdistancefix.json with the following options:

Option Default Description showDistance true Enable or disable distance display showDistanceWhenOffMap true Show distance when the player is outside the map boundaries showDistanceInsideBoundaries false Show distance even when the player is inside the map boundaries showStructureDistances true Show the distance to the nearest structure in the map distanceFormat %dm Format string for distance (use %d for the distance value) useShortUnits true Use short format like "1.2k" for large distances shortUnitThreshold 1000 Distance threshold (in blocks) for switching to short units

In-Game Configuration

If you have Cloth Config and Mod Menu installed, you can access the configuration screen by:

Opening the game menu
Clicking "Mods" (added by Mod Menu)
Finding "Map Distance Fix" in the list
Clicking the configuration button

or if you don't have these mods, you can use commands:

Commands

/mapdistancefix config <config> set/reset/get or /mdf config <config> set/reset/get - Change configs in-game
/mapdistancefix status or /mdf status - Display current configuration settings
/mapdistancefix reload or /mdf reload - Reload the configuration file if modified (no need to run if using /mdf config command)

Compatibility

JAVA Compatibilty: Java 21 is required for Minecraft versions above 1.20.5, Java 17 is required for Minecraft versions above 1.19.3 till 1.20.1.
Server Compatibility: Does not work on vanilla servers. But if the mod is installed on the server, its not required to install on the client.
Other Mods: Should be compatible with most other mods that don't heavily modify maps.

Troubleshooting

Common Issues

Config screen not appearing

Make sure you have both Cloth Config and Mod Menu (for fabric) installed
Check that the versions are compatible with your Minecraft version

Distance text looks weird with shaders

This is a known issue with some shader packs. The distance text background may appear transparent or glitchy.
If this bothers you, disable the distance display by setting showDistance to false in the config file or through the in-game config screen (if Cloth Config is installed).

Getting Help

If you encounter issues:

Check the latest logs for error messages
Verify that Fabric API is correctly installed
Try with minimal mods to isolate conflicts
Report issues on the GitHub Issues page

Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Here's how you can help:

Pull Requests

Follow existing code style and conventions
Add appropriate comments and documentation
Test thoroughly before submitting
Update README if adding new features

Bug Reports

Use the GitHub Issues page
Include Minecraft version, mod version, and log files
Describe steps to reproduce the issue

License

This project is licensed under the MIT License. Feel free to use this mod in your modpacks without asking for permission. But please do not redistribute the jar files anywhere else!