Texture pack

This article is about texture packs which modify the looks of the terrain, and should not be confused with player skins

A texture pack is a collection of files that is used to change the in-game textures of blocks, items, mobs and the GUI. They are 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 16×16 texture packs was added in Alpha 1.2.2.

All versions of Minecraft support custom textures, albeit old versions requiring you to modify minecraft.jar. High resolution texture packs are supported on all versions without a patch, however certain textures have errors or may not be changed.

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 XP/Vista/7: %AppData%\.mincraft\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 while a world is currently open. The texture pack list can be scrolled by dragging the scrollbars 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 or 7-zip. They can then be edited with any image editing program that can read/write the PNG file format and handle transparency. Edit each PNG file as desired, and save the PNGs as 32 bits, to preserve transparency. Then, create a zip file of the files modified, preserving all folder hierarchy. The root folder of the zip must have the files and folders listed below, or else they will not be changed. If you find that nothing changes when you select your texture pack, make sure that the files are in the root of the zip and not one folder in.

What each image in the terrain.png represents.

List of Modifiable Files

File	Description	Notes
terrain.png	All blocks	The water and lava textures can only be changed with the HD Texture pack patch.
particles.png	All Particles	The redstone particles' color cannot be changed.
pack.png	Thumbnail of pack in pack selection list.
pack.txt	Description of pack in pack selection list.
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\	Item hotbar, inventory screens, item thumbnails, mincraft logo and menu background.
art\	All paintings in game.
mob\	All mobs in game.
armor\	All Armor in game.
achievement\	The Achievements screen GUI.
misc\	Biome grass/foliage color, overlay for Pumpkin helmets, the Clock dial and the Map Background.	The clock dial graphic is not used, due to a bug.

List of Texture Packs

Native Resolution (16px)

Name of Pack	Description of Pack	Version of Pack	Link to Pack	Compatibility	File Size of Pack
AlternaCraft	A texture pack that keeps close with the default textures but also adding some interesting and unique changes such as new tools, armor, blocks, etc.	v1.7	Forum		600 KB
Alyxandor's Zelda Texture Pack	Legend of Zelda themed texture pack.	0.18	Website		2.2 MB
Arabesque Pack	A clean and very detailed middle east inspired pack.	1.7.2	Website		2.34 MB
BlockCraft	BlockCraft is a simple texture pack for Minecraft 1.5 which acts as a design replacement for beginners.	v1.1	Website Forum (English) Forum (German)		319 KB
Cartooncraft Sadepack	A cartoony childish pack with a whole load of textures remade.	V3	Forum		747 KB
Coterie Craft	Once based off the Quandary Pack, now a unique package with the goal of becoming the new default.	V1.5	Forum		843 KB
Eldpack	A 16x16 pack full of oldschool delight.	v3.5	Website Forum		458 KB
Frenden	A 16x16 texture pack with a cartoon feel.	v9.14	Forum		477 KB
Isabella	A compilation of pure inspiration, bringing a new flavor to Minecraft, with a dark feel to the world around you.	v1	Forum		1.22 MB
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?” This pack transforms the game into a fairy tale.	3.3	Forum		906 KB
Kakariko Village Texture Pack	“The Kakariko Village Texture Pack is a Legend of Zelda themed texture pack. It has full texture replacement, including mobs.”	2.8	Website		1.51MB
Krazy's contemporary construction	This texture pack attempts to create a set of textures that are a more subtle replacement of the original textures, while providing new and good looking textures for building a large variety of structures. The pack aims to satisfy a more contemporary look for the game.	N/A	Forum		595 KB
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.”	v1.2	Forum		205 KB
Legolord331's Redwood Texture Pack	A pack that makes the armor look more like armor of that type, glass usable, resources easier, and a few minor tweaks to the doors, workbench, Chests, and furnaces.	V 6.4_01	Forum & Download		590 KB
Lemming	A simplified texture pack created by ihihbs.	1.6	Website		691 KB
Mine Co. Texture Pack	The Mine Co. pack Is a 16x (looks 32x quality) resolution texture set themed on a Idea about Two waring Companies Mine Co. and The dubious Creeper Corp. features Custom terrain, biome, water, lava, GUI, armor, paintings, mobs and everything!	v 1.2	Forum Website		588.7KB
Nethellus' Ancient Egypt Texture Pack	“A very accurate Ancient Egyptian Texture Pack. Many textures are an amazingly close resemblance to Ancient Egypt. This pack is still incomplete, and many new textures will still be added.”	V0.29	Forum		315 KB
Nostalgia-Craft	This pack makes the grass and leaves have the same color as in Alpha 1.1.2 and before.	N/A	Forum		67 KB
NorseCraft	A viking themed 16×16 texture pack.	1.3	Forum		406.54 KB
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. Allows customization of Texture Pack to over 2000 different textures.	N/A	Website		3.6 MB
Pixeludi Pack	Winner of the official texture pack competition held by Webhallen and announced by Notch. It replaces original look of the game with one that is smoother, more natural, deep and vivid, but doesn’t temper with the game's setting.	"SLIME!" version	Website		433 KB
Quandary Texture Pack	"Quandary uses the original textures Notch created as a base and adds slightly more fidelity to the terrain, improving the visibility of world blocks." -Official site	4.0	Website		3.77 MB
Ruston	An overhaul of Minecraft textures that keeps the feel of the game, yet greatly improves it visually.	v1.8.3	Forum		440.62 KB
Simplecraft	A simple Minecraft texture pack that is awesome for building and impossible to confuse the textures. Supports both Beta and Classic. A great texture pack for those with slow computers.	v8.0	Forum		249.2 KB
StugAce's Romecraft!	This texture pack attempts adds a new theme to Minecraft, a Ancient Rome theme to Minecraft.	5.1	Forum		900 KB
The Voxel Box Offical - Creative Texture Pack	The VoxelBox's Creative texture pack is a complete Minecraft makeover full of extra blocks and containing several re-purposed blocks, most notably the ore textures. This gives creative builders access to new and different materials! An exciting collection of new and practical items for tools, and role play are included to replace the defaults. DataValue Chart	6.5.2011a	Wiki		5.1 MB
The Voxel Box Offical - Space Texture Pack	The VoxelBox's Space texture pack is a complete Minecraft makeover full of new blocks for use in a space theme. This gives creative builders access to new and different materials! An exciting collection of new and practical items for tools, and role play are included to replace the defaults. DataValue Chart	6.5.2011a	Wiki		4.9 MB
Wayukin Pack	A smooth, clean, and nice 16×16 texture pack.	v2.0	Forum		359 KB
Winstons X-Ray Pack	An easy way to find caves, dungeons, and lava. Easy Mob and Tree detection. Feel safer digging down!	v2.2	Website		401.36 KB
XSSheep's Sheep pack	A pack that changes the look of minecraft in 3 different flavors Default, RPG, and Vivid.	v1.5	Forum		1.6 MB
Aleph Setei - Alien World	A fun and bizarre alien world texture pack!	v1.6	Website		684 KB
Candycraft	A delicious 16×16 texture pack. Second place winner of the Webhallen 16×16 Texture Contest!	N/A	Website Forum		461 KB
CombatCraft 16x	A texture pack focused on making Minecraft look much smoother and interesting than the vanilla textures, and although incomplete at the moment, future versions will have 16 bit blocks and items and 32 bit GUIs and interfaces.	V0.8a	Forum		545 KB
Xaiwaker	"A modification of Frenden's Cartoon Pack, this pack is based on the visual style of Animal Crossing and the Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker."	v1.7	Forum		1.9 MB
Moontrain's Lucid Pack	The Lucid Pack is a work-in-progress total Minecraft conversion intended to tame the rough & unpolished default graphics and create a cleaner & brighter atmosphere.	v0.1.6	Forum		625 KB

High Resolution (32px or more)

Name	Description	Version	Link	Latest Compatible Release	Size	Resolution
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
Albion	Loosely based on the video game Albion (hence the name). This texture pack is not so much of a themed texture pack but more of an interesting and nice looking Hi-def alternative to other 16×16 texture packs.	2.18	Forum		9.43 MB	64×64
Adrion's Básico	A nice clean and smooth Texture pack.	N/A	Forum		128×128:14.4 MB 64×64:6.61 MB	128×128, 64×64
Brown & Bloom	A realistic 32×32 texture pack made by DVan.	1.2_02	Forum		342.59 KB	32×32
♥DokiDoki♥ Texture Pack	A HD texture pack with a cartoon feel, with loose references to Japanese pop culture.	2.0	Forum		20.8 MB	64×64
DokuCraft	The Official Doku Texture pack. Back after a long break, Doku has created an old school rpg theme which comes in 3 flavors : Dark, High, and Light.	2.0	Forum		3.1 MB	32×32
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.	1.6.4	Forum		1.00 MB	32×32
Faithful 32×32	A double resolution texture pack that stays faithful to the original Minecraft textures.	N/A	Forum		783 KB	32×32
Flow's HD Texture Pack	Nice, smooth and stylish HD pack.	1.1	Forum		12.7 MB	128×128
GameDoku	A successor to Doku's original pack , this pack boasts lush colour, total reskins and custom mod compatibility.	3.0	Forum		701 KB	32×32
Glimmar's Steampunk	The right texture pack to build epic sized constructions in the style of Victorian Science Fiction.	2.5	Forum		3.46 MB	32×32
High Detailed Photo-Realistic Texture Pack	This high detailed texture pack aims to push minecraft textures to the limit making the game not only look nice but as a high detailed version of the original textures of Minecraft. By KDStudios	2.02	Forum		22.54 MB	256×256, 128×128, 64×64
JohnSmith Texture Pack	A texture pack made by JohnSmith, and it comes with a customizer.	7.3	Forum		1.56 MB	32×32
Last Days	“A full scale, game changing, texture and sound overhaul which takes full advantage of the existing mechanics of minecraft and brings them into a post apocalyptic setting.”	N/A	Forum		2.37 MB	32×32
LB Photo realism	A high detailed photo-realistic texture pack. This high detailed texture pack is made to let minecraft look as realistic as possible. Compatible with bumpmapping (not yet) and Wild Grass. By Scuttles	5.0.0	Forum		41,1 MB	256×256, 128×128, 64×64
Minecraft 4Kids	Experience Minecraft in a kid friendly environment.	N/A	Forum		128×128:14.56 MB 64×64:4.97 MB	128×128, 64×64
Misa’s 64×64 Realistic	A 64×64 realistic texture pack made by Misa.	2.1	Forum		18.47 MB	64×64
Mixcraft HD Semi - Realistic Texture Pack	This is a high definition skin pack for Minecraft.	32	Forum		11.57 MB	32×32
Soartex	A gorgeous and smooth 64×64 texture pack made by soar49.	1.0.2	Forum		1.18 MB	64×64
Team Fortress 2 Texture Pack	This pack turns Minecraft into Team Fortress 2. Contains two versions: Red and Blue.	N/A	Forum		1.18 MB	64×64
The Ghost2 HD Pack	Custom terrain and menus; Includes full support for GLSL Shaders. Work in progress.	4.5	Forum		15.7 MB	128×128
The Tibian Pack!	A texture pack inspired by the MMORPG Tibia, can be used as an RPG pack.	1.1	Forum		1.56 MB	32×32
Tronic	Tronic is a texture pack for Minecraft that aims for a virtual or (elec)tronic feel. The biggest inspirations are probably the Metal Gear Solid VR Missions and every textureless test render ever made.	11	Website		333 kB	32×32
WolfCraft	A 32×32 HD pack made by TheMadWolf.	2.7	Forum		319 KB	32×32

Trivia

• Prior to the Alpha 1.2.2 update, users would need to manually change the texture packs by overwriting their minecraft.jar files or a patcher.
• The selected texture pack is saved to the options.txt file in the .minecraft folder, so you can also manually change the "skin:" value to the name of the .zip

Resources

• Vote for your favourite Texture Pack here.
• The official, unofficial list of texture packs on the Minecraft Forum (over 150 textures)
• a complete list of files used in the texture pack

Videos

• Making 16×16 texture packs
• Installing HD Packs