Texture pack

Texture packs were a way to change the in-game textures of blocks, items, mobs, and the GUI.

In Java Edition 1.6.1, texture packs were replaced with resource packs, which provide more control over textures and other game features, such as music and text.

Each custom texture pack is either a ZIP archive with a case-insensitive .zip suffix or a directory.

Texture packs are placed in the 👁 File directory.png: Sprite image for directory in Minecraft
 texturepacks directory within 👁 File directory.png: Sprite image for directory in Minecraft
 .minecraft. They can be chosen from the options, but only one pack can be selected at any given time.

By default, the game uses the texture pack called Default. It has the description The default look of Minecraft and a default 👁 File file.png: Sprite image for file in Minecraft
 pack.png. It is always present and uses textures from the 👁 File archive.png: Sprite image for archive in Minecraft
 client.jar. If a custom texture pack does not have a certain texture, the texture from the default texture pack is used instead.

The Default pack has block and item textures 16×16 pixels in size. 32×32, 64×64, 128×128, 256×256, 512×512, and 1024×1024 textures were referred to as "HD". Textures of different resolutions can be mixed and matched within one texture pack.

Texture packs in the older format from before 1.5 that are directories (not ZIP files) are displayed in red and marked as incompatible.

Downloading a specific texture pack can be requested by servers when joining.

👁 File file.png: Sprite image for file in Minecraft
 pack.txt is a UTF-8 text file with LF or CRLF line endings, which can have up to two lines used as the description of the pack on the texture pack list. The text can be formatted using formatting codes. Any extraneous lines are cut off. This file is required for a texture pack directory, but not a texture pack ZIP file, to be detected.

Texture packs using the format from before 1.5 can be converted to the 1.5 format using the Unstitcher tool.

Texture packs can be converted to resource packs using the Texture Ender tool. Converting texture packs from before 1.5 is a two-step process, requiring them to be converted to the 1.5 format first by using Unstitcher.

1. Download a texture pack. Most texture packs are in ZIP file format, but as long as it has the necessary files (pack.txt), Minecraft recognizes a directory as a texture pack. In-depth instructions on obtaining the files to make custom texture packs are located at Tutorial:Custom texture packs. However this is not necessary, as of snapshot 12w23a, for as long as pack.txt exists, it is recognized as a texture pack.
2. Run Minecraft. If Minecraft is already running, make sure to leave the world.
3. Click Texture Packs in Options.
4. Click Open Texture Pack Folder; this opens the directory where Minecraft stores all texture packs. If nothing happens, the directory must be found manually. Depending on the operating system it is located at:

• Windows XP and above: %appdata%\.minecraft\texturepacks.
• Linux: ~/.minecraft/texturepacks (this directory may be hidden in the home directory).
• macOS: ~/Library/Application Support/minecraft/texturepacks (this directory may be hidden).

1. Minecraft does not have to be closed when placing the texture pack in the opened directory.
2. In a few seconds the texture pack appears in Minecraft. Select it and click "Done". The texture pack is now applied. If Minecraft did not update, simply exit and reopen the texture packs screen.

• Texture packs may redesign only some textures. So if the main menu looks the same after a pack is selected, it doesn't mean the pack is not working.
• Many texture packs may be installed and overlap each other. The texture pack list can be scrolled by dragging the scrollbars up or down.
• Minecraft may lock the currently used texture pack (for example, if the pack contains custom textures for user interface), so the file can't be overwritten. If the pack needs to be updated, it may be necessary to temporarily switch to the default pack and then overwrite the file.
• To get an unzipped directory to show as a texture pack in Minecraft, that directory needs a 👁 File file.png: Sprite image for file in Minecraft
   pack.txt file in it. This, however, did not work prior to 12w23a.
• Keep in mind that, if a texture pack is downloaded in ZIP form, it may contain another directory inside of it that has the texture pack's title, this is the actual texture pack. In this case, this directory must be copied to the 👁 File directory.png: Sprite image for directory in Minecraft
   texturepacks directory.
• If an older version of Minecraft (1.2.5 for example) is being used and a texture pack for a newer version is installed, the texture pack still runs properly, and ignores the unused items or blocks.
• If an older texture pack is used in a more recent version of Minecraft, then the newer blocks and items show a "missing texture" because the texture pack isn't made for newer versions.
• An editor is a great way to make a texture pack.

Current versions of Minecraft support higher resolutions of texture packs. Traditionally, textures in-game work on a 16×16 block. Bigger texture packs can go all the way up to 512×512 (32×, 64×, 128×, 256×) but require better hardware to play smoothly.

• The selected texture pack is saved to the options.txt file in the .minecraft folder, so the "skin:" value can be manually changed to the name of the ZIP file. This can be useful if the texture pack crashes the main menu, making impossible to change the pack using the texture selection screen. Erasing the pack name will reset it to default.
• Resource packs that only add textures are called "texture packs" in the Minecraft Marketplace.‌^{[BE only]}
• The block texture visible when the player's head is inside of a block is from the default texture pack, regardless of whether a custom texture pack is enabled or not.

• 👁 First image of a texture pack prompt when joining a server.
  
  First image of a texture pack prompt when joining a server.
• 👁 The pack.png used for the Default texture pack.
  
  The pack.png used for the Default texture pack.

• Tutorial:Custom texture packs