Texture Pack FAQs

How do I make a Minecraft texture pack? (JAVA Edition/Windows)

Texture Pack Creation 101

Step ONE
  - Create a folder for your pack, name it [​pack name]
    └ Inside this folder you need the basics to make it work in Minecraft

      - PACK.MCMETA file (I recommend you use notepad ++ for this) Pack_Format changes with every new MC update.
      Below is an example for a pack for version 1.18+
      

Contents of the MCMETA file

{
"pack": {
"pack_format": 8,
"description": "YOUR DESCRIPTION HERE"
}
}

      - pack.PNG (This is the packs ICON. Size shouldn't matter, stick to pixel art sizes [​16x 32x 64x 128x 256x]

      - Assets folder [​You will get this in the next step]
Step TWO

  - Get Assets Folder
    └ To get your assets folder, do the following

      - Open your File Explorer [​Folder Icon on your computer]

      - In the navigation bar at the top, type %appdata% and hit enter

      - Click .minecraft and follow the folder path here: .minecraft/versions/[​THIS IS THE VERSION YOU WANT TO TEXTURE]

      - Using 7zip or Winrar, right-click on the .JAR file, example 1.18.JAR, and extract the assets folder ONLY

      - Drag the assets folder into YOUR texture pack folder

      - Decide what you want in your assets folder. You can delete a lot of junk out of the folder if you don't plan on messing
      with it. EXAMPLE: delete the Models and Blockstates Folders if you have no plans to mess with custom models. You
      only need the 'Textures' Folder if you're doing a simple texture pack that replaces blocks/items etc.

Step THREE

  - Now you can use any art program that supports pixels [ I recommend using a PIXEL ART application. Check out the FAQ for a list of programs ]
    └ The default texture size for minecraft is 16x16, so your assets folder is going to contain all the vanilla textures.
     To upscale to, say, 32x or 32x32, you just need to double the size in whatever program you are using. You may also
     use a 32x32, or whatever size you need, minecraft texture pack already published as a base if you don't want to
     resize every image, but you MUST texture your own blocks.
     NEVER REDISTRIBUTE IMAGES WITHOUT AN AUTHORS CONSENT FIRST.

I will be creating a most visual tutorial soon. There are PLENTY around the internet in the meantime, another good source is the Minecraft Fandom Wiki Page. Youtube and PMC is your friend too. Lots and lots of resources are available to you. 

How do I make a Minecraft texture pack? (BEDROCK Edition/Windows)

Texture Pack Creation 101

A Good start is this collection of Bedrock youtube tutorials by AgentMindStorm

Click for Tutorial Playlist

CLICK ME

It starts from beginner lessons (understanding how to set up the pack) to more advanced topics (like atlas tiles - alternative textures)

What programs should I use to texture?

There are many different programs you can use and it's honestly up to preference!
Whatever is most comfortable to use is up to you. Anything that can do pixel art, which is pretty much any standard art program, will work for you.

To make your life easier, I have a list of recommended Art programs below!
These are programs specifically for doing pixel art.
I highly recommend you use an actual pixel art program, since it will have tools and color pallets made for exactly what you are doing.

Think of it like this: You could use a butter knife to cut a carrot, but why make it harder when you can use an actual knife? This is how a pixel art program is going to help you succeed. You don't need anything fancy, just something made for the job.

Check out under the art programs for text editor suggestions!
(you'll need these if you want to do advanced editing in Java & Bedrock)
⬇️⬇️⬇️

▬▬▬

  - Paint [​FREE]
    └ Paint is the most basic program you can use if you have nothing else. I don't recommend it for it's very rudimentary tools, but if you're in a pinch, it will work.

  - pixilart.com [​FREE]
    └ A great, free, program in your internet browser. A large step above Paint. There are plenty of free internet browser programs, feel free to use any of those.

  - piskelapp.com [​FREE]
    └ Another great free program in your browser. This one has simple features, so It's easy to use and learn. Also has a small section for animation.

  - Pixel Studio [​FREE]
    └ This is an app you can get on your phone/ipad. Absolutely recommend. There is a free and paid version. The free version is more than enough for you to texture your pack with.

  - BlockBench [​FREE]
    └ That's right! You CAN use blockbench to texture with! Especially recommend if you're texturing mobs, or blocks that are a pain to texture like the brewing stand or cauldron. It's not the best painting program and takes a little knowledge on how to use, but it's fairly easy to get started in.

  - PMC SKIN3D [​FREE]
    └ That's right folks! PMC has it's very own editor. This is for mobs and skins, but it's a GREAT resource to use. Link here for easy access

  - Aseprite [​PAID] 
    └ You don't NEED this program to make great pixel art, but I find it's one of my favorites. Tile mode is especially useful to make sure your textures are smooth and all the tools are great. Highly recommend this one.

  - Losec Pixel Editor [​FREE]
    └ The entire lospec website is a great find for pixel artists. It has color palettes, and an editor! Everything you need at your fingertips

  - Pixelover [​PAID]
    └ A super neat program to help you if you struggle with animating pixels. There are tons of effects/filters/algorithms designed SPECIALLY for pixel art. Absolutely worth every penny.

▬▬▬

  - Notepad ++ [​FREE]
    └ This is like using regular notepad that comes with Windows, however it's more advanced - it keeps code formatted correctly. Would highly recommend this over a plain text editor!

  - Visual Studio Community [​FREE]
    └ This is one of the BEST text editors for minecraft - this will keep your code clean more so than Notepad++ (you don't have to format correctly once a file is made, you can simply copy/paste code and it should format correctly) This will also tell you at the bottom of the document if you code is valid before you load it up in-game

How do I make custom blocks for my texture pack? (JAVA & BEDROCK)

There are a couple programs you can use, but here I'm going to always 100% recommend Blockbench.

Blockbench was made specifically for making minecraft models. There's a couple other programs like Cubik Studio and Mrcrayfish's Model creator. Whichever you're most comfortable using.

We now have a dedicated tutorial for simple models in blockbench below
Check it out here (JAVA)

Bedrock version coming soonTM

How can I do randomized alternative textures in my resource pack? (JAVA)

If you're looking to, say, have 3+ different textures for the dirt block, look no further!

This step is divided into two parts that you must do to achieve a randomized texture. You will have to make a model file for each alternative texture you want, and a blockstates file to pull it all together.

Step ONE - Model Files

  - Create your textures [ For example here i will be using dirt ]

  - Name them dirt.png, dirt1.png, dirt2.png,

  - Place them into the correct folder location [​YOURTEXTUREPACK/assets/minecraft/textures/block]

  - Create a folder in [​YOURTEXTUREPACK/assets/minecraft] and name it models

  - In the 'models' folder you will add another folder called block [​YOURTEXTUREPACK/assets/minecraft/models/block]
  
  - Inside the block folder, you will have your model files. Because we are doing 3 different textures for dirt, there will be three
  different model files. So, you will create dirt.JSON, dirt1.JSON, and dirt2.JSON. [ You can name these whatever you like if the
  numbers get you confused. You could do dirt, dirt2, dirt3 instead. ]
    └ To make this even easier, you can navigate to %appdata% ->.minecraft/versions/[​VERSION#HERE] and go into the .JAR file
     and copy the original model file for dirt, and paste it 3 times in your folder, naming them accordingly.

  - If you copied the dirt file, you will see the original file structure inside when you open it up. If not, I'll add it below for dirt
  

dirt.JSON (model)

{
"parent": "block/cube_all",
"textures": {
"all": "block/dirt"
}
}

  Every model file needs it's own directory for the texture we have added. So inside the dirt.JSON file, "all": "block/dirt" means
   the texture is taking from the block folder and the texture called dirt. Your dirt1.JSON should have a directory of
  "all": "block/dirt2", and dirt2.JSON will have "all": "block/dirt3" inside.

All your model files should be done now, so we move onto the next part, blockstates.

Step TWO - Blockstates

  - Create a folder in [​YOURTEXTUREPACK/assets/minecraft] and name it blockstates

  - Create a file inside this new folder called dirt.JSON
    └ This file is going to tell the game all the models you made are intended for ONE block.

  - You can, again, copy the original blockstates file the same way you copied the model file. For convenience, here is how this
  file should look inside

dirt.JSON (blockstates)

{
"variants": {
"": [ { "model": "block/dirt", "weight": 2 }, { "model": "block/dirt2", "weight": 1 }, { "model": "block/dirt3", "weight": 1 } ]
}
}

  
    └ You can add lots of model modifiers here. The minecraft wiki lists them all here if you want to play around with them.

  - Change the "weight" setting to determine how much your texture appears. In the code above, we have weights of 2, 1, and 1.
  This means original dirt has a 2/4 change to show, while the dirt1 and dirt2 have a 1/4 change. You can completely delete the
  weight code if you want this to be a truly random texture, just be mindful of your commas.

This should be all you have to do. If you launch up your pack and the model is present but showing pink and black squares, your textures are in the wrong spot/not correctly directed in the model's folder. Always make sure you're looking at your code. A missed comma or misplaced bracket can make the entire code null.

Where Can I Learn How To....? Documentation Hub

Here's a list of various documentation you can look through when you're creating texture packs!
These are good resources for people starting out and veterans alike!

Make sure you're paying attention to JAVA vs BEDROCK distinction!

▬▬▬

  - Optifine Documentation Website JAVA
    └ Documentation for various OPTIFINE features that includes a search function and various categories (does not cover legacy 1.8 below)

  - Optifine Github Issues / Documentation JAVA
    └ First link is to the github issues pages where you can track down possible version issues/solutions and the next link are the file documentations for all the properties files.

  - Minecraft Wiki JAVA & BEDROCK
    └ A must have for texture creation - will have item IDs for both Java and Bedrock in case you need to find where a texture is located.

  - Bedrock Dev / Bedrock Dev Wiki BEDROCK
    └ Documentation for various bedrock features - like variant textures, custom blocks, etc etc

  - Microsoft Creator Documentation BEDROCK
    └ Official creator resources from microsoft themselves - lots of examples, getting started guides, and this is also a way to download the official up-to-date vanilla resource pack for bedrock

Artists FAQs

Group FAQS

• 

  Texturing 101 post by Karaoke
  December 31, 2023, 11:40 am to Public
  3 Days Left!
  
  You have 3 DAYS to complete a holiday mob skin and get this rad trophy on your profile!
  
  ❄️❄️❄️
  
  
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  Texturing 101 post by Karaoke
  December 26, 2023, 9:22 pm to Public
  1 Week Left!
  
  You have one week to complete a holiday mob skin and get this rad trophy on your profile!
  
  Hope everyone had a Merry Christmas!!!
  ❄️❄️❄️
  
  
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  Texturing 101 post by Karaoke
  December 20, 2023, 1:33 pm to Public
  2 Weeks Left!
  
  You have two weeks to complete a holiday mob skin and get this rad trophy on your profile!
  
  Merry Christmas
  
  
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  Texturing 101 post by Karaoke
  December 3, 2023, 12:31 pm to Public
  Group Update!
  
  Hello old and new members! This Holiday season Texturing 101 is hosting a very festive PMC Jam!
  Check out our Holiday Mob Reskin below! We look forward to seeing everyone's entries!
  
  
  
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  JustaFlqmingo replied to Useott's comment below 2023-12-06 22:28:29

  

  lol

  Karaoke replied to Useott's comment below 2023-12-06 12:23:49

  

  idk homie I have a mid-range phone too, a pixel 5a, and it works fine 🤷‍♀️

  Useott replied to Karaoke's comment below 2023-12-06 11:35:28

  

  Samsung Galaxy M13 4GB RAM 128GB storage

  Karaoke replied to Useott's comment below 2023-12-06 09:13:28

  

  Dang what kinda phone you using 😭

  Karaoke replied to Cheesy_Whezz's comment below 2023-12-06 09:12:58

  

  🙌🏻

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  Texturing 101 post by Karaoke
  February 19, 2023, 3:36 pm to Public
  FAQ Update!
  
  There's a new section that has been added in FAQ for Documentation!
  
  We're giving you a list of website's you should familiarize yourself with when creating texture packs!
  These are especially helpful to people using OPTIFINE features in JAVA and for people creating BEDROCK texture packs.
  
  Some of the content on these various websites include:
  
  • How to set up a beginner friendly BEDROCK pack
  • Where to find various IDs in JAVA & BEDROCK
  • How to manage variant textures in BEDROCK
  • Everything you need to know about OPTIFINE
  • and many many more very useful features!
  
  These articles are intended to help educate creators about how things are done in the place of tutorials I cannot create atm. You will have to research all the features yourself, but this is a starting point if you want to learn. Thank you for understanding.
  
  If you have anymore useful websites for Texture Pack creators link them below
  ⇓⇓⇓
  
  Let's get Creative!
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  Butterd said 2023-10-07 20:47:38

  

  Hello! I would like to join, if at all possible.

  GladiosAnim said 2023-08-31 07:59:27

  

  can i join the group please?

  PlayerXi said 2023-03-26 06:34:18

  

  Hihi, can I join the group?

  SprainedSpark89 said 2023-02-27 12:47:09

  

  https://www.pixilart.com/draw
  
  
  https://web.blockbench.net/
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  Supermugget posted to guest book of Texturing 101
  April 25, 2024, 9:26 pm to Public
  hi! can I plz join the group? cheers :)
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  Astro98 posted to guest book of Texturing 101
  February 18, 2024, 3:38 pm to Public
  how do I make a pack?
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  Karaoke said 2024-04-13 11:12:09

  

  www.planetminecraft.com/group/texturing_101/faq/?id=176
• 

  Bug_finder posted to guest book of Texturing 101
  February 12, 2024, 6:56 am to Public
  can i become a member of this group?
  
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  Astro98 said 2024-02-18 15:39:29

  

  yes i'm pretty sure
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  ThatOnePurpleGuylol posted to guest book of Texturing 101
  January 22, 2024, 1:29 pm to Public
  Where can we teach others about Texturing ???
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  Karaoke said 2024-02-04 11:04:10

  

  There used to be a forum post but it closes after a while for inactivity and I didn't want to spam the site every few months with new threads.
  
  I could make a discord, but I don't want to put all the knowledge off site either, sooo I'd say the safest best is making tutorial blogs and uploading them to the group.
  
  If anyone has blogs I'll make a collection for them 👍🏻
• 

  TrulyOmega posted to guest book of Texturing 101
  January 21, 2024, 10:01 am to Public
  Hello! I would like to join!
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