Show an Action Bar Message

Display text just above the hotbar

✅ Verified for Java 26.2 · Bedrock 26.32 — checked June 2026

Shows a short line of text in the action bar — the space just above the hotbar where item names and status messages appear. It fades on its own after a couple of seconds and does not block the screen, so it is ideal for live status like scores, timers, or hints. On Java it takes an SNBT text component; on Bedrock it takes plain text (or /titleraw for JSON).

/title @a actionbar {text:"Objective updated",color:aqua}

57 characters

Java: yes
Bedrock: yes
Command block: yes
Needs cheats / OP: yes

How to use

Open chat (T on Java, / on Bedrock).
Paste the command, editing the message text.
Press Enter — the message flashes above the hotbar.
Re-run it (e.g. from a repeating command block) to keep a value updated.

Related commands

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Both

Display big center-screen text to a player

/title @a title {text:"Welcome!",color:gold,bold:true}

Add a Subtitle Under the Title

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Show a smaller second line under a screen title

/title @a subtitle {text:"Good luck out there",color:yellow}

Send Colored Chat Text (tellraw)

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/tellraw @a {text:"Server restarting soon",color:red,bold:true}

Clickable Chat Text That Runs a Command

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Make chat text a clickable button that runs a command

/tellraw @a {text:"[Click to teleport to spawn]",color:green,click_event:{action:run_command,command:"/spawn"}}

Show a Scoreboard on the Sidebar

Both

Display an objective's scores on the right side of the screen

/scoreboard objectives setdisplay sidebar points

Create a Custom Boss Bar

Java

Show a custom boss health bar at the top of the screen

/bossbar add event {text:"Event Timer"}
/bossbar set minecraft:event color red
/bossbar set minecraft:event players @a