Skin

Skins refer to the textures that are placed onto a player or mob model. Skins can be easily made in blockbench

Default skins

Skins with Classic Arms

Steve	Alex	Ari	Kai	Noor	Sunny	Zuri	Efe	Makena

Skins with Slim Arms

Steve	Alex	Ari	Kai	Noor	Sunny	Zuri	Efe	Makena

Properties

Skins are divided into areas that act as the surface area of the character (for example, the front head area, left leg area, etc.). There are a total of 3,264 pixels that can be customized, with 1,632 on each layer. Skins with slim arms have 3,136 pixels, with 1568 pixels on each layer. The second layer can be used to give the character glasses, hats, or other accessories (even a bigger head).

In Java Edition, a skin allows only a solid color; transparency is not allowed on the skin file except on the second layer, which is transparent by default; playing offline, pixels can be left free resulting in "holes" in the skin. If a skin with transparent pixels on the first layer is uploaded, the transparent pixels render as black pixels in-game.

In Bedrock Edition, skins can have double the resolution of a normal skin. This means the skin template can be up to 128×128 instead of just 64×64. The normal templates still apply, but players get 4× the amount of pixels to work with, since both dimensions have been doubled. Transparency can be used, even on the first layer, though there needs to be at least one visible pixel, so a fully invisible skin can't be made. The transparency must also be 0% or 100% as translucent colors are not allowed in either layer.

Pixel size of the 2nd layer on body, arms and legs is 0.25 pixel bigger than the skin pixel (inner layer). For head 2nd layer (Hat layer) it is 0.5 pixels bigger than the skin layer (inner layer).

World textures

A skin can also refer to other textures in the game, such as block textures, item sprites, mob skins, etc. A list of these can be found here.

It is worth noting that a zombie and its variants can use typical player skins (and vice-versa). Skeleton mobs can use typical player skins as well, but keep in mind that they have their skinny arms and legs. If a skeleton mob skin is used as a player's skin, their legs and arms do not appear skinny.

In order to use the player skin for zombies, the user must align it to the correct place on the .png to avoid a visual break in the texture.

Changing or installing player skins

Java Edition

Only players who have purchased Minecraft can change their character's skin. This is done on the profile page or in the Minecraft Launcher by uploading a valid .png texture that is 64×64 pixels, or a legacy texture that is 64×32 pixels, which then replaces the default skin.

Skins also have the option of having either 3 or 4 pixel wide arms, which can be changed on the profile page as well.^[1]

The steve.png and alex.png files in client.jar can also be changed and replaced via a resource pack, but the effects are visible only to players using the resource pack, and affects all players with the default skin.

Other versions of Steve and Alex in officially-released skin packs and other Minecraft media exist:

Default skin variations

Name Image Rear Original Player Notes Steve The original Steve texture taken from Notch's old game Zombie Town. The texture is still in use in various Minecraft Media. Alex An unused Alex texture found in the Minecraft Launcher. Tennis Steve Player 2's Skin A blond Steve in a tennis outfit and a sweatband. Tuxedo Steve Player 3's Skin Steve in a fancy-looking tuxedo. Athlete Steve Player 4's Skin A darker version of Steve with a sleeveless top, a gold medal necklace, and track pants. Absent from Bedrock Edition's Legacy Skin Pack. Scottish Steve[note 1] Player 5's Skin Steve in a kilt with fancy hair and clothing. Prisoner Steve Player 6's Skin Steve as an escapee from prison in a bright-colored, prison uniform. It seems as if he resembles an albino, with red eyes and off white hair. Cyclist Steve Player 7's Skin A Steve with bicycling shorts, a jacket, and shoes. Boxer Steve A Steve with boxing gloves, a belt with short shorts, no shirt, and fancy boots. There is an error with the arm texture where shoulder and hand textures occupy each other's location resulting in shoulder being on hand and boxing glove being on shoulder. This error applies only to the Xbox 360 Edition. Tennis Alex A darker Alex in a tennis outfit and a sweatband. Tuxedo Alex Alex in a fancy-looking dress. Athlete Alex A dark haired Alex with a running shirt and track pants. Absent from Bedrock Edition's Legacy Skin Pack. Swedish Alex[note 1] Alex in the Sweden suit[more information needed] with blonde hair. Prisoner Alex Alex that has escaped from prison in a bright-colored prison uniform with brown hair. Cyclist Alex An Alex with blue glasses, bicycling shorts, a jacket, shorts, and shoes. Boxer Alex An Alex with boxing gloves, short shorts, red boots and sleeveless shirt. Developer Steve Steve with gray Mojang t-shirt. Developer Alex Alex with gray Mojang t-shirt. Party Steve From the MINECON 2017 skin pack. Party Alex From the MINECON 2017 skin pack. Jumper? From The Holiday Skin Pack 2015. Warm Wooly From The Holiday Skin Pack 2015. Parka? From The Holiday Skin Pack 2015. Winter Steve From the Festive Skin pack. Santa Steve From the Festive Skin pack. Parka Steve From the Festive Skin pack. Birthday Party Steve From 1st Birthday skin pack. Steve Creeper From 1st Birthday skin pack. Plastic Party Steve From 2nd Birthday skin pack. Plastic Steve From the Plastic texture pack. Wolf T-Shirt From the 4th Birthday skin pack. Alex Wolf T-Shirt From the 4th Birthday skin pack. Chicken T-Shirt From the 4th Birthday skin pack. Alex Chicken T-Shirt From the 4th Birthday skin pack. Creeper T-Shirt From the 4th Birthday skin pack. Alex Creeper T-Shirt From the 4th Birthday skin pack. Guardian T-Shirt From the 4th Birthday skin pack. Alex Guardian T-Shirt From the 4th Birthday skin pack. Slime T-Shirt From the 4th Birthday skin pack. Alex Slime T-Shirt From the 4th Birthday skin pack. Ghast T-Shirt From 4th Birthday skin pack. Alex Ghast T-Shirt From 4th Birthday skin pack. Sheep T-Shirt From the 4th Birthday skin pack. Alex Sheep T-Shirt From the 4th Birthday skin pack. Ocelot T-Shirt From the 4th Birthday skin pack. Alex Ocelot T-Shirt From the 4th Birthday skin pack. Wither T-Shirt From the 4th Birthday skin pack. Alex Wither T-Shirt From the 4th Birthday skin pack. Skeleton T-Shirt From the 4th Birthday skin pack. Alex Skeleton T-Shirt From the 4th Birthday skin pack.

Bedrock Edition

Since Pocket Edition v0.11.0 alpha, players can choose one of the two default skins either Steve or Alex, and can apply their own custom skin. (Uses the same format as the Java edition). The player must select a valid skin image from their photo library, and must choose between the two main models. Players can also spend Minecraft Coins to buy skin packs. The Legacy Skin Pack was also implemented in Bedrock Edition, but the player has to sign in to Xbox Live to access all the skins. It also includes five anonymous skins. Players can also make their own skin packs, which must include a manifest.json file, a skins.json file, and all the desired skins. An additional .lang file can be added inside a folder labeled texts to display the skin names, but the game can register the skins without it.

Character creator

The character creator is a feature in Bedrock Edition (and was in Minecraft Earth until discontinuation) that lets players customize their skins with free and paid-for cosmetic items. It can be accessed by selecting the character profile button on the main menu. It can also be used to equip capes. Many clothing items cost Minecoins (Tokens on PlayStation 4), or can be earned by completing certain achievements.

Skin packs

Skin Packs are available in Bedrock Edition as downloadable content. They can be aquired:

• through the Marketplace. Most of them cost Minecoins (Tokens on PS4), but some have been released for free.
• through .mcskin files put in the skin_packs or development_skin_packs folder in the game files (accessible only on Windows 10, Android, iOS, iPadOS, and Fire devices).

Java Edition Skin Packs

The following skin packs were released on minecraft.net by Mojang Studios for certain events.

There might be more Java Edition exclusive skin packs released by Mojang Studios not yet listed in this table.

Templates

Many players prefer their own unique skin. While many premade skins can be found online, many players prefer to create their own.

A custom skin is a way to personalize the player model and can be done either by using a variety of community-made skin editors, or by editing the steve.png or alex.png file manually with an image editor like Photoshop, GIMP, Paint.net or similar image editors. The steve.png file can be downloaded here and the alex.png file here. When editing the steve.png or alex.png file manually, be sure to keep the original image dimensions and make the background of the skin (the unused pixels) completely transparent. Otherwise, Minecraft may fail to recognize the skin as intended.

Alternatively, some may find it easier to use a program, either downloadable or in-browser, which provides a live view of their character on a three-dimensional model as they are editing the skin. For example, programs may further assist players by providing them with a wide variety of pre-made selections (such as hats, boots, sweaters, etc.), to give the skin creator exactly what they want, even if the creator has little to no artistic skill.

After making a custom skin, either by using a skin editor or by editing the steve.png file directly, one still needs to upload the .png file at the Skin section of the Profile page on Minecraft.net (found here) before the skin is applied. Other players in multiplayer can also see this skin. Note that players cannot see the custom skin if they are not logged in or when playing offline.

Official skin templates

Minecraft Help Center Article

• 
  Alex Template
• 
  Steve Template
• 
  4px Arms Template
• 
  3px Arms Template

Other templates

• 
  The modern layered skin template; every body part can have a second layer, marked by the darker palette areas.
• 
  An adaptation of the previous template, color-coded to match the appropriate faces of the skin: front, back, left, right, top and bottom. The checked areas represent the secondary layer.
• 
  A template for the slim arms/"Alex" model.
• 
  An adaptation of the slimmer arms template, color-coded to match the appropriate faces of the skin: front, back, left, right, top and bottom. The checked areas represent the secondary layer.
• 
  Another skin template.
• 
  Color-coded old skin template with all faces labeled.
• 
  Another skin guide, but on a black background. For the arm and leg sections only, "right" indicates those facing outward, and "left" indicates inward.
• 
  Deadmau5's skin^[2] (not a guide). Notice the ears. See also: Easter eggs § deadmau5's ears
• 
  Template for deadmau5's ears. Use other templates listed here for the skin.

Video

History

Historical images

• 
  The first skins being tested in Minecraft Classic.
• 
  A camouflage skin in Minecraft Classic.
• 
  The first image of a skin's hat layer, from Notch's blog.
• 
  First image of the slim arms option.
• 
  Second image of the slim arms option.
• 
  Third image of the slim arms option.
• 
  Fourth image of the slim arms option.
• 
  Fifth image of the slim arms option.

Trivia

• There are exactly 2¹⁰⁴⁴⁴⁸ + 2¹⁰⁰³⁵² (≈9.571 656 652 × 10³¹⁴⁴¹) possible skins in Java Edition, with 2⁹¹³⁹² + 2⁸⁷⁸⁰⁸ (≈5.412 073 956 × 10²⁷⁵¹¹) compatible online.
• The pixel size of the character is 5.86 centimeters (Block pixel size × 30 (character 2 pixels below block) ÷ 32 (number of pixels on skin in height) = 6.25 × 30 ÷ 32 )

Gallery

• 
  Official artwork showing Steve and Alex variants from Minecraft: China Edition's website.
• 
  Marc's Heads are accounts with specific skins made for decoration.
• 
  Deadmau5's unique skin with ears.
• 
  An example of a custom skin.
• 
  Another example.
• 
  Third example.
• 
  A variety of Alex skins available in the Legacy Console Edition. Left to right: Tennis, Tuxedo, Athlete, Default, Swedish, Cyclist, Prisoner, and Boxer.
• 
  Multiple size options for skins.‌^{[Bedrock Edition only]}
• 
  A render of the full cast, used when first entering the character creator.

Renders

• 
  Testvan's skin as seen in an early skin test screenshot.
• 
  Mezo's skin as seen in an early skin test screenshot.
• 
  Mezo in a camouflaged skin.
• 
  Notch's hat layer test skin.
• 
  Steve's friend from the Official Minecraft Trailer.
• 
  Notch's skin.
• 
  Jeb's skin.
• 
  C418's skin.
• 
  Jappa's skin.
• 
  Slicedlime's skin.
• 
  LadyAgnes's skin.
• 
  Kingbdogz's skin.
• 
  Searge's skin.
• 
  Dinnerbone's skin.
• 
  Grumm's skin.
• 
  mollstam's skin.
• 
  Deadmau5's skin (blue version).
• 
  Deadmau5's skin (red version).
• 
  The base villager skin out of the 7 villager skins that all players wore during April Fools 2014.
• 
  The butcher villager skin out of the 7 villager skins that all players wore during April Fools 2014.
• 
  The farmer villager skin out of the 7 villager skins that all players wore during April Fools 2014.
• 
  The librarian villager skin out of the 7 villager skins that all players wore during April Fools 2014.
• 
  The priest villager skin out of the 7 villager skins that all players wore during April Fools 2014.
• 
  The smith villager skin out of the 7 villager skins that all players wore during April Fools 2014.
• 
  One of the 7 Villager skins that all players wore during April Fools 2014. Of note is that Nitwits were unimplemented at the time.

See also

• Character
• Mob (entity)
• Mobs
• Mob of Me
• Player
• Skin pack

References