How to Disable ULX Popups in Garry's Mod

If you've spent any time on a Garry's Mod server running ULX — one of the most widely used admin mods for GMod — you've almost certainly encountered those notification popups. They appear in the corner of your screen (or center, depending on server configuration) and announce admin actions, warnings, or system messages. For some players, these are a helpful heads-up. For others, especially those focused on roleplay immersion or competitive play, they're a persistent distraction.

Here's what you actually need to know about disabling them, and why the right approach depends heavily on your role and server setup.

What Are ULX Popups, Exactly?

ULX is an admin mod built on top of ULib, and together they handle permissions, commands, and server-side notifications on thousands of GMod servers. The popups you see are typically generated by ULX's MOTD system, its HUD notification layer, or by individual server-side scripts that hook into ULib's messaging functions.

There are broadly two types of popups you'll encounter:

• MOTD (Message of the Day) windows — full-screen or large panel popups that appear when you join a server
• Chat/HUD notifications — smaller corner messages triggered by admin actions, rule announcements, or automated server events

Each type has a different origin and a different method for disabling it. Treating them as the same thing is where most people get stuck.

Disabling the MOTD Popup on Join 🖥️

The MOTD popup is server-controlled. When you connect, the server sends a URL or HTML content that GMod renders using its built-in HTML panel. From the client side, your options are limited — you can't suppress a server-forced HTML panel without a client-side script or modification.

However, if you have admin or superadmin access on the server, you can disable or modify the MOTD through ULX's settings:

1. Open the ULX menu (default command: !menu in chat, or ulx menu in console)
2. Navigate to the Settings tab
3. Look for MOTD settings — you can toggle it off or change the URL it loads
4. Save your changes; this affects all players connecting to the server

If you're a regular player without admin access, you'll need to ask a server admin to disable it, or use a client-side Lua script that suppresses the panel. Be aware that some servers run anti-cheat or content verification tools that flag unauthorized client scripts — always check server rules before running anything locally.

Disabling HUD Notification Popups

These smaller popups — the ones that flash messages like "Player X was slayed by Admin" or server rule reminders — are handled differently depending on whether they're native ULX notifications or custom scripts.

Native ULX notifications can often be managed through:

• The ulx console commands available to admins
• Serverside configuration files, typically found in garrysmod/data/ulx/ or garrysmod/data/ulib/
• The ULX settings panel under notification or HUD options (availability varies by ULX version)

Custom server scripts that mimic or extend ULX's popup system are a different story. Many popular GMod frameworks like DarkRP, Nutscript, or StarwarsRP have their own notification layers that fire alongside or instead of native ULX messages. Disabling these requires either editing the relevant serverside Lua files or adjusting the framework's configuration — something only server owners or developers can do cleanly.

Client-Side Suppression: What's Possible

If you're not an admin and the server owner won't change the settings, there is a client-side path:

• GMod allows local autorun scripts placed in garrysmod/lua/autorun/client/
• A script can hook into GM:HUDPaint or suppress specific UI panels
• Some community-made addons on the Steam Workshop target specific popup types

The catch: effectiveness varies widely. If the server is generating popups through a networked function or custom UI addon, a generic client suppression script may have no effect on those specific calls. You're essentially trying to intercept something the server is actively pushing to you.

Variables That Change What Works for You

This is where individual setups diverge significantly:

Why There's No Universal "Off Switch"

ULX doesn't ship with a single client-facing toggle that turns off all popups regardless of server configuration. The system is modular and server-authoritative — meaning servers control what gets pushed to clients, and those choices vary dramatically between communities. A sandbox server running vanilla ULX behaves very differently from a heavily modded roleplay server where ULX is just one layer of a larger admin stack. 🎮

The same popup that's trivially disabled on one server might be hard-coded into a custom framework on another. Understanding which layer is generating the notification — ULib messaging, ULX's native HUD, or a third-party addon — is the necessary first step before any fix will actually hold.

What works for a server owner with full file access is a completely different process from what's available to a player sitting in a server they don't control, which is a different situation again from a developer building a custom GMod gamemode who wants to strip out all default ULX UI elements entirely.