CommandZoom

CommandZoom is a fun, lightweight server plugin made to play around with a zoom-like experience in Hytale. It’s inspired by OptiFine’s zoom, but since client-side mods aren’t supported right now, everything works using server commands instead.

There’s no keybind involved. Players just use simple commands to switch between zoom levels. No client installs, no extra setup — join the server and it just works.

Key points

Server-side plugin, not a client mod
No client installation required
Zoom levels controlled via commands
Experimental and just for fun

Installation

Download the latest plugin release.
Drop the plugin file into your server’s mods folder.
Restart the server.
Use the provided zoom commands in-game to toggle zoom levels.

That’s it — no client setup needed.

Important: Permissions Setup

For players to use zoom commands, you must add the zoom.use permission to your default player group.
If this permission is missing, normal players will not be able to use the plugin.

Example permissions configuration:

{
  "groups": {
    "Default": [
      "zoom.use"
    ],
    "OP": [
      "*"
    ],
    "Creative": [
      "zoom.use"
    ],
    "Adventure": [
      "zoom.use"
    ]
  }
}

Make sure your default group includes zoom.use, otherwise only admins or specific groups will have access.

Zoom Commands

Use the following commands in-game to control zoom levels:

/zoom
Toggles zoom on or off using the default zoom level.

/zoom near
Enables a close zoom for short-distance viewing.

/zoom mid
Enables a medium zoom level for general use.

/zoom far
Enables a far zoom for long-distance viewing.

/zoom sniper
Enables maximum zoom for very long-range viewing.

/zoom off
Completely disables zoom and returns to normal view.

Normal: No Zoom

Zoom: Near

Zoom: Mid

Zoom: Far

Zoom: Sniper

Known Issues

Camera clipping / X-ray effect
At higher zoom levels, the camera can clip through the floor or blocks, making it possible to see through terrain. This is a limitation of how zoom is currently handled, so if you want to xray this works for you for now lol

Camera desync
In some situations, the camera may feel slightly out of sync when switching zoom levels quickly or toggling zoom on and off.

These issues are expected for now and will improve as better client-side control becomes possible.

To-Do

Add keybind support (when possible) to toggle zoom without commands.

Add mouse scroll support to smoothly switch between zoom levels.

Improve camera handling to reduce clipping and desync.