History of textures/Unused textures

Classic white texture
In the versions of terrain.png used between 0.0.14a and 0.0.14a_08 there is a white texture which was not used in any in-game block. It was removed from terrain.png in 0.0.15a.

Brick texture variations
In the versions of terrain.png used between 0.26 SURVIVAL TEST and 0.30 inclusive, there existed four textures very similar to the existing bricks texture, although with subtle differences. These textures were removed from terrain.png at the start of Indev.

Chair and possible table textures
From Indev 20100206 to Infdev 20100627 two textures were present in terrain.png which were based off of the oak planks texture. The first texture is commonly recognised to be the side view of a chair, and the other texture is often interpreted as being either the front view of a chair or the side of a table.

Indev 20100206 also added a duplicate oak planks texture. This may have been intended to be used for such blocks as well (as the back or seat portion, or a tabletop), or it may have simply been the texture copied for the other two textures to be cut from. This was removed earlier than the other two textures in Infdev 20100607.

In Infdev 20100618, the chair texture specifically changed to be slightly darker, which was likely unintentional, as the door and ladder textures, relatively close by on the atlas, were also darkened in said version.

Infdev/Alpha white texture
In Infdev 20100629, a texture was added to terrain.png of completely unknown use. This texture was composed of several black, white and gray textures, resembling static when shown on a white background, or maggots when on a black background. This texture was removed in Alpha v1.0.4 with its position being taken by the snowy grass block side texture.

Grass block top texture duplicate
In Beta 1.6 Test Build 3, a duplicate of the grass block top texture was added to terrain.png. As this version also added grass and ferns, which appear adjacent to this texture, it is highly likely that this texture was copied simply to pick the colors from during texturing, and was accidentally left in.

Interestingly, in Beta 1.9 Prerelease 5, despite being completely unused in-game, this texture was actually changed alongside other block textures that changed in this version. The actually used grass block texture also changed in this version, however despite both textures being identical beforehand, the Beta 1.9 Prerelease 5 textures made the two textures visually distinct from each other.

The terrain.png used in Pocket Edition v0.2.0 alpha, being based off of the terrain.png from Java Edition 1.0.0, also includes this texture.

The texture was eventually removed from Java Edition in 13w02a and Pocket Edition in v0.8.0 alpha build 2 due to the deprecation of terrain.png in those versions.

"Three dots" texture
In Beta 1.8 Pre-release, a texture composed of three dot shapes with accompanying "shadows" or "trails" was added to terrain.png. Its intended use is unknown. The texture was eventually removed in 13w02a due to terrain.png 's deprecation.

This texture also carried on to Pocket Edition in v0.2.0 alpha due to the terrain.png used then being based off of the one from Java Edition 1.0.0, before its removal in v0.8.0 alpha build 2.

"Village border" texture
These textures, also added to  in Beta 1.8 Pre-release, remained unused and were removed in 13w02a per texture pack reforms. While these textures are commonly referred to as "village border" textures, where this naming came from is currently unknown.

The "edge" texture was carried to Pocket Edition in v0.2.0 alpha, however the "corner" texture was not, as its place was taken up by the info_update texture. The "edge" was removed in v0.8.0 alpha build 2 alongside many other such textures.

Beta/Release white texture
The last of four unused textures added in Beta 1.8 Pre-release, this white texture was located alongside the three others. Its use is also unknown, and was removed in 13w02a with texture pack reforms.

This texture never appeared in Pocket Edition Alpha, as its position was taken by the texture for info_update2.

Paeonia
Paeonias were an unimplemented block that was replaced by the two-block-high peonies.

There was only one screenshot of the block released by Jeb. When held in hand, its height was level to the player's shoulder. The texture for this block,, could still be found until it was removed in snapshot 17w47a for 1.13. In the first version of the Texture Update, another unused "flower_paeonia" texture can be found.

Wax block texture
A texture for a wax block was added to the game files in 19w34a, but it was removed in 19w42a.

Mirrored door textures


In Infdev's, two door textures could be found that looked exactly the same except the hinges and the handle were mirrored. In current Minecraft only one of the textures is used and is flipped when the hinges and handle are on the other side. The alternate door was overwritten with the iron door texture in Alpha v1.0.1. They were almost certainly used for a period of time in Infdev, although this requires confirmation.

Crystallized honey texture
A texture for a crystallized honey item was added to the game files in 19w34a, but it was removed in 19w42a.

Quiver


In Legend of the Chambered (an abandoned RPG that Notch made), there was a quiver item available to be picked up as loot. Notch reused its texture and put it in Minecraft, albeit flipped horizontally. It was added in Indev 0.31 20091231-2.

Although the texture for a quiver had been in the game since Indev, almost nothing was known about it. Jeb stated that he was not going to add them. Later, during 1.9 development, Dinnerbone tweeted a 2×204960 image, which can be reformed into a 854×480 Minecraft screenshot, containing the quiver. On June 30, 2015, Dinnerbone posted that he removed them again as arrows in the off-hand feel "more natural."

In 1.9, the quiver texture was removed.

Angry villager head


In the particles sheet, there is an angry villager head that remains unused.

Since Java Edition 19w06a, particles are now broken up into individual textures files per frame rather than being in particles.png and angry villager head was removed.

Footstep particle


The footstep particle was introduced, but never used in-game. It was removed in snapshot 17w47a, as part of The Flattening. They were later added as an easter egg in the 20w14∞ April Fools snapshot with the namespaced ID of. It could be obtained in the "missing" dimension or using the command.

Fluff.png


In Infdev, a texture called  was added. It was used as a texture for clouds in Infdev, but was later removed in early Alpha.

waterterrain.png


In Infdev, a file similar to, referred to as  , could be found. It appeared to be some sort of arrow system, and it is possible this was used to test water animation.

Door entity


In the Infdev "item" folder (where signs, arrows, and minecarts could be found at the time), a file named  could also be found. It was most likely going to be used for the door animation Notch had been wanting to add. The texture was removed in 1.6.1.

Steve villager hybrid


After villagers were added, a strange file could be found in the mobs folder (outside of the villager folder) called. It appeared to be some sort of Steve villager hybrid. The file was removed in 13w24a during the texture pack reform. It did not match the villager model. If used for the villager model in a resource pack, it would look glitched.

Char_2.png
can be found in Indev 20100212-1's texture files. This was possibly another failed attempt at testing skins. There are two gold pixels on the top right of Steve's head and two layers of hair.

Strider's fin
Striders had a fin in their texture file. The fin wasn't visible in-game and was removed in 20w15a.



Skis
A texture known in the game files as  was added in 1.4.6 (around Christmas and New Year). Its texture was added by Dinnerbone as a red herring. The texture was removed in 1.6.1.