Hitsplat

Hitsplat is a term used to refer to the damage icon appearing above a player, an NPC, or a monster, while in combat. A hitsplat usually results in the reduction of life points. A splat of disease doesn't result in a loss of life points but a loss of skill points. All hitsplats have a number in the centre, which determines the number of life points or levels in a skill that you have either lost or gained. Depending on how large the number is, the width of a splat is variable. However, before the update there were only two versions of each splat, one for numbers three digits or higher, and one for smaller hits. Most hits use the Arial font, while a player's maxed hit uses a special font to put emphasis on it.

Types of hitsplat
The colour of the hitsplat usually gives an indication of the type of damage and the number inside the amount of damage dealt. Hitsplat depicts the magnitude affection of an attack, effect, however a block or miss will always induce a 0, but the randomization result is never shown.

Trivia

 * New hitsplats were introduced in Damage Control and announced in the December 2010 Behind the Scenes article. They were released on 14 December 2010. They were also seen in the RuneScape Developer Blog: Void Knights Series previously.
 * The font used in the golden "maxed" hitsplat is the same that is used in the "You are here" and "Your marker" signs on the world map. Previously, the font was used in almost all of the login interface, but after the lobby update it was practically gone, seen only on the map and some obscure interfaces, so this update can be seen as marking the return of that font.
 * When another player hits a golden coloured hit while using melee, the right side of the bar is cut off and there is another left end on the right side.
 * All new hitsplats are built out of small, 4-pixel wide fragments. This leads some, such as absorption to have an odd "pattern" in their backgrounds.
 * Some times it is possible for a zero hitsplat to appear instead of a miss hitsplat. This is due to the hit is dealt after the target is dead.Zero hitsplats.png
 * Before a hidden update on 21 September 2011, the golden max hitsplat didn't take into account the effects of certain equipment such as a slayer helm or salve amulet. As such, while using these items on the appropriate monsters, players would often produce golden hitsplats by hitting above what would otherwise be their maximum.
 * It's still possible for hitsplats to overlap especially at crowded areas.