Player

The player is the main character who can be controlled in Minecraft. The two default player skins are known as Steve and Alex, with all unchanged skins being split between the two default skins.

Appearance
There are two default player skins, known as Steve and Alex, assigned to each player based on their account ID if they do not use a custom skin.

Steve has close-cropped dark brown hair, dark brown skin, a dark brown nose and mouth, white eyes with blue-purplish pupils and 4px arms. They wear a plain light blue T-shirt (hanging down untucked on the left-hand side), a pair of blue jeans and gray shoes. Zombies wear this outfit too.

Alex has long bright orange hair that hangs down their left shoulder, pale fair skin, white eyes with dark green pupils, pinkish lips and 3px arms. They wear a plain light green short-sleeved tunic with a dark green belt, a pair of brown trousers and grayish boots.

Both player skins are intended to be generic representations of a person, although the player's skin can be changed. Steve is also the shape of a "classic" skin and Alex is the shape of a "slim" skin.

The player's appearance is commonly obscured by equipped armor such as turtle shells, as well as other equipable items such as elytra, carved pumpkins and heads. Players are also the only entity capable of having capes, as well as deadmau5 ears, depending on the account.

$$, if shot with an arrow or stung by a bee, the arrow/stinger will appear physically embedded inside of the player for a given time. These do not apply to other mobs.

Unlike the Java Edition counterparts, the Bedrock Edition Steve and Alex are texture updated and their models periodically blink. This feature does not apply to custom skin models.

Default skin variations
Officially-made variations on Steve and Alex have been released, featuring different skin, hair, eye colors and outfits.


 * Steve


 * Alex

Drops

 * Contents of their inventory and armor unless has been set to
 * Current XP points minus current XP level times 7, capped at a total of 100 XP points. If has been set to , no XP will be dropped.

Java Edition
$$, the player can choose from either Steve or Alex. These two models can be customized by downloading free skins from trusted websites or making using an editing program, but in the demo or when playing offline, the game randomly chooses either Steve or Alex as the current skin.

Bedrock Edition
$$, the player can choose between Steve and Alex in-game, which sets both the skin and the model for custom skins. However, Bedrock Edition also allows the usage of skin packs, each of which has a selection of free skins. On Windows and mobile devices, skins can also be imported from a PNG file. Some skins can be purchased as DLC. Bedrock Edition also features a skin creation system with purchasable apparel and features. Java Edition versions of the Steve and Alex skins are automatically available for free in Bedrock Edition.

Reach
A player has two kinds of reach. The area forms a three-dimensional cylinder because it encompasses vertical and horizontal distances :
 * The attack reach, which is 3 blocks
 * The building reach, which is 4.5 blocks

Health and hunger meters
The player has 10 full hearts or 20 health points. One full heart represents two health points. When the player's hunger bar is at or higher, health slowly regenerates by  every four seconds, but when it is at  with saturation remaining, health regenerates by  every half second. The hunger bar depletes faster from energy-intensive activities like sprinting, jumping, attacking mobs, and mining, and it can be refilled by eating food. If the hunger bar is at or lower, the player does not regenerate health unless in Peaceful difficulty (or under the effect of certain potions). While the hunger bar is at, the player is starving and proceeds to lose health. On Hard difficulty, starvation kills the player. On Normal difficulty, it brings health down to. On Easy difficulty, it brings health down to. On Peaceful difficulty, the health bar recovers regardless of hunger, but still depletes from starvation damage, and the hunger bar does not lose any points even when under the effect of hunger.

Respawn immunity
The player does not take damage for 60 game ticks (3 seconds) upon respawning from death.

Movement
There isn't a simple hard-coded maximum velocity for walking, sprinting, etc. The maximum is a result of a base acceleration countered by "friction" or air resistance. The base acceleration for walking is 0.098, and sprinting is 30% faster than that. Velocity is increased by this acceleration value every tick (1/20th of a second), then the player is moved by the resulting velocity, then the velocity is multiplied by the friction value of the block they are walking on. For most blocks, the friction value is 0.546. As the player walks forward, each tick their velocity goes +0.098, *0.546, +.098, *0.546, +0.098, and so on. The result is that eventually, the 0.546 multiplier counteracts the 0.098 increase, so the player doesn't go any faster. The formula for this "terminal velocity" is a/(1-r), where a is the acceleration, and r is the block's friction. 0.098/(1-0.546) ≈ 0.2159 meters/tick = 4.317 meters/second. Sprinting is 30% faster than that; About 5.612 meters/second. Flying is similar, but the base acceleration is 0.49 and the "friction" is 0.91, which comes out to ~10.89 m/s.

The player walks at a nominal rate of 4.317 meters (blocks) per second. That's about 15.5 kph or 9.7 mph, which is a 3:51 kilometer or a 6:12 mile. This means that the player can walk a total of 5181 blocks (5.2 km) in one Minecraft day, if walking in a straight line, ignoring hunger, and not sprinting or sneaking. For sneaking and sprinting statistics, see below.

Sprinting
The player can sprint, draining the hunger bar considerably while doing so. The player sprints approximately 5.612 blocks per second, as opposed to the regular pace of 4.317. That's 20.2 kph or 12.6mph, which is a 2:58 km or a 4:46 mile. The player can usually jump four blocks horizontally when sprinting, although they can jump five blocks with a correctly timed jump and enough momentum. The swiftness effect increases momentum. The player cannot sprint if the hunger bar is at or less. Sprinting is activated by double-tapping the forward key (default ), then holding it, or by holding the sprint key ( [ if using a Mac] by default) while pressing the forward key. Holding the sprint key in Creative mode while flying causes the player to fly faster.

Sneaking
Sneaking is a feature activated by pressing and holding the sneak key (default is ). Sneaking prevents players from falling more than half a block, making it highly useful for building horizontally outward over space. Going past the edge of a block and stopping sneaking does not result in falling off that block. The player can still dismount blocks while sneaking by jumping over the block's edge. In Multiplayer Mode, a player's name tag will be grayed out in Java Edition or completely disappears in Bedrock Edition when they sneak, to relate to the fact that sneaking will make them harder to see.

Jumping
The maximum height a player can jump without the jump boost effect is about 1.2522 blocks ($1 1/4$ blocks) in Java Edition. The jump height on Bedrock Edition is shorter because the game uses an outdated, pre-Combat Update value of 1.1875 ($1 3/16$ blocks).

Swimming
Swimming occurs when the player is sprinting (by double pressing W or pressing Ctrl/Cmd) while the player is submerged underwater. Swimming has the same animation as crawling.

Crawling
Crawling occurs when the player is in an area less than 1.5 blocks high and prevents suffocation. Crawling will also work in Bedrock Edition if the player goes from swimming into a one-block-high area straight after exiting the water.

Gameplay HUD
The onscreen heads-up display (HUD) consists of the player's health bar, hunger bar, experience bar, and hotbar. The armor rating bar appears above the health bar if the player is wearing armor and the oxygen bar appears if the player is submerged in water or is suffocating in a block. The HUD also contains the crosshair and a held object or fist. The HUD can also be toggled by.

As mentioned in the Gamemodes section, if the player is in Creative mode the health, hunger, and experience bars including armor rating and oxygen bubbles are hidden and only the hotbar is visible. Despite this, the player can still collect experience, wear armor, and will still display the screen tilting animation when dying from /kill or the void. In Spectator mode even the hotbar, crosshair, and held object/fist are hidden and the hotbar only appears as a player spectating list when a number is pressed or the mouse is scrolled.

Experience
Experience points (XP) can be gained via experience orbs when killing mobs or mining certain minerals. The current level is indicated by a green number above the HUD, and the experience points can be used to enchant weapons, tools, or armor with different useful attributes and skills (see enchanting table.) Anvils require experience to use.

The level increases by obtaining enough experience points. All levels and points are lost upon death but can be partially restored by picking up the experience orbs at the place of death.

Experience is also obtained through activities such as mining, fishing, mob breeding, killing certain mobs, trading, or smelting.

Gamemodes

 * In Survival mode, the player can place and destroy most blocks, and use all tools available. The player has limited health ( icons), hunger ( icons), and oxygen (bubble icons)
 * In Creative mode, the player can fly by double-tapping the jump key (default ) and place an infinite number of blocks, but with limited use of crafting and tools. No mobs will attack the player. The player cannot take damage (at all $$, and $$ only when falling into the Void or typing the command ), has no hunger and has unlimited oxygen, and breaking blocks is instantaneous.
 * In Hardcore mode, the player can respawn only in Spectator mode, and the difficulty level is locked on Hard mode.
 * In Adventure mode, there are no changes from Survival mode aside from being unable to break or place blocks unless they possess a tool with the  NBT data tag for that block, or have a block with the   tag. This game mode can be played only by having cheats enabled and typing the command, , , or by opening a multiplayer (including LAN) world.
 * In Spectator mode, the player can spectate almost all mobs, ride them as if the player were in a minecart, fly through blocks, and open inventories, but cannot break blocks or change inventories. Along with Adventure, it can be accessed by typing in, pressing + until Spectator mode (the eye of ender) is selected or + while cheats are enabled, or dying in Hardcore mode. However, with the Debug Mode world type, the gamemode is locked as Spectator mode unless changed with cheats enabled.

Username
Players in-game are referred to by a username. These are used to target the player with commands and differentiate other players.

$$, usernames must be 3–16 characters, although there are exceptions for players with under 3 characters, who bought the game early in its development. Players can change their username no more than once every 30 days. When the player changes their username, the previous username is available for other users to claim after 37 days. Because players can change usernames every 30 days, a player can manage two usernames without anyone being able to take either of them. If the player has a username under 3 characters and changes it, the old sub-3-character username is permanently unable to be obtained again. This also applies for symbol names. The username can be changed on the preferences page of minecraft.net.

$$, usernames chosen in-game must be 3–32 characters. Users can choose a username and change it unlimited times from Settings -> General -> Profile. Alternatively, users that sign in with a Microsoft account will have the username set to match their Gamertag. Gamertags can be modified on the Choose your new gamertag page of xbox.com for a fee of USD 9.99 except if changing from the gamertag generated upon account creation

Player names appear above their head as nameplates, typically in white letters within a dark transparent rectangle, though the use of mods can alter this. Player nameplates can also be seen through solid blocks and other obstructions, although a player can sneak to dim the nameplate's visibility when in sight, or hide it completely when out of sight or in Bedrock Edition.

Customization


$$, players can change skins on the preferences page of minecraft.net or the Minecraft Launcher by uploading a PNG image file, which then replaces the default skin. Players also have the option to have three or four pixel-wide arms on the character model.

$$, players can change their character's appearance from the Main menu or Pause menu -> Character where 5 character slots are shown. Edit Character will open the Character Creator where a skin, which synchronizes between signed-in devices, can be created by selecting pre-made components, altering their height, and selecting a slim or wide arm width. Players alternatively have the option to select from Classic skins within Skin packs obtained from the Marketplace or, for the Windows 10, iOS/iPadOS, and Android versions of the game, import a PNG image file. Classic Skins will not synchronize between signed-in devices. Players can also choose 6 Emotes per character slot and select or remove a cape.

ID




Entity data
Players have entity data associated with them that contain various properties.

Trivia

 * Steve was first named via his appearance in Super Meat Boy by Notch as a joke but later confirmed in the "change skin" menu on minecraft.net, in-game as the default name $1 3/16$, and his name in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. Prior to this, the player was nameless.
 * Steve's original model had a beard. Despite the removal, the beard is still used in artwork and merchandise.
 * The original Steve skin and player model was originally created for another one of Notch's games called Zombie Town.
 * Steve's face was inspired by the player model in Quake.
 * The player's eye level (according to coordinates on the debug screen) is 1.62 meters. Since their eyes are 28 pixels above their feet, leaving 4 pixels above their eyes (0.23m), this makes them 1.85 meters tall and 0.925 meters wide. However, the player's hitbox is 1.8m tall and 0.6m wide, the hitbox of a crouching player is 1.5m tall, and the hitbox of a player gliding with elytra or swimming is 0.6m tall.
 * The July–August 2016 issue of Lego Club Magazine mentioned that Steve is Alex's boyfriend. It is also mentioned that Steve is a miner, builder, and alchemist, while Alex is a builder, explorer, and hunter.
 * In Minecraft: Pocket Edition Lite, the name of the player was "Stevie" instead of "Steve".
 * The Alex skin is implied to be female in the description of a video from Minecraft's official YouTube channel, though never said outright through the use of pronouns or other methods.
 * The official Minecraft Instagram account has used gendered pronouns to describe Steve and Alex occasionally.
 * In the moveset explanation video regarding their inclusion in , Mr. Sakurai Presents "Steve & Alex", the English subtitles referred to Steve and Alex with male and female pronouns respectively, although because Japanese omits pronouns, Masahiro Sakurai didn't use any gender pronouns to refer to them.
 * The audio description for the Caves & Cliffs: Part I trailer also refers to Steve and Alex as a "(bearded) man" and "woman" respectively.
 * The player's legs do not line up perfectly with the torso; this is an intentional feature to prevent when wearing armor.
 * $1 1/4$, a dead player can still collect experience orbs near their death location until they choose to respawn.
 * Before Java Edition 1.14, the camera was located at the player's feet; the world is therefore rendered 1.8 blocks below what it should be at to counteract this.
 * Likewise, when the player slept in a bed, the world revolved around the player during the animation instead of the player's camera rotating, which led to some visual bugs.
 * In the Minecraft Launcher beta version 2.3.376, the designs of the default skins were updated, 8 years after the Alex skin was first introduced. New skins have a second layer that resemble sleeve folds, and was changed to look more similar to their Minecraft Dungeons counterpart.

Publicity

 * Steve is featured as a Micro Mob along with a creeper in the LEGO set 21102 LEGO Minecraft Micro World, as well as a Minifigure (along with Alex and many other skins) in several other LEGO Minecraft sets.
 * Steve is an unlockable character named "Mr. Minecraft" in the Steam version of Super Meat Boy. The character has a shorter jump height than other characters but can mine squares from the level and place them as platforms.
 * Steve's head is an unlockable helmet in the Xbox Arcade game, Hybrid.
 * Steve's head is a wearable item in Borderlands 2.
 * Steve's head is a wearable hat in DinoRun SE and Transformice.
 * Steve is a playable character in Retro City Rampage.
 * Steve is a uniform named "Craft Miner" in Saints Row 4.
 * Steve is an unlockable character with a projectile that looks like a stone pickaxe in the game Alone in the Park.
 * Steve is an outfit named "Pitman", wielding an iron pickaxe and able to break barriers, in the flash game Strikeforce Kitty 2.
 * "Mr. Pixel" in Createrria: craft your games has a face similar to Steve's.
 * Steve appears to be an unlockable character in "BowMasters".
 * Steve's head is a wearable hat in "Supreme Duelist Stickman" along with a the "pickaxe" weapon that can place blocks such as cobblestone, TNT, and a piston.
 * Steve and Alex are available as downloadable content in the crossover fighting game Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, tagging along a zombie and an enderman as alternate costumes.