Skin

A skin refers to the texture that is placed onto a player model or mob.

The skin is divided into areas that act as the surface area of the character (For example, there's the front head area, left leg area, etc.). A skin will only allow solid color; transparency is not allowed on the skin file except on the second head area, which is transparent by default; playing offline, pixels can be left free resulting in "holes" in the skin. The second head layer can be used to give the character glasses, hats, or other accessories (even a bigger head).

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. Modifying these has been officially supported since the Alpha 1.2.2 Update on November 10, 2010.

It is worth noting that Pigmen, Zombie, and Zombie Pigmen mobs 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 will not be skinny.)

Since 1.4, in order to use the player skin for Pigmen, Zombie, and Zombie Pigmen, you must align it to the correct place on the .png or the texture will be broken.

PC
A player can only change their character's skin if they have purchased Minecraft. This is done on the Profile page by uploading a valid .png image file, which will then replace the default skin. The char.png ( Steve.png as of Minecraft 1.6 ) file in minecraft.jar can also be changed and replaced, but the effects will only be visible to that player, and only players with the default skin will appear different.

note: char.png (Minecraft 1.5.2 and lower) is located in the "\mob" folder within minecraft.jar

steve.png (Minecraft 1.6 and above) is located in the "\assets\minecraft\textures\entity\" folder

Xbox 360
There are currently 8 default skin types (with the exception of the skin packs), all of which appear to have Steve's face, but wearing different outfits and skin colors. The following are available through split screen and online only. The skins are available to be chosen in the 'Change Skin' area of Help & Options. The Xbox allows transparent skins, because you can't create your own skins on the Xbox 360 edition. This prevents issues with completely transparent skin users "haunting" other players.

Default:

Skin Packs
Since the Xbox 360 Edition's 1.7 update, 4J Studios have begun rolling out Skin Packs as downloadable content. Skin Packs add additional skins that players may choose from along with the 8 default skins packaged with the game. They often feature characters from other video-games (usually games on Xbox Arcade), alongside original designs.

Skin Pack 1


Skin Pack 1 was released on July 16th, 2012. It contains 45 different skins to choose from. It is purchasable through the Xbox 360 Marketplace or directly in-game through the Downloadable Content section and costs US$1.99. A trial version of Skin Pack 1 is available as a free download, which enables the full use of the original design skins, but not the skins based on copyrighted game characters which include those based on Minecraft's own characters.

Skin Pack 2


Skin Pack 2 was released on August 24th, 2012. It contains 45 different skins to choose from. It is purchasable through the Xbox 360 Marketplace or directly in-game through the Downloadable Content section and costs US$1.99. A trial version of Skin Pack 2 is available as a free download, which enables the full use of the original design skins and some skins based off of certain indie game characters.

Skin Pack 3


Skin Pack 3 was released on October 17, 2012. It contains 45 different skins to choose from, including figures from Valve's Half Life 2, Portal 2, and Left 4 Dead 2. It is purchasable through the Xbox 360 Marketplace or directly in-game through the Downloadable Content section and costs US$1.99. A trial version of Skin Pack 3 is available as a free download, which enables the full use of the original design skins and skins based on indie game characters.

Skin Pack 4


Skin Pack 4 was released on March 13, 2013. It contains 45 different skins to choose from. Some of these skins include capes. It is purchasable through the Xbox 360 Marketplace or directly in-game through the Downloadable Content section and costs US$1.99. A trial version of Skin Pack 4 is available as a free download, which enables the full use of some designs.

Skin Pack 5


Skin Pack 5 was released on July 31, 2013. It contains 45 different skins to choose from. It is purchasable through the Xbox 360 Marketplace or directly in-game through the Downloadable Content section and costs US$1.99. A trial version of Skin Pack 5 is available as a free download, which enables the full use of some designs.

Summer Of Arcade Promotional Skin Pack


The Summer of Arcade Free Promotional Skin Pack was available through July 18th and August 22, 2012. It was available through the Xbox home page, and was free. It contained 15 different skins to choose from, all from popular games in the "Summer of Arcade" XBLA event.

Halloween Skin Pack


The Halloween Skin Pack was downloadable from October 26th, 2012 to November 26th, 2012. It contained 55 different skins to choose from. 7 skins included capes. It was purchasable through the Xbox 360 Marketplace or directly in-game through the Downloadable Content section of the game and costs US$1.99. All proceeds went to charity.

Festive Skin Pack


The Festive Skin Pack was released on December 19th, 2012. It contains 24 different skins to choose from. 13 of the skins added extra pixels not available in the PC Version (ex. Santa's Hat). It is purchasable through the Xbox 360 Marketplace or directly in-game through the Downloadable Content section of the game and costs US$1. A trial version of The Festive Skin Pack is available as a free download, which enables the full use of 7 of the designs.

Battle & Beasts Skin Pack


The Battle & Beasts Skin Pack was released on May 8th, 2013. It contains 45 different skins to choose from. It is purchasable through the Xbox 360 Marketplace or directly in-game through the Downloadable Content section of the game and costs US$1.99. A trial version of The Battle & Beasts Skin Pack is available as a free download, which enables the full use of some of the designs. Each Battle Skin has a Male and Female Variation.

Minecraft 1st Birthday Skin Pack


The Minecraft 1st Birthday Skin Pack was available for a limited time, from May 9th until May 31, 2013. It contained 23 different skins to choose from. All the skins were original designs. It was available, for free, through the Xbox 360 Marketplace or directly in-game through the Downloadable Content section of the game. Note Herobrine underneath the "M" in Minecraft.

Battle & Beasts 2 Skin Pack


The Battle & Beasts 2 Skin Pack was released on October 9, 2013. It contains 45 different skins to choose from.

Marvel Avengers Skin Pack


The Marvel Avengers Skin Pack was released on December 23, 2013. It contains 35 different skins to choose from.

Creating a skin


A custom skin is a great way to personalize your player model and can be done either by using a variety of community-made skin editors, or by editing the "char.png" file manually with an image editor like Paint.NET or another image editor. The "char.png" file can be downloaded from here. When editing the "char.png" file manually, be sure to keep the original image dimensions, and make the background of the skin (the unused pixels) completely transparent.

When you first start playing Minecraft, you most likely won't care what you look like. However, when you start playing with your friends on multiplayer, you'll want to have a new look, something that describes you. While you can always go search the internet for something, most players prefer to create their own skin. One way to do this is by opening a paint program, using the Minecraft skin template, and making one like that. Most people find it easier to use a program/game called Skincraft, which can be found with a quick search, just type in 'Skincraft' It is a very helpful tool, allowing players to view their character in a real time, three dimensional view, while giving them the clothing that they want. Even if a player has no artistic skill, this is easy to use, as it has a wide variety of pre-made selections, such as hats, boots, sweaters, etc.

After making a custom skin using a skin editor or by editing the "char.png" file manually, you have a .png skin file. Upload it at the Profile page of www.minecraft.net and your skin is applied. Start up Minecraft and enjoy your new skin! Other players in multiplayer will also be able to see your skin. You will only be able to see your custom skin if you are logged in. When playing offline, you will not see it.

Capes
Capes (previously known as cloaks) are vanity items and are worn in addition to the player's skin. There is currently no way to obtain a cape on one's own, however there are various client mods that allow players to obtain one, only visible client-sided. On the Xbox 360 edition some skins from various skin packs, such as the Grim Reaper in the Halloween Pack and Ezio Auditore da Firenze in Skin Pack 4 have capes.

Unused MineCon 2011 capes
These capes were featured in a poll where MineCon 2011 attendees could vote for their cape of choice. The red creeper cape won MineCon 2011 and the blue cape with the pickaxe was used for MineCon 2012. These following capes are still unused though may appear in the future.