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Client-to-Server Camera Perspective Packet

I would like to suggest adding a client-to-server packet that informs the server whenever a player changes their camera perspective.

Currently, the server has no reliable way to know whether a player is using:

  • First person
  • Third person back
  • Third person front

The client could send a small packet whenever the perspective changes, containing the player's current camera mode.

This would be especially useful for server-side plugins, datapacks, and custom gameplay systems. For example, servers could:

  • Trigger mechanics depending on the player's current perspective.
  • Create custom camera-based interactions.
  • Adjust animations, HUD elements, or gameplay behavior.
  • Implement features that currently require a client-side mod just to detect the player's camera perspective.

The packet would only need to be sent when the player changes perspective, so the network impact should be negligible.

Ideally, the server would receive something equivalent to:

FIRST_PERSON
THIRD_PERSON_BACK
THIRD_PERSON_FRONT

This would give server developers more flexibility while keeping the feature fully compatible with vanilla clients.

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  • 2
    Registered User commented
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    Strong +1 from me.

    Having the server know the player’s current camera perspective would open up a surprising number of server-side gameplay possibilities without requiring a client mod.

    Plugins could build mechanics around perspective changes, camera-aware interactions, animation/state changes, immersive RPG features, minigames, or other contextual behavior while still supporting completely vanilla clients.

    Since the client only needs to send an update when the perspective actually changes, the network overhead should be effectively negligible.

    This feels like a small protocol addition with a disproportionately useful impact for server and plugin developers.

  • 6
    Registered User commented
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    This would be genuinely useful for plugin authors.

    A simple perspective-change packet would remove that limitation and give servers another piece of player context to build around. I can imagine it being useful for things like stealth systems, contextual abilities, camera-driven puzzles, or custom RPG mechanics.

    Seems like a good candidate for a small protocol feature that enables much more than its size suggests.

  • 2
    Registered User commented
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    I personally think this feature would be a massive gain for very little effort when it comes to mojang adding this, I really hope it gets accepted so that us plugin devs can take advantage of this.