Text Effects

Text effects are per-character behaviors applied via span tags. Each effect listed below shows its canonical tag name, any registered aliases, its parameters with defaults and ranges, and an example.

Visual effects

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bounce

Visual

Animates each character with a eased bounce arc, launching upward and falling back using a Bouncy easing curve.

Syntax

<bounce amplitude=1.0 frequency=1.0 phase=1.0>text</bounce>

Parameters

Name	Alias	Type	Default	Description
amplitude	a	float	1.0	Bounce height in px (0-50)
frequency	f	float	1.0	Bounces per second (0.01-100)
phase	w	float	1.0	Per-character phase offset (0-10)

Example

<bounce amplitude=3 frequency=2>Boing!</bounce>

Source: BounceEffect.java

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circle

Visual

Moves each character in a circular orbit around its original position.

Syntax

<circle radius=1.0 frequency=1.0 phase=0.0>text</circle>

Parameters

Name	Alias	Type	Default	Description
radius	r	float	1.0	Circular motion radius in px (0-50)
frequency	freq	float	1.0	Rotations per second (0.01-100)
phase	p	float	0.0	Per-character phase offset (0-10)

Example

<circle radius=3 phase=0.5>Orbit</circle>

Source: CircleEffect.java

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color

Aliases: col

Visual

Sets every character to a fixed RGBA color.

Syntax

<color color=FF0000>text</color>

Parameters

Name	Alias	Type	Default	Description
color	col	color hex	null (white)	RGBA hex color, e.g. FF0000 or FF0000FF

Example

<color color=5BCEFA>cyan text</color>

Notes

When no color param is given the effect defaults to white (1.0, 1.0, 1.0, 1.0). Both RGB (RRGGBB) and RGBA (RRGGBBAA) hex strings are accepted.

Source: ColorEffect.java

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fade

Visual

Pulses each character’s alpha up and down in a sine wave, creating a fade-in/fade-out loop.

Syntax

<fade minAlpha=0.3 frequency=1.0 phase=0.0>text</fade>

Parameters

Name	Alias	Type	Default	Description
minAlpha	min	float	0.3	Minimum alpha during fade (0-1)
frequency	freq	float	1.0	Cycles per second (0.01-100)
phase	p	float	0.0	Per-character phase offset (0-10)

Example

<fade minAlpha=0.1 frequency=0.5 phase=0.3>Fading text</fade>

Source: FadeEffect.java

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glitch

Visual

Randomly jitters characters, blinks alpha, and slices each glyph into horizontally shifted bands to simulate a digital glitch artifact.

Syntax

<glitch frequency=1.0 shiftChance=0.08 jitterChance=0.015 blinkChance=0.003 offset=1.0 chromatic=0.0 slices=2>text</glitch>

Parameters

Name	Alias	Type	Default	Description
frequency	freq	float	1.0	Glitch event rate (0.01-100)
shiftChance	-	float	0.08	Probability of a slice shift per frame (0-1)
jitterChance	-	float	0.015	Probability of position jitter per frame (0-1)
blinkChance	-	float	0.003	Probability of alpha blink per frame (0-1)
offset	-	float	1.0	Slice/jitter offset multiplier (0-10)
chromatic	-	float	0.0	Chromatic aberration intensity (0-5)
slices	-	int	2	Number of glitch slices (2-5)

Example

<glitch frequency=2 chromatic=1.5>CORRUPTED</glitch>

Notes

Set chromatic above zero to get red/cyan color fringing on shifted slices. slices=2 uses a fast two-slice code path; values 3-5 use the general multi-slice path.

Source: GlitchEffect.java

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gradient

Aliases: grad

Visual

Maps a color palette across the span, with optional animation, angle, and interpolation mode.

Syntax

<gradient colors=5BCEFA,F5A9B8 hue=false cyclic=true angle=0.0 mode=char frequency=1.0 length=20.0>text</gradient>

Parameters

Name	Alias	Type	Default	Description
colors	-	string	5BCEFA,F5A9B8	Comma-separated hex palette
hue	-	bool	false	Interpolate in HSV instead of RGB
cyclic	-	bool	true	Ping-pong palette sampling
angle	ang	float	0.0	Gradient angle in degrees (0-360)
mode	-	enum	char	char (per character) or uniform (whole span at one t)
frequency	freq	float	1.0	Palette cycle frequency in Hz (0-100)
length	len	float	20.0	Spatial gradient length in characters (0.1-1000)

Example

<gradient colors=FF6B6B,FFE66D,6BFFB8 length=12>Tri-color</gradient>

Notes

frequency=0 disables scrolling so the gradient is purely positional. hue=true produces smoother transitions when colors are close in hue.

Source: GradientEffect.java

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neon

Aliases: glow

Visual

Draws a soft radial glow halo around each character by rendering semi-transparent copies in concentric rings.

Syntax

<neon radius=2.0 intensity=1.0 quality=2 frequency=0.0 falloff=2.0 color="">text</neon>

Parameters

Name	Alias	Type	Default	Description
radius	r	float	2.0	Glow radius in px (0.5-8)
intensity	-	float	1.0	Glow brightness multiplier (0.1-3)
quality	-	int	2	Ring sample quality: 1 (fast), 2 (balanced), 3 (detailed) (1-3)
frequency	freq	float	0.0	Pulse frequency in Hz; 0 = static (0-100)
falloff	-	float	2.0	Glow falloff exponent (0.5-4)
color	col	color hex	(text color)	Glow color; defaults to the character’s own color

Example

<neon radius=3 intensity=1.5 color=00FFAA>Glow</neon>

Notes

quality is capped by the maxNeonQuality config value on the client. glow is a registered alias for this effect.

Source: NeonEffect.java

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outline

Visual

Draws a solid-color border around each character by rendering eight shifted copies behind the original.

Syntax

<outline width=1.0 color="" alpha=1.0>text</outline>

Parameters

Name	Alias	Type	Default	Description
width	w	float	1.0	Outline thickness in px (0.5-4)
color	col	color hex	(black)	Outline color
alpha	-	float	1.0	Outline alpha multiplier (0-1)

Example

<outline width=1.5 color=FF0000>Outlined</outline>

Source: OutlineEffect.java

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pendulum

Aliases: pend

Visual

Rotates each character back and forth like a pendulum, with an optional circular orbit offset at the pivot.

Syntax

<pendulum frequency=1.0 angle=30.0 radius=0.0>text</pendulum>

Parameters

Name	Alias	Type	Default	Description
frequency	freq	float	1.0	Swings per second (0.01-100)
angle	ang	float	30.0	Max rotation in degrees (0-90)
radius	r	float	0.0	Optional pivot offset radius in px (0-50); 0 = rotate in place

Example

<pendulum angle=45 frequency=0.8>Tick Tock</pendulum>

Source: PendulumEffect.java

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pulse

Visual

Scales brightness up and down with a sine wave. Optionally cycles through a color palette in sync.

Syntax

<pulse base=0.75 amplitude=1.0 frequency=1.0 phase=0.0 colors="" hue=false>text</pulse>

Parameters

Name	Alias	Type	Default	Description
base	-	float	0.75	Baseline brightness (0-1)
amplitude	amp	float	1.0	Pulse amplitude (0-5)
frequency	freq	float	1.0	Pulses per second (0.01-100)
phase	p	float	0.0	Per-character phase offset (0-10)
colors	-	string	null	Optional palette to cycle through
hue	-	bool	false	Interpolate palette in HSV

Example

<pulse frequency=2 phase=0.4>Pulsing</pulse>

Source: PulseEffect.java

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rainbow

Aliases: rainb

Visual

Cycles each character through the full HSV hue spectrum, offset per character to produce a rolling rainbow.

Syntax

<rainbow frequency=1.0 phase=1.0>text</rainbow>

Parameters

Name	Alias	Type	Default	Description
frequency	freq	float	1.0	Color cycle frequency in Hz (0-100)
phase	p	float	1.0	Per-character phase offset (0-10)

Example

<rainbow frequency=1.5>Hello world</rainbow>

Source: RainbowEffect.java

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scroll

Visual

Continuously scrolls the span horizontally within a viewport, optionally fading or cutting at the edges.

Syntax

<scroll speed=1.0 width=-1 clip=fade fadeWidth=8.0 direction=left gap=0.0>text</scroll>

Parameters

Name	Alias	Type	Default	Description
speed	s	float	1.0	Scroll speed multiplier (0.1-100)
width	w	float	-1.0	Viewport width in px; -1 = auto-fit to span (-1 to 1000)
clip	-	enum	fade	Edge clipping: fade, cut, or both
fadeWidth	fw	float	8.0	Fade gradient width in px (1-50)
direction	dir	enum	left	Scroll direction: left or right
gap	-	float	0.0	Gap between repetitions in px (0-500)

Example

<scroll speed=1.5 width=60 clip=both>Scrolling ticker text</scroll>

Notes

On the first render frame the span width is not yet known, so characters are hidden until the measurement pass completes (typically one frame).

Source: ScrollEffect.java

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shadow

Visual

Offsets and recolors the drop-shadow pass for each character.

Syntax

<shadow offsetX=0.0 offsetY=0.0 color="" alpha=1.0>text</shadow>

Parameters

Name	Alias	Type	Default	Description
offsetX	dx	float	0.0	Horizontal shadow offset (-100 to 100)
offsetY	dy	float	0.0	Vertical shadow offset (-100 to 100)
color	col	color hex	(black)	Shadow color
alpha	-	float	1.0	Shadow alpha multiplier (0-1)

Example

<shadow dx=2 dy=2 color=880000>Long shadow</shadow>

Notes

This effect only modifies the shadow pass (settings.isShadow == true). The main character layer is unaffected.

Source: ShadowEffect.java

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shake

Visual

Randomly displaces each character each frame using a deterministic seed based on the character index and codepoint.

Syntax

<shake amplitude=1.0 frequency=1.0>text</shake>

Parameters

Name	Alias	Type	Default	Description
amplitude	amp	float	1.0	Shake magnitude in px (0-50)
frequency	freq	float	1.0	Shake frequency in Hz (0.01-100)

Example

<shake amplitude=2 frequency=3>Trembling</shake>

Source: ShakeEffect.java

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swing

Visual

Rotates each character sinusoidally around its center, like a pendulum but purely rotational with no positional arc.

Syntax

<swing amplitude=1.0 frequency=1.0 phase=0.0>text</swing>

Parameters

Name	Alias	Type	Default	Description
amplitude	amp	float	1.0	Swing magnitude (rotation amount, 0-10)
frequency	freq	float	1.0	Swings per second (0.01-100)
phase	p	float	0.0	Per-character phase offset (0-10)

Example

<swing amplitude=2 phase=0.3>Swinging</swing>

Notes

swing produces pure rotation. For rotation with an orbital arc, use pendulum.

Source: SwingEffect.java

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turbulence

Aliases: turb

Visual

Displaces each character along two independent sine waves, producing chaotic, non-repeating motion.

Syntax

<turbulence amplitude=1.0 frequency=1.0>text</turbulence>

Parameters

Name	Alias	Type	Default	Description
amplitude	amp	float	1.0	Turbulence magnitude in px (0-50)
frequency	freq	float	1.0	Turbulence rate in Hz (0.01-100)

Example

<turbulence amplitude=3 frequency=1.5>Chaotic</turbulence>

Notes

The displacement is driven by sin(t * 1.7 + index * 0.31 + codepoint * 0.07) on X and sin(t * 2.3 + ...) on Y, so each character follows a unique but deterministic path. For uniform random jitter use shake instead.

Source: TurbulenceEffect.java

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wave

Visual

Displaces each character vertically along a sine wave, creating a flowing up-and-down ripple across the span.

Syntax

<wave amplitude=1.0 frequency=1.0 wavelength=1.0>text</wave>

Parameters

Name	Alias	Type	Default	Description
amplitude	amp	float	1.0	Vertical displacement in px (0-50)
frequency	freq	float	1.0	Cycles per second (0.01-100)
wavelength	wlen	float	1.0	Spatial wavelength scale (0.001-100)

Example

<wave amplitude=4 frequency=1.5 wavelength=2>Wavy text</wave>

Source: WaveEffect.java

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wiggle

Visual

Displaces each character along a character-specific direction vector in a sine pattern, so each glyph wiggles in its own direction.

Syntax

<wiggle amplitude=1.0 frequency=1.0 phase=1.0>text</wiggle>

Parameters

Name	Alias	Type	Default	Description
amplitude	amp	float	1.0	Wiggle magnitude in px (0-50)
frequency	freq	float	1.0	Wiggles per second (0.01-100)
phase	p	float	1.0	Per-character phase offset (0-10)

Example

<wiggle amplitude=2 frequency=2>Wiggly</wiggle>

Notes

The direction angle is derived from codepoint % 30, so the same character at different positions will wiggle in the same direction but at different phases.

Source: WiggleEffect.java

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Animation effects

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obfuscate

Aliases: obf

Animation

Replaces characters with scrambled glyphs, with four modes: constant scramble, animated reveal, animated hide, and random flicker.

Syntax

<obfuscate mode=constant interval=20 direction=left alphabet=glyph soundMode=transition sound="" volume=0.5 pitch=1.0>text</obfuscate>

Parameters

Name	Alias	Type	Default	Description
mode	-	enum	constant	constant, reveal, hide, or random
interval	ms	int	20	Milliseconds per glyph flip (1-10000)
direction	dir	enum	left	Reveal/hide direction; see ObfuscateMode values
alphabet	alph	enum	glyph	glyph (random font glyphs) or readable (A-Za-z0-9)
soundMode	sm	enum	transition	transition (one sound per flip) or continuous
sound	snd	string	null	Sound preset or resource id
volume	vol	float	0.5	Sound volume (0-2)
pitch	-	float	1.0	Sound pitch (0.5-2)

Example

<obfuscate mode=reveal interval=50>Secret message</obfuscate>

Notes

reveal and hide animate in sequence and then loop after a short delay. random keeps roughly 30% of characters obfuscated at any moment with each glyph lasting 500-2000 ms. Sound only fires if a sound param is given.

Source: ObfuscateEffect.java

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typewriter

Aliases: type

Animation

Reveals characters one at a time at a configurable speed, with optional cursor, sound, and repeat control.

Syntax

<typewriter speed=12.0 resetDelay=1.0 repeat=infinite cursor=false cursorChar=_ cursorBlink=2.0 sound="" volume=0.5 pitch=1.0>text</typewriter>

Parameters

Name	Alias	Type	Default	Description
speed	s	float	12.0	Characters per second (0.1-1000)
resetDelay	-	float	1.0	Seconds to wait before restarting (0-60)
repeat	-	string	infinite	Repetitions: integer count, once, or infinite
cursor	-	bool	false	Show a blinking cursor at the typing head
cursorChar	-	string	_	Single-codepoint cursor glyph
cursorBlink	-	float	2.0	Cursor blink frequency in Hz (0-20); 0 = always on
sound	snd	string	null	Sound preset or resource id
volume	vol	float	0.5	Sound volume (0-2)
pitch	-	float	1.0	Sound pitch (0.5-2)

Example

<typewriter speed=8 cursor=true repeat=once>Hello, world.</typewriter>

Notes

repeat=once stops after the full string is shown and does not restart. cursorChar must be a single Unicode codepoint; multi-codepoint strings fall back to _ with a logged warning.

Source: TypewriterEffect.java