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In your plugin’s setup() method, call NameplateAPI.describe() to tell the UI about each segment you plan to use.

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What describe() Does

It registers UI metadata only. It does NOT create any ECS components or affect entities. It tells the NameplateBuilder UI:
“My mod has a segment called health, show it as Health Bar, it’s for all entities, and it looks like 67/67.”
Describing is optional but highly recommended. Without it, the UI shows the raw segment ID instead of a display name.

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The Three Overloads

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1. Name Only

// Shows up as "Custom Tag" with target [All] and no example preview.
// Good for segments where the value is unpredictable.
NameplateAPI.describe(this, "custom-tag", "Custom Tag");

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2. Name + Target

// The SegmentTarget shows as a tag in the UI, e.g. "by YourMod [NPCs]".
// This is purely a UI hint — it does NOT restrict which entities you
// can register the segment on at runtime.
NameplateAPI.describe(this, "faction", "Faction", SegmentTarget.NPCS);

// The example text is shown as a preview in the UI so players can see
// what the segment looks like before enabling it.
NameplateAPI.describe(this, "health", "Health Bar",
        SegmentTarget.ALL, "67/67");

NameplateAPI.describe(this, "guild", "Guild Tag",
        SegmentTarget.PLAYERS, "[Warriors]");

NameplateAPI.describe(this, "tier", "Elite Tier",
        SegmentTarget.NPCS, "[Elite]");

NameplateAPI.describe(this, "level", "Level",
        SegmentTarget.ALL, "Lv. 42");

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SegmentTarget Values

TargetUI TagUse When
SegmentTarget.ALL[All]The segment applies to any entity (players, NPCs, etc.)
SegmentTarget.PLAYERS[Players]The segment only makes sense on players (e.g. guild tag, rank)
SegmentTarget.NPCS[NPCs]The segment only makes sense on NPCs (e.g. faction, mood, bounty)
The target is only a UI hint. You can still register a PLAYERS-targeted segment on an NPC at runtime. The UI just uses it to help players understand what each segment is for.

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When to Call describe()

Always call describe() in your plugin’s setup() method, before registering any tick systems. This ensures the UI metadata is available as soon as players open /npb. 
@Override
protected void setup() {
    // Describe first
    NameplateAPI.describe(this, "health", "Health Bar",
            SegmentTarget.ALL, "67/67");

    // Then register systems
    getEntityStoreRegistry().registerSystem(
        new MySystem(NameplateAPI.getComponentType()));
}