The default player skin, "Steve", as it appears in-game.
The above skin when directly opened in an image viewer.
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. 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.
Changing player skins
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 file in minecraft.jar can also be changed and replaced. In the new version(s), everyone can see your skin
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.
Default:
| Name | Image | Original | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Default Skin (Steve) | File:Char Snap.png | Player 1's Skin | The classic Steve. | |
| Tennis Steve | File:Char Snap2.png | File:Char2.png | Player 2's Skin | A blond Steve in a tennis outfit and a sweatband. |
| Tuxedo Steve | File:Char Snap3.png | File:Char3.png | Player 3's Skin | Steve in a fancy-looking tuxedo. |
| Athlete Steve | File:Char Snap4.png | File:Char4.png | Player 4's Skin | A darker version of Steve with a sleeveless top, a gold medal necklace, and track pants. |
| Scottish Steve | File:Char Snap5.png | File:Char5.png | Player 5's Skin | Steve in a kilt with fancy hair and clothing. |
| Prisoner Steve | File:Char Snap6.png | File:Char6.png | Player 6's Skin | Steve as an escapee from prison in bright-colored, orange clothing. |
| Cyclist Steve | File:Char Snap7.png | File:Char7.png | Player 7's Skin | A Steve with shorts, a jacket, and shoes. |
| Boxer Steve | File:Char Snap8.png | File:Char8.png | Player 8's Skin | A Steve with boxing gloves, a belt with shorts, no shirt, and fancy boots. Possibly a reference to Ivan Drago from Rocky IV. |
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.
Main
Skin Pack 1
Promotional image for Skin Pack 1. From left to right: Jack of Blades, Clayton Carmine, Banjo, Ms. 'Splosion Man, Prisoner.
Skin Pack 1 was released on July 16th, 2012. It contains 45 different skins to choose from.[1] It is purchasable through the Xbox 360 Marketplace or directly in-game through the Downloadable Content section of the game and costs 160 Microsoft Points. 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.
| Skins in Skin Pack 1 |
|---|
|
Skin Pack 2
Promotional image for Skin Pack 2. From left to right: Agent Level 5, Joanna Dark - Dress, Damon Baird, Pretztail, Bill.
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 of the game and will cost 160 Microsoft Points. 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.
| Skins in Skin Pack 2 |
|---|
|
Skin Pack 3
Promotional image for Skin Pack 3. From left to right: Cow, Skeleton, Zombie Herobrine, and Zombie Pigman.
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.[2] It is purchasable through the Xbox 360 Marketplace or directly in-game through the Downloadable Content section of the game and costs 160 Microsoft Points. 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.
| Skins in Skin Pack 3 |
|---|
|
Other
Summer Of Arcade Promotional Skin Pack
Promotional image for Summer of Arcade Skin Pack. From left to right: Paladin, Randall Wayne, Knight, Dust, Tony Hawk.
The Summer of Arcade Free Promotional Skin Pack [3] was available through July 18th and August 22, 2012. It contained 15 different skins to choose from.
| Skins in Summer of Arcade Promotional Skin Pack |
|---|
|
Halloween Skin Pack
Promotional image for The Halloween Skin Pack.
The Halloween Skin Pack is downloadable from October 26th, 2012 to November 26th, 2012. It contains 55 different skins to choose from. 7 skins include capes. It is purchasable through the Xbox 360 Marketplace or directly in-game through the Downloadable Content section of the game and costs 160 Microsoft Points. All proceeds go to charity.[4]
| Skins in Halloween Skin Pack |
|---|
|
Future
4J Studios has announced that they are working on an additional two, for a total of five packs so far. One of the two may involve Minecon capes. [5]
Creating a skin
A color-coded skin template on transparent background with all faces labeled.
Another skin guide on a black background. For the arm and leg sections only, "right" indicates those facing outward, whereas "left" indicates inward.
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.
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 mods that allow players to do this.
| Name | Image | Original | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Mojang Cape | File:MojangCloak.PNG | File:Mojang.png | All Mojang AB employees have Mojang logo capes. |
| The Christmas Cape 2010 | File:ChristmasCape.png | File:Xmas.png | On December 24/25, 2010; all users were given a Christmas cape. |
| The New Year's Cape | File:Newyearscloak.png | File:2011.png | On New Year's Eve, 2010; all users were given this cape. |
| The Bacon Cape | File:MicleeBaconCape.png | File:BaconCape.png | Miclee was given this cape by Notch, presumably due to his idea of the Pigman. However, later it was removed from him due to other users asking Notch for personal capes. |
| One Million Cape | File:1000000.png | File:1MCape.png | This cape was made for akronman1, the lucky buyer of the 1,000,000th copy of Minecraft. |
| dannyBstyle's Cape | File:Cloak DB.png | File:DBCape.png | This cape was given to dannyBstyle.[6] |
| JulianClark's Cape | File:JulianClark cape.png | File:JulianClark.png | This cape was given to JulianClark in return for bringing Notch the TV presenter and actor Ray Cokes.[7] |
| Crowdin Translator Cape |
|
File:Capeeeee.png | This cape was given to 29 translators on the Minecraft translation project at Crowdin using a fair dice roll. More capes will be given out to translators from time to time.[8][9][10] |
| MineCon 2011 Attendees Cape |
|
|
This cape was given to all MineCon 2011 attendees. |
| MineCon 2011 Unused Cape | File:MineconCape1.png | No image | It was in a poll of capes that users could vote for, the red creeper cape won and this was left unused. |
| MineCon 2011 Unused Cape |
|
No image | It was in a poll of capes that users could vote for, the red creeper cape won and this was left unused. |
| MineCon 2011 Unused Cape |
|
No image | It was in a poll of capes that users could vote for, the red creeper cape won and this was left unused. |
| MineCon 2011 Unused Cape |
|
No image | It was in a poll of capes that users could vote for, the red creeper cape won and this was left unused. |
History
The player skin originally had a beard (that was commonly mistaken for a smile), and was removed in Beta 1.6.6..
Though, if you happened to find one of these bearded skins, and place it in your mob folder in the minecraft.jar, you can see what the old skin clearly looked like.
Exclusive cloaks (later renamed capes) were added in Beta 1.0 on December 20, 2010.
In October 2011, Notch renamed the cloak to the cape mentioning that the name was already wrong in the first place.[15]
So far the Christmas and New Years Capes have only been given out in 2010 and not subsequent years.
As of the 1.9 pre-releases and 1.0.0, all "bottom" textures (including hand and foot) have been flipped 180 degrees. It's worth mentioning that the textures were specifically flipped and not rotated because an updated texture with the bottom surface rotated as opposed to flipped may display incorrectly depending on the intended alignment with relation to the rest of the skin.
If trying to make a skin that has a transparent part, it will appear black in-game.
As of 25 Oct 2012, the skin service is not working, and they are working on fixing the problem.
Gallery
- Skin Pack Promo 7.jpg
Promotional image for Skin Pack 1. (Fable Heroes characters)
- Xbox Skin Pack Promo 8.jpeg
Promotional image for Skin Pack 2.
- L4D2.jpg
Promotional image for Skin Pack 3. (Left 4 Dead 2 characters
- Portal2.jpg
Promotional image for Skin Pack 3. (Portal 2 characters)
- Slamboltscrappers.jpg
Promotional image for Skin Pack 3. (Slam Bolt Scrappers characters)
- SP3.jpg
Promotional image for Skin Pack 3.
- SPIII.jpg
Promotional image for Skin Pack 3.
See also
- To share your skin with other users, please do so on the skin gallery page.
References
- ↑ http://playxbla.com/minecraft-skins-coming-monday-july-16th/
- ↑ 4JStudiostweet:256799024273833984
- ↑ http://playxbla.com/exclusive-summer-of-arcade-content-for-minecraft-and-trials-evolution/
- ↑ http://playxbla.com/minecrafting-for-a-cause
- ↑ 4JStudiostweet:221529509558624256
- ↑ http://twitter.com/notch/status/60980770084364288
- ↑ http://www.reddit.com/r/Minecraft/comments/jnc2p/notch_ive_brought_you_ray_cokes_as_requested/
- ↑ http://twitter.com/jeb_/status/202681694132772864
- ↑ http://twitter.com/jeb_/status/202682214692032512
- ↑ http://www.reddit.com/r/Minecraft/comments/tpqpc/this_is_the_cape_29_lucky_people_got_today/c4ot3ox
- ↑ http://www.mojang.com/2011/09/minecon-swag-cloaks/
- ↑ http://www.mojang.com/2011/09/minecon-swag-cloaks/
- ↑ http://www.mojang.com/2011/09/minecon-swag-cloaks/
- ↑ http://www.mojang.com/2011/09/minecon-swag-cloaks/
- ↑ notchtweet:129820017863819265
External links
- SkinManager: Manage your favorite skins and switch easily between them.
- Minecraft Skins: The Minecraft Skin Index. A massive selection of Minecraft skins.
- Minecrafties Skin Gallery: A large and constantly updated collection consisting of only the highest quality skin creations.
- PlanetMinecraft: A hosting site with a large variety of skins, texture packs, mods, and other finds.
- The Skindex: A wide variety of user-uploaded skins.
- Minecraft Skins: Database of high-quality skins.
- Miners Need Cool Shoes An online skin designer, includes the armory: a selection of pre-made parts you can "build" a skin with, or add to one.
- Skincraft An unofficial editor
- Minecraft Skin Share: Find and share your favorite skins.
- Minecraft Skinner: Large skin database with a walking preview.
- SkinCache: Create skins online! Also, browse, rate, & comment on others skins.
- Minecraft Blueprint/Skins: Database of high-quality skins, previewer, editor.
- Best Minecraft Skins: Share and vote on skins.
- Minecraft Skins Pro: Massive skin database and home of the iOS skin editor called MSP: Creator.
- Minecraft Skins: Huge skin collection. One click upload to your Minecraft account.
- MCSkinEdit A third-party program for creating and editing skins.
- MineCapes.net Unified cape directory & mod - Trying to bring (HD) capes to the masses
- Nova Skin Skin gallery of player and mobs skins





















