diff --git a/src/main/java/cc/fros/features/gui/Widget.java b/src/main/java/cc/fros/features/gui/Widget.java
index 6c904cd..601ddd7 100644
--- a/src/main/java/cc/fros/features/gui/Widget.java
+++ b/src/main/java/cc/fros/features/gui/Widget.java
@@ -215,6 +215,6 @@ public class Widget
     }
 
     protected void drawString(String text, double x, double y, int color) {
-        FrosFont.draw(context, text, (int) x, (int) y, color, true);
+        FrosFont.draw(context, text, (int) x, (int) y, color);
     }
 }
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/src/main/java/cc/fros/features/gui/items/Item.java b/src/main/java/cc/fros/features/gui/items/Item.java
index 6713921..52d1832 100644
--- a/src/main/java/cc/fros/features/gui/items/Item.java
+++ b/src/main/java/cc/fros/features/gui/items/Item.java
@@ -80,7 +80,7 @@ public class Item
     }
 
     protected void drawString(GuiGraphics context, String text, double x, double y, int color) {
-        FrosFont.draw(context, text, (int) x, (int) y, color, true);
+        FrosFont.draw(context, text, (int) x, (int) y, color);
     }
 
     public boolean isHovering(int mouseX, int mouseY) {
diff --git a/src/main/java/cc/fros/features/modules/client/HudModule.java b/src/main/java/cc/fros/features/modules/client/HudModule.java
index e29f5d2..8f49bc1 100644
--- a/src/main/java/cc/fros/features/modules/client/HudModule.java
+++ b/src/main/java/cc/fros/features/modules/client/HudModule.java
@@ -120,7 +120,7 @@ public abstract class HudModule extends Module {
                 textX = x - 5 - textWidth;
             }
             FrosFont.draw(e.getContext(), getName(),
-                    (int) textX, (int) (y + height / 2f - textHeight / 2f), -1, true);
+                    (int) textX, (int) (y + height / 2f - textHeight / 2f), -1);
             HudEditorScreen.getInstance().anyHover = true;
         }
 
diff --git a/src/main/java/cc/fros/util/render/FrosFont.java b/src/main/java/cc/fros/util/render/FrosFont.java
index dcf3be5..85fb454 100644
--- a/src/main/java/cc/fros/util/render/FrosFont.java
+++ b/src/main/java/cc/fros/util/render/FrosFont.java
@@ -124,7 +124,13 @@ public final class FrosFont {
     }
 
     public static void draw(GuiGraphics context, String text, int x, int y, int color) {
-        draw(context, text, x, y, color, false);
+        draw(context, text, x, y, color, shadows());
+    }
+
+    /** text shadows only while the custom font is active; the vanilla font renders flat */
+    public static boolean shadows() {
+        sync();
+        return awtFont != null;
     }
 
     public static void draw(GuiGraphics context, String text, int x, int y, int color, boolean shadow) {
@@ -142,10 +148,10 @@ public final class FrosFont {
         if (component == null) return;
         sync();
         if (awtFont == null) {
-            context.drawString(mc.font, component, x, y, color);
+            context.drawString(mc.font, component, x, y, color, shadows());
             return;
         }
-        draw(context, toCodeString(component), x, y, color, false);
+        draw(context, toCodeString(component), x, y, color);
     }
 
     // --- loading ---