diff --git a/src/main/java/me/justindevb/replay/Replay.java b/src/main/java/me/justindevb/replay/Replay.java
index c3fdb15..d56a4a7 100644
--- a/src/main/java/me/justindevb/replay/Replay.java
+++ b/src/main/java/me/justindevb/replay/Replay.java
@@ -19,6 +19,7 @@
 import me.justindevb.replay.config.ReplayConfigManager;
 import me.justindevb.replay.config.ReplayConfigReloadResult;
 import me.justindevb.replay.config.ReplayConfigSetting;
+import me.justindevb.replay.config.ReplayMessagesConfig;
 import me.justindevb.replay.debug.ReplayDebugCommand;
 import me.justindevb.replay.export.ReplayExportCommand;
 import me.justindevb.replay.metrics.BStatsCharts;
@@ -57,6 +58,7 @@ public class Replay extends JavaPlugin {
     private ReplayRetentionService replayRetentionService;
     private ReplayViewerStateManager replayViewerStateManager;
     private ReplayTransferManager transferManager;
+    private ReplayMessagesConfig messages;
 
     @Override
     public void onLoad() {
@@ -77,6 +79,7 @@ public void onEnable() {
         recorderManager = new RecorderManager(this);
         manager = new ReplayManagerImpl(this, recorderManager);
         initConfig();
+        messages = new ReplayMessagesConfig(this);
         replayViewerStateManager = new ReplayViewerStateManager(this);
         getServer().getPluginManager().registerEvents(replayViewerStateManager, this);
         replayBenchmarkService = createReplayBenchmarkService();
@@ -142,6 +145,10 @@ public ReplayStorage getReplayStorage() {
         return storage;
     }
 
+    public ReplayMessagesConfig getMessages() {
+        return messages;
+    }
+
     private void initConfig() {
         new ReplayConfigManager(this).initialize();
     }
@@ -199,6 +206,7 @@ public ReplayConfigReloadResult reloadRuntimeConfig() {
         EnumMap<ReplayConfigSetting, Object> previousValues = snapshotConfigValues(previousConfig);
 
         new ReplayConfigManager(this).initialize();
+        if (messages != null) messages.reload();
 
         EnumMap<ReplayConfigSetting, Object> currentValues = snapshotConfigValues(getConfig());
         List<ReplayConfigSetting> changedSettings = new ArrayList<>();
@@ -283,4 +291,4 @@ private void initVelocityLogic() {
         getServer().getMessenger().registerOutgoingPluginChannel(this, ReplayTransferManager.CHANNEL);
         getServer().getMessenger().registerIncomingPluginChannel(this, ReplayTransferManager.CHANNEL, new ReplayLaunchMessageListener(this));
     }
-}
\ No newline at end of file
+}
diff --git a/src/main/java/me/justindevb/replay/ReplaySession.java b/src/main/java/me/justindevb/replay/ReplaySession.java
index c16e8d9..3c81492 100644
--- a/src/main/java/me/justindevb/replay/ReplaySession.java
+++ b/src/main/java/me/justindevb/replay/ReplaySession.java
@@ -109,7 +109,11 @@ public ReplaySession(ReplayPlaybackData replayData, Player viewer, Replay replay
 
     public void start() {
         if (timeline == null || timeline.isEmpty()) {
-            viewer.sendMessage("Replay is empty!");
+            if (replay.getMessages() != null) {
+                viewer.sendMessage(replay.getMessages().component("replay.empty", "<red>Replay is empty!"));
+            } else {
+                viewer.sendMessage("Replay is empty!");
+            }
             return;
         }
 
@@ -299,7 +303,11 @@ public void stop() {
             }
 
             if (!suppressStopMessage && viewer.isOnline()) {
-                viewer.sendMessage("Replay finished");
+                if (replay.getMessages() != null) {
+                    viewer.sendMessage(replay.getMessages().component("replay.finished", "<green>Replay finished"));
+                } else {
+                    viewer.sendMessage("Replay finished");
+                }
             }
         } finally {
             ReplayRegistry.remove(this);
@@ -633,11 +641,17 @@ private void sendActionBar() {
 
         Component bar;
         if (paused) {
-            bar = Component.text("\u23F8 Replay paused: ", NamedTextColor.YELLOW)
+            bar = replay.getMessages() != null
+                    ? replay.getMessages().component("action-bar.paused", "<yellow>\u23F8 Replay paused: <gray>%current% / %total%",
+                    "current", current, "total", total)
+                    : Component.text("\u23F8 Replay paused: ", NamedTextColor.YELLOW)
                     .append(Component.text(current + " / " + total, NamedTextColor.GRAY));
         } else {
             String speedText = String.format("%.1fx", playbackSpeed);
-            bar = Component.text("\u25B6 Replay: ", NamedTextColor.GREEN)
+            bar = replay.getMessages() != null
+                    ? replay.getMessages().component("action-bar.playing", "<green>\u25B6 Replay: <gray>%current% / %total% <dark_gray>(%percent%%) <aqua>[%speed%]",
+                    "current", current, "total", total, "percent", String.valueOf(percent), "speed", speedText)
+                    : Component.text("\u25B6 Replay: ", NamedTextColor.GREEN)
                     .append(Component.text(current + " / " + total, NamedTextColor.GRAY))
                     .append(Component.text(" (" + percent + "%)", NamedTextColor.DARK_GRAY))
                     .append(Component.text(" [" + speedText + "]", NamedTextColor.AQUA));
diff --git a/src/main/java/me/justindevb/replay/config/ReplayMessagesConfig.java b/src/main/java/me/justindevb/replay/config/ReplayMessagesConfig.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..e81c0c6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/main/java/me/justindevb/replay/config/ReplayMessagesConfig.java
@@ -0,0 +1,66 @@
+package me.justindevb.replay.config;
+
+import net.kyori.adventure.text.Component;
+import net.kyori.adventure.text.minimessage.MiniMessage;
+import org.bukkit.configuration.file.YamlConfiguration;
+import org.bukkit.plugin.java.JavaPlugin;
+
+import java.io.File;
+import java.io.IOException;
+import java.io.InputStream;
+import java.io.InputStreamReader;
+import java.nio.charset.StandardCharsets;
+
+public final class ReplayMessagesConfig {
+
+    private static final MiniMessage MINI_MESSAGE = MiniMessage.miniMessage();
+
+    private final JavaPlugin plugin;
+    private YamlConfiguration messages;
+
+    public ReplayMessagesConfig(JavaPlugin plugin) {
+        this.plugin = plugin;
+        reload();
+    }
+
+    public void reload() {
+        File file = new File(plugin.getDataFolder(), "messages.yml");
+        if (!file.exists()) plugin.saveResource("messages.yml", false);
+
+        YamlConfiguration loaded = YamlConfiguration.loadConfiguration(file);
+        YamlConfiguration defaults = loadDefaults();
+        boolean changed = false;
+        for (String key : defaults.getKeys(true)) {
+            if (defaults.isConfigurationSection(key) || loaded.contains(key)) continue;
+            loaded.set(key, defaults.get(key));
+            changed = true;
+        }
+
+        if (changed) {
+            try {
+                loaded.save(file);
+            } catch (IOException exception) {
+                plugin.getLogger().warning("Could not update missing messages.yml keys: " + exception.getMessage());
+            }
+        }
+        messages = loaded;
+    }
+
+    private YamlConfiguration loadDefaults() {
+        try (InputStream resource = plugin.getResource("messages.yml")) {
+            if (resource == null) return new YamlConfiguration();
+            return YamlConfiguration.loadConfiguration(new InputStreamReader(resource, StandardCharsets.UTF_8));
+        } catch (IOException exception) {
+            plugin.getLogger().warning("Could not load bundled messages.yml defaults: " + exception.getMessage());
+            return new YamlConfiguration();
+        }
+    }
+
+    public Component component(String key, String fallback, String... replacements) {
+        String value = messages.getString(key, fallback);
+        for (int index = 0; index + 1 < replacements.length; index += 2) {
+            value = value.replace("%" + replacements[index] + "%", replacements[index + 1]);
+        }
+        return MINI_MESSAGE.deserialize(value);
+    }
+}
diff --git a/src/main/java/me/justindevb/replay/debug/ReplayDebugCommand.java b/src/main/java/me/justindevb/replay/debug/ReplayDebugCommand.java
index 1750eda..9a42b41 100644
--- a/src/main/java/me/justindevb/replay/debug/ReplayDebugCommand.java
+++ b/src/main/java/me/justindevb/replay/debug/ReplayDebugCommand.java
@@ -10,6 +10,7 @@
 
 import java.io.File;
 import java.text.DecimalFormat;
+import java.text.DecimalFormatSymbols;
 import java.time.Instant;
 import java.time.ZoneId;
 import java.time.format.DateTimeFormatter;
@@ -32,7 +33,7 @@ public final class ReplayDebugCommand {
     private static final DateTimeFormatter TIMESTAMP_FORMAT = DateTimeFormatter.ofPattern("yyyy-MM-dd HH:mm:ss z")
             .withLocale(Locale.ROOT)
             .withZone(ZoneId.systemDefault());
-    private static final DecimalFormat DECIMAL_FORMAT = new DecimalFormat("0.00");
+    private static final DecimalFormat DECIMAL_FORMAT = new DecimalFormat("0.00", DecimalFormatSymbols.getInstance(Locale.ROOT));
 
     private final Replay replay;
     private final ReplayManager replayManager;
diff --git a/src/main/java/me/justindevb/replay/playback/ReplayInventoryUI.java b/src/main/java/me/justindevb/replay/playback/ReplayInventoryUI.java
index b381a59..da9c052 100644
--- a/src/main/java/me/justindevb/replay/playback/ReplayInventoryUI.java
+++ b/src/main/java/me/justindevb/replay/playback/ReplayInventoryUI.java
@@ -1,11 +1,13 @@
 package me.justindevb.replay.playback;
 
 import me.justindevb.replay.Replay;
+import me.justindevb.replay.config.ReplayMessagesConfig;
 import me.justindevb.replay.entity.RecordedEntity;
 import me.justindevb.replay.entity.RecordedPlayer;
 import net.kyori.adventure.text.Component;
 import net.kyori.adventure.text.TextComponent;
 import net.kyori.adventure.text.format.NamedTextColor;
+import net.kyori.adventure.text.minimessage.MiniMessage;
 import org.bukkit.*;
 import org.bukkit.entity.Player;
 import org.bukkit.event.EventHandler;
@@ -20,6 +22,8 @@
 import org.bukkit.inventory.ItemStack;
 import org.bukkit.inventory.meta.ItemMeta;
 import org.bukkit.inventory.meta.SkullMeta;
+import org.bukkit.NamespacedKey;
+import org.bukkit.persistence.PersistentDataType;
 
 import java.util.List;
 import java.util.Map;
@@ -32,6 +36,8 @@
  */
 public class ReplayInventoryUI implements Listener {
 
+    private static final MiniMessage MINI_MESSAGE = MiniMessage.miniMessage();
+
     /**
      * Callback interface for actions that must be delegated back to ReplaySession.
      */
@@ -46,6 +52,7 @@ public interface SessionControl {
 
     private final Player viewer;
     private final Replay replay;
+    private final NamespacedKey controlKey;
     private final Supplier<Map<UUID, RecordedEntity>> recordedEntitiesSupplier;
     private final SessionControl sessionControl;
 
@@ -58,6 +65,7 @@ public ReplayInventoryUI(Replay replay,
                              Supplier<Map<UUID, RecordedEntity>> recordedEntitiesSupplier,
                              SessionControl sessionControl) {
         this.replay = replay;
+        this.controlKey = new NamespacedKey("betterreplay", "replay-control");
         this.viewer = viewer;
         this.recordedEntitiesSupplier = recordedEntitiesSupplier;
         this.sessionControl = sessionControl;
@@ -91,28 +99,33 @@ public void restoreInventory() {
     public void giveReplayControls() {
         ItemStack pauseButton = new ItemStack(Material.RED_DYE);
         ItemMeta pauseMeta = pauseButton.getItemMeta();
-        pauseMeta.displayName(Component.text("Pause / Play", NamedTextColor.RED));
+        pauseMeta.displayName(message("items.pause-play", "<red>Pause / Play"));
         pauseButton.setItemMeta(pauseMeta);
+        markControl(pauseButton, "pause-play");
 
         ItemStack skipForward = new ItemStack(Material.LIME_DYE);
         ItemMeta forwardMeta = skipForward.getItemMeta();
-        forwardMeta.displayName(Component.text("+5 seconds", NamedTextColor.GREEN));
+        forwardMeta.displayName(message("items.skip-forward", "<green>+5 seconds"));
         skipForward.setItemMeta(forwardMeta);
+        markControl(skipForward, "skip-forward");
 
         ItemStack skipBackward = new ItemStack(Material.YELLOW_DYE);
         ItemMeta backwardMeta = skipBackward.getItemMeta();
-        backwardMeta.displayName(Component.text("-5 seconds", NamedTextColor.YELLOW));
+        backwardMeta.displayName(message("items.skip-backward", "<yellow>-5 seconds"));
         skipBackward.setItemMeta(backwardMeta);
+        markControl(skipBackward, "skip-backward");
 
         ItemStack stopReplay = new ItemStack(Material.BARRIER);
         ItemMeta stopMeta = stopReplay.getItemMeta();
-        stopMeta.displayName(Component.text("Exit Replay", NamedTextColor.DARK_RED));
+        stopMeta.displayName(message("items.exit", "<dark_red>Exit Replay"));
         stopReplay.setItemMeta(stopMeta);
+        markControl(stopReplay, "exit");
 
         ItemStack playerMenu = new ItemStack(Material.PLAYER_HEAD);
         ItemMeta menuMeta = playerMenu.getItemMeta();
-        menuMeta.displayName(Component.text("Players", NamedTextColor.AQUA));
+        menuMeta.displayName(message("items.players", "<aqua>Players"));
         playerMenu.setItemMeta(menuMeta);
+        markControl(playerMenu, "players");
 
         viewer.getInventory().setItem(0, skipBackward);
         viewer.getInventory().setItem(1, pauseButton);
@@ -126,13 +139,15 @@ public void giveReplayControls() {
     public void showStepControls() {
         ItemStack stepBack = new ItemStack(Material.CYAN_DYE);
         ItemMeta backMeta = stepBack.getItemMeta();
-        backMeta.displayName(Component.text("\u25C0\u25C0 Previous Frame", NamedTextColor.AQUA));
+        backMeta.displayName(message("items.previous-frame", "<aqua>\u25C0\u25C0 Previous Frame"));
         stepBack.setItemMeta(backMeta);
+        markControl(stepBack, "previous-frame");
 
         ItemStack stepForward = new ItemStack(Material.MAGENTA_DYE);
         ItemMeta fwdMeta = stepForward.getItemMeta();
-        fwdMeta.displayName(Component.text("\u25B6\u25B6 Next Frame", NamedTextColor.LIGHT_PURPLE));
+        fwdMeta.displayName(message("items.next-frame", "<light_purple>\u25B6\u25B6 Next Frame"));
         stepForward.setItemMeta(fwdMeta);
+        markControl(stepForward, "next-frame");
 
         viewer.getInventory().setItem(5, stepBack);
         viewer.getInventory().setItem(6, stepForward);
@@ -145,19 +160,21 @@ public void hideStepControls() {
 
     public void showSpeedControls(double currentSpeed) {
         String speedText = String.format("%.1fx", currentSpeed);
-        List<Component> speedLore = List.of(Component.text("Current: " + speedText, NamedTextColor.GRAY));
+        List<Component> speedLore = List.of(message("items.speed-lore", "<gray>Current: %speed%", "speed", speedText));
 
         ItemStack slower = new ItemStack(Material.ORANGE_DYE);
         ItemMeta slowerMeta = slower.getItemMeta();
-        slowerMeta.displayName(Component.text("\u23EA Slower", NamedTextColor.GOLD));
+        slowerMeta.displayName(message("items.slower", "<gold>\u23EA Slower"));
         slowerMeta.lore(speedLore);
         slower.setItemMeta(slowerMeta);
+        markControl(slower, "slower");
 
         ItemStack faster = new ItemStack(Material.LIGHT_BLUE_DYE);
         ItemMeta fasterMeta = faster.getItemMeta();
-        fasterMeta.displayName(Component.text("\u23E9 Faster", NamedTextColor.BLUE));
+        fasterMeta.displayName(message("items.faster", "<blue>\u23E9 Faster"));
         fasterMeta.lore(speedLore);
         faster.setItemMeta(fasterMeta);
+        markControl(faster, "faster");
 
         viewer.getInventory().setItem(5, slower);
         viewer.getInventory().setItem(6, faster);
@@ -167,7 +184,7 @@ public void openPlayerMenu() {
         Inventory inv = Bukkit.createInventory(
                 null,
                 27,
-                Component.text("Recorded Players", NamedTextColor.DARK_GRAY)
+                message("menus.recorded-players", "<dark_gray>Recorded Players")
         );
 
         for (RecordedEntity entity : recordedEntitiesSupplier.get().values()) {
@@ -287,8 +304,7 @@ public void onPlayerInteract(PlayerInteractEvent e) {
         if (handItem == null || !handItem.hasItemMeta())
             return;
 
-        Component displayName = handItem.getItemMeta().displayName();
-        String name = displayName instanceof TextComponent tc ? tc.content() : "";
+        String control = getControl(handItem);
 
         RecordedPlayer targetPlayer = getTargetedRecordedPlayer(player);
         if (targetPlayer != null) {
@@ -297,16 +313,19 @@ public void onPlayerInteract(PlayerInteractEvent e) {
             return;
         }
 
-        switch (name) {
-            case "Pause / Play" -> sessionControl.togglePause();
-            case "+5 seconds" -> sessionControl.skipSeconds(5);
-            case "-5 seconds" -> sessionControl.skipSeconds(-5);
-            case "\u25C0\u25C0 Previous Frame" -> sessionControl.stepTick(-1);
-            case "\u25B6\u25B6 Next Frame" -> sessionControl.stepTick(1);
-            case "\u23EA Slower" -> sessionControl.changeSpeed(-1);
-            case "\u23E9 Faster" -> sessionControl.changeSpeed(1);
-            case "Exit Replay" -> sessionControl.stop();
-            case "Players" -> openPlayerMenu();
+        if (control == null) return;
+
+        switch (control) {
+            case "pause-play" -> sessionControl.togglePause();
+            case "skip-forward" -> sessionControl.skipSeconds(5);
+            case "skip-backward" -> sessionControl.skipSeconds(-5);
+            case "previous-frame" -> sessionControl.stepTick(-1);
+            case "next-frame" -> sessionControl.stepTick(1);
+            case "slower" -> sessionControl.changeSpeed(-1);
+            case "faster" -> sessionControl.changeSpeed(1);
+            case "exit" -> sessionControl.stop();
+            case "players" -> openPlayerMenu();
+            default -> { return; }
         }
 
         e.setCancelled(true);
@@ -385,11 +404,7 @@ public void onPlayerDropItem(PlayerDropItemEvent e) {
         if (item == null || !item.hasItemMeta())
             return;
 
-        Component dropDisplayName = item.getItemMeta().displayName();
-        String dropName = dropDisplayName instanceof TextComponent tc ? tc.content() : "";
-        if (dropName.equals("Pause / Play") || dropName.equals("+5 seconds") || dropName.equals("-5 seconds")
-                || dropName.equals("\u25C0\u25C0 Previous Frame") || dropName.equals("\u25B6\u25B6 Next Frame")
-                || dropName.equals("\u23EA Slower") || dropName.equals("\u23E9 Faster")) {
+        if (getControl(item) != null) {
             e.setCancelled(true);
         }
     }
@@ -404,4 +419,22 @@ public void onEntityPickupItem(EntityPickupItemEvent e) {
 
         e.setCancelled(true);
     }
+
+    private Component message(String key, String fallback, String... replacements) {
+        ReplayMessagesConfig messages = replay.getMessages();
+        if (messages != null) return messages.component(key, fallback, replacements);
+        String value = fallback;
+        for (int index = 0; index + 1 < replacements.length; index += 2) {
+            value = value.replace("%" + replacements[index] + "%", replacements[index + 1]);
+        }
+        return MINI_MESSAGE.deserialize(value);
+    }
+
+    private void markControl(ItemStack item, String control) {
+        item.editPersistentDataContainer(pdc -> pdc.set(controlKey, PersistentDataType.STRING, control));
+    }
+
+    private String getControl(ItemStack item) {
+        return item.getPersistentDataContainer().get(controlKey, PersistentDataType.STRING);
+    }
 }
diff --git a/src/main/resources/messages.yml b/src/main/resources/messages.yml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..0bb3dcf
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/main/resources/messages.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,26 @@
+# ===========================================
+#           BetterReplay Messages
+# ===========================================
+
+replay:
+  empty: "<red>Replay is empty!"
+  finished: "<green>Replay finished"
+
+action-bar:
+  paused: "<yellow>⏸ Replay paused: <gray>%current% / %total%"
+  playing: "<green>▶ Replay: <gray>%current% / %total% <dark_gray>(%percent%%) <aqua>[%speed%]"
+
+items:
+  pause-play: "<red>Pause / Play"
+  skip-forward: "<green>+5 seconds"
+  skip-backward: "<yellow>-5 seconds"
+  exit: "<dark_red>Exit Replay"
+  players: "<aqua>Players"
+  previous-frame: "<aqua>◀◀ Previous Frame"
+  next-frame: "<light_purple>▶▶ Next Frame"
+  slower: "<gold>⏪ Slower"
+  faster: "<blue>⏩ Faster"
+  speed-lore: "<gray>Current: %speed%"
+
+menus:
+  recorded-players: "<dark_gray>Recorded Players"