Player

The player is the character who can be controlled in Minecraft. The two default player skins are known as Steve (a name suggested by Notch as a joke but later confirmed in the "change skin" menu on minecraft.net and in-game as the default name $$) and Alex, with all unchanged skins being split between the two default skins.

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

Steve has dark brown hair, dark skin, nose and mouth, and blue eyes, with a light blue shirt (un-tucked on the left hand side), a pair of blue jeans, gray shoes, and 4px arms.

Alex has long bright orange hair hanging to the left side, pale white skin, and dark green eyes, with a light-green shirt (un-tucked on both sides, and a dark green belt wrapped around it), a pair of brown pants, grayish boots, pinkish lips, and 3px arms.

Both player skins are intended to be generic representations of a human being, 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 is 1.8 blocks tall, 1.5 blocks tall when sneaking $$, 0.6 blocks tall when gliding, sprint-swimming or crawling, and 0.6 blocks wide.

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 your 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. Some skins can be purchased as DLC.

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 losing 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.

Movement
The player walks at a nominal rate of 4.317 meters (blocks) per second. This means that the player can walk a total of 5181 blocks (5.2 km) in one Minecraft day.

Sprinting
The player is able to 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. The player can jump four blocks horizontally when sprinting. 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 ( 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 holding the sneak key (default is ). Sneaking prevents players from falling more than half a block, making it highly useful for building horizontally outwards over empty space. Going past the edge of a block and stopping sneaking, does not result in falling off that block. Additionally, the player can still dismount blocks while sneaking by jumping over the block's edge.

Jumping
The maximum height a player can jump without the jump boost effect is about 1.25219 blocks.

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. The HUD also contains the crosshair and a held object (or fist). The HUD can also be toggled by.

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 experience 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 fishing, animal breeding, trading or smelting.

Modes

 * In Survival mode, the player is able to place and destroy blocks, and use all tools available. The player has limited health ( icons), hunger ( icons), and oxygen (bubble icons) and it takes time to break blocks.
 * In Creative mode, the player has the ability to fly by double tapping the jump key (default ) and to place an infinite number of blocks, but with limited use of crafting and tools. All mobs won't attack the player. The player cannot take damage (except from falling into the Void $$ or, with cheats enabled, 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 just opening a multiplayer (including LAN) world.
 * In Spectator mode, the player can see inside an entity, 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, press + 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, which was chosen by the player upon purchase of Java Edition. This username is used to target the player with commands and differentiate other players. There are some cases in which a lot of bots register accounts at the same time, then they create multiple accounts with the same name.

$$, usernames must be 3–16 characters, although there are some exceptions of players with under 3 characters, who bought the game early in its development. Players can change username no more than once every 30 days. When the player changes the username, the old username is free for anyone to take after 37 days. Because players can change usernames every 30 days, a player can manage two usernames without anyone 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 must be 3–32 characters. Users can choose a username and change it unlimited times, or sign in with an Xbox Live account where the player's gamer tag is used.

The name appears above the player's head, in a nameplate that is visible even through blocks, allowing a player to be identified even through obstructions. A player can sneak, however, which dims the nameplate's visibility when the player is in sight and hides the nameplate completely when the player is out of sight.

Customization
$$, players can change skins on the preferences page of minecraft.net or the 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.

$$, the player can change the skin by opening the settings from the main menu and going to the skin settings. The two default skins are Alex and Steve but the player can download and use Skin Packs from the Marketplace or, on the Windows 10, iOS and Android versions of the game, use their own skin by selecting the "Custom" option in the skin selection menu.

History




Trivia

 * 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 1.65m tall, and the hitbox of a player gliding with elytra is 0.6m tall.
 * The player seems to have peripheral vision. Lights and lit objects are more visible near the edges of the display (only with graphics set to "fast").
 * The Alex skin is implied to be based off of Jeb.
 * In the July–August 2016 issue of Lego Club Magazine, it is 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.
 * The Alex skin is heavily implied to be female in the description of a video from Minecraft's official YouTube channel, though never said outright through use of pronouns or other methods.
 * The player's legs do not line up perfectly with the torso; this is an intentional feature to prevent z-fighting when wearing armor.
 * Before Java Edition 1.14, the camera was actually 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 actually revolved around the player during the animation instead of the player's camera rotating, which led to some visual bugs.
 * The Bedrock Edition default version is "Steve" named but using the Alex skin.

Publicity

 * Steve is featured as a Micro Mob along with a creeper in the LEGO set 21102 LEGO Minecraft Micro World.
 * 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.
 * Steve's head is a wearable hat in 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".