This handy bar is designed to help you and your friends find each other in your Minecraft worlds! It’ll show the location of other players, whether they’re out of sight or behind blocks. The Player Locator bar will show up in the same place as the XP bar whenever other players are in the world, unless you’re actively earning XP. 

Each player gets assigned an icon color to be displayed on the Player Locator bar when they join the multiplayer game. If a player is positioned significantly higher or lower than you, you’ll also see an arrow on top of or below the icon depicting their elevation! 

But what if I don’t want to be found? 

Ah, a fellow stealth afficionado. Worry not, because you still have the option to keep your element of surprise! You won’t show up on the Player Locator bar as long as you do at least one of these things: 

Sneak: Naturally, sneaking will keep you hidden from your unsuspecting friends. 

Wear a mask: Putting on a mob head or carved pumpkin keeps you speedy and hidden but requires foregoing the protection of a helmet. 

Be invisible: Drinking a potion of Invisibility is an expensive but surefire way to stay off the Locator bar. 

For our advanced operatives, there are other ways of approaching another player stealthily if you time it right by taking advantage of its display limitations. For example, your icon won’t appear on another player’s bar when you approach them from behind – however, they will know that someone is there because the bar will be visible. You can also sneak up on a player who is earning XP, since the XP bar will be displayed for them instead of the Player Locator bar. Sneaky! 

Can I disable the Player Locator bar? 

As a creator or server admin, you can choose to disable the Player Locator bar to tailor the game experience. It is turned on by default in Java snapshot and Bedrock beta and preview, and at the moment it cannot be disabled by players. 

Now that I’ve given you the rundown of this incredibly handy feature, I’m going to use it to find the friends I’ve lost track of in my realm. They couldn’t be hiding from me on purpose, could they? Don’t answer that.