hotbar-locker

Keep your important items where you put them

Pick block and other equipment actions can replace the item in your selected hotbar slot. Hotbar Locker lets you lock individual slots so your tools and supplies stay put when items are placed automatically.

Choose a slot, press the key you assign, and a gold frame traces around the slot, followed by a small padlock, when it is locked. Locks persist with your player, including after reconnecting or respawning.

Lock the slots you choose

Protect selected hotbar slots from automatic replacement. Lock only the items you want to keep in place; the other slots remain available as usual.

• A thin gold frame and a padlock in the corner mark each locked slot, without covering the item, its stack count, or its durability bar. When a locked slot is selected, the selection outline turns gold too. A message and a sound confirm when you lock or unlock it.
• You can still select, use, consume, damage, and move items manually.
• Clearing the Creative inventory preserves locked hotbar stacks.

Pick block and Toolbox

Automatic equipment respects your locks. Pick block uses an unlocked slot when possible. If every hotbar slot is locked, it uses available main-inventory space; if there is none, it leaves protected items alone.

• When Create's Toolbox tries to equip an item into a locked slot, Hotbar Locker redirects it to an unlocked slot when possible.
• If every hotbar slot is locked, Toolbox equipment is rejected safely.
• Create is optional; Hotbar Locker works without it.

1. Open Options → Controls → Key Binds and assign Toggle hotbar slot lock.
2. Select the hotbar slot you want to protect.
3. Press your assigned key to lock or unlock that slot. Look for the gold frame, the padlock, and the confirmation message.

Heads up: locking a slot only blocks automatic replacement. It does not stop you from moving or using the item yourself.

Install Hotbar Locker on both the client and server.

• Minecraft 1.20.1: Forge 47.4.0
• Minecraft 1.21.1: Fabric Loader 0.16.9, Forge 52.0.53, or NeoForge 21.1.236
• Fabric API: required on Fabric (the project is built with 0.110.0+1.21.1)
• Create: optional, for Create Toolbox compatibility

Open an issue on GitHub. Include your Minecraft and loader versions, the action you were performing, and which slots were locked. A screenshot or short video can help show what happened.

Yes. Hotbar Locker is licensed under the MIT License. See LICENSE.

For development details, see the development guide, documentation index, and CHANGELOG.