A texture pack is a file that is used to change the in-game textures of blocks, items, mobs and other things. They are usually zip files that have various PNG images in them and a pack.txt. The default resolution for packs is 16×16 (measured pixels in block height and width). Anything larger is called ‘HD’ and requires a patcher to run. Official support for texture packs was added in Alpha 1.2.2.
Default vs PainterlyPack (Painterly in the center)
Installation
To install a texture pack, the file must first be obtained in a ZIP format. Without decompressing the file, place the ZIP file in:
- Windows:
%Appdata%\.minecraft\texturepacks - Linux:
~/.minecraft/texturepacks - Mac OS X:
~/Library/Application Support/minecraft/texturepacks
This path can be opened by using the Open Texture Pack Folder button from the game client.
Once a texture pack is installed, it can be selected in the Mods and Texture Packs screen accessible from the main menu (but not in-game). The texture pack list can be scrolled by dragging it up or down.
Texture Pack Creation
To create a custom pack, the files you wish to modify must be extracted from minecraft.jar with an archiving or decompression program such as WinRAR. They can then be edited with any image editing program. A good starter choice is the free Paint.net, which handles PNG transparency in an good fashion. Edit each PNG file as desired, using the alpha layer to trim away transparent parts. Save the PNGs as 32 bits, to preserve this transparency layer. When the images are zipped back into archive, names and folder structure must be maintained (with WinRAR, just drag and drop into the right places). For a complete list of files, go to this thread.
List of Modifiable Files
| File | Description |
|---|---|
| terrain.png | All blocks |
| particles.png | All Particles |
| pack.png | Thumbnail of pack |
| pack.txt | Description of pack |
| title\ | Client intro title and splash screen |
| environment\ | Snow, rain and clouds |
| font\ | In-game font |
| terrain\ | Sun and Moon |
| item\ | In-game models for items such as signs, carts, boats, arrows and doors |
| gui\ | GUI, item thumbnails, logo and menu background |
| art\ | All paintings in game |
| mob\ | All mobs in game |
| armor\ | All Armor in game |
| misc\ | Biome grass/foliage color, Pumpkin blur and Clock dial1 |
1 Due to a bug, changes to the clock dial and grass/foliage files do not affect their respective items/blocks when installed using the Texture Pack/Mod Menu. Direct installation into the minecraft.jar file can be done instead: open minecraft.jar and the texture pack with WinRAR, then drag and drop the contents of the pack into minecraft.jar. If you mess up, just delete .minecraft/bin and it will reload once you start up Minecraft.exe. After any update, you’ll need to reinstall the pack this way.
List of Texture Packs
Native Resolution (16px)
| Name | Description | Version | Link | Latest Compatible Release | Size |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| LAR Games Texture Pack | “The LAR Games texture pack is centered around improving the look of Minecraft without taking away from the overall experience. The entire texture pack is 100% original. This is not an edit of the vanilla Minecraft textures.” | 4.0 | Website | 186.0kb | |
| Painterly Pack | “Painterly pack is a complete, native-resolution graphics package for Minecraft which attempts to improve the graphics of the game drastically, while still keeping the native texture resolution, and overall spirit and humor of the game, intact.” ‒ Official site | Unknown | Website | 3.6 MB | |
| Nath’s SuperSimple Pack | “Nath’s SuperSimple Pack is substantially the simplest pack ever created. For those who still love to play Minecraft in a ‘Blocky’ and ‘2bit’ Texture.” | V0.4b | Forum | 186.0kb | |
| Eldpack | “This is a 16x16 pack, and has full compatibility with minecraft, no patching required.” | V3.3 | Website | 270.0 KB | |
| Pixeludi | “Pixeludi Pack for Minecraft Graphical Enhancement (or just Pixeludi Pack for short) is a texture pack that aims at improving the gaming experience by replacing the original look of the game with one that is smoother, more natural, deep and vivid, but doesn’t temper with the games setting.” | 0.995 | Website | 337 KB | |
| Frenden | “Made by Frenden” | 6.1a | Forum | 477 KB | |
| JoliCraft | “Minecraft is a game about crafting the world around you. What better way to craft the world than to craft the very stuff the world is made of?” | 1.7 | Forum | 628 KB | |
| Brown & Bloom | “Made by DVan” | 1.2_02 | Forum | 342.59 KB | |
| SimpleCraft | “A very neat and solid colour texture pack for minecraft that might speed up gameplay for some people on laggy computers.” | 5.3 | Forum | 123.84 KB | |
| Zelda Texture Pack | “Legend of Zelda themed texture pack by Alyxandor.” | 0.3 | Forum | 1.13 MB | |
| Minecraft Simple Coloured | “A very simple homemade texture pack created by HAP3E” | v1.0 | Description | 77.69 KB |
High Resolution (32px or more)
These texture packs require a client mod. Therefore, they are not supported by Mojang, the Minecraft Wiki, the Minecraft IRC Channel or the Minecraft Forums.
| Name | Description | Version | Link | Latest Compatible Release | Size | Resolution |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mixcraft HD Semi-Realistic Texture Pack | This is a high definition skin pack for minecraft that makes the game look much nicer | 25 | Forum | 18.47 MB | 32×32 | |
| Misa’s 64×64 Realistic | Made by Misa | 1.8 | Forum | 18.47 MB | 64×64 | |
| AaGeOn’s BumpMaft | “First of all let me say: I Love Minecraft and as a Digital Art designer it’s a game where the mind can be challenged. So I started thinking of creating my own 128×128 HD Texture Pack by creating pre-rendered textures using. Bump Mapping and Normal Mapping: Therefore: Bumpmaft.” | 1.5.9 | Forum | 18.47 MB | 128×128 | |
| Dusty Textures | A 32×32 texture pack that, instead of going for realistic “high def.” images, uses a more simplistic style, reminiscent of SNES graphics | 2.4.11 | Forum | 18.47 MB | 32×32 |
For a more complete list of texture packs, see the Texture Pack Central on minecraftforum.net.
Trivia
- Prior to the Alpha 1.2.2 update, users would need to manually change the texture packs by overwriting their minecraft.jar files. This is still required for HD texture packs.
Resources
- Vote for your favourite Texture Pack here.
- [1] Large list of texture packs on the Minecraft Forum
- [2] Second large list of texture packs on the Minecraft Forum
| Help | |||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Menu screens |
| ||||||||||||||||||
| Game customization |
| ||||||||||||||||||
| Editions |
| ||||||||||||||||||
| Miscellaneous | |||||||||||||||||||