History of textures

This page intends to document the history of textures used in Minecraft.

For more in depth information for actually used textures for each edition, refer to the following pages:

• Java Edition history of textures
• Bedrock Edition history of textures
• Minecraft Education history of textures
• Legacy Console Edition history of textures
• New Nintendo 3DS Edition history of textures
• Pi Edition history of textures

Unused textures[]

Blocks[]

Java Edition pre-Classic
rd-161348					A duplicate grass block texture appears in terrain.png to the right, for an unknown reason.
Java Edition Classic
0.0.12a					Added pre-release texture of water to terrain.png.
					Added currently unused grass.png.
0.0.14a					Added duplicates of the grass block side, top and bottom texture to terrain.png.
					Added an unused texture to terrain.png.
0.0.15a					Removed the grass block side, top and bottom texture duplicates and mysterious whitish texture from terrain.png.
0.0.20a					The opaque water texture in terrain.png has been replaced with the dandelion texture.
0.26 SURVIVAL TEST					Added a cobweb texture to terrain.png, but no associated block.
					Added some unused variations of brick blocks to terrain.png.
					Directly below these brick variations existed what appears to be a translucent bottom half of the block of gold side texture.
					Slightly downwards and to the left existed a somewhat modified block of gold side texture, spread across four spaces.
Java Edition Indev
0.31		20091223-1			Removed the brick variations and weird gold blocks from terrain.png.
		20100110			Replaced the duplicate grass top texture with a duplicate lava placeholder texture.[verify]
Minecraft Indev		20100206			Added a duplicate texture for planks and the infamous chair textures to terrain.png.
Java Edition Infdev
Minecraft Infdev		20100607			The duplicate planks texture has been replaced by the ladder texture.
		20100618			The chair side texture has been darkened.
		20100629			Added an second unused texture to terrain.png.
					The unused chair textures have been removed from terrain.png.
Java Edition Alpha
v1.0.4					The unknown white texture has been replaced by the snowy grass block side texture.
Java Edition Beta
1.2					Added unused old texture of the cake's item form to terrain.png.
1.3					Added a texture for crying obsidian to terrain.png. It was never used at this time.
1.5					The cobweb texture has been updated, and cobwebs have actually been implemented.
					The crying obsidian texture has been replaced by the grass block overlay.
1.6		Test Build 3			A duplicate grass block top texture has been added to terrain.png, potentially used as a palette for designing the adjacent grass and fern textures.
1.8		Pre-release			Added four unused textures to terrain.png.
Java Edition
1.0.0		Beta 1.9 Prerelease 3			An unused white cobblestone texture has been added to terrain.png.
		Beta 1.9 Prerelease 4			The white cobblestone has been replaced with the end stone texture.
		Beta 1.9 Prerelease 5			Despite being unused, the unused grass block top texture has been updated, and now has a distinct texture from the actually used grass block.
1.2.1		1.2			Two sandstone variant textures were added to terrain.png, but not used. These were indeed intended for use as sandstone block variants.[1]
1.2.4		release			The two unused sandstone textures from before have been replaced and the replacements implemented.
1.5		13w02a			The unused old cake item texture, grass top duplicate and four unused blocks introduced in Beta 1.8 has been effectively removed with the splitting of block textures.
1.7.2		13w36a			The famous unused paeonia texture has been added to the assets/minecraft/textures/blocks/ directory.
1.9		15w31a			Added debug.png and debug2.png to the assets/minecraft/textures/blocks/ directory.
		15w34a			Added command_blocks.pdn to the assets/minecraft/textures/blocks/ directory.
		15w34b			Removed command_blocks.pdn.
1.11		16w39b			A duplicate of the blue shulker box top texture called test.png now exists directly in assets/minecraft/.
		16w39c			test.png has been removed.
Texture Update		1.0.0 and 2.0.0, potentially among others			Despite being unused, a new paeonia texture has been included in a Texture Update resource pack.
					Three extra variant textures for vines were also included, their uses unknown.
1.13		17w47a			Removed the unused paeonia texture from the assets/minecraft/textures/blocks/ directory.
1.14		18w44a			An unused texture sheet containing each texture then associated with the lectern has been added to the assets/minecraft/textures/block/ directory. It was used on the pre-release image but when replaced with separate textures before release.
		18w45a			The lectern sheet from above was removed from the assets/minecraft/textures/block/ directory.
1.15		19w34a			The texture for a wax block was added to the assets/minecraft/textures/block/ directory.
		19w42a			Removed the wax block texture from the assets/minecraft/textures/block/ directory.
1.16		20w06a			Two duplicate stripped warped stem textures are present in assets/minecraft/textures/block/, entitled "warped_stripped_log_top.png" and "warped_stripped_log_side.png".
		20w09a			Removed the above duplicate warped stem textures from the assets/minecraft/textures/block/ directory.
1.17		20w49a			The textures "calibrated_sculk_sensor_top.png" and "calibrated_sculk_sensor_side.png" have been added to the assets/minecraft/textures/block/ directory.
		21w05a			The texture "root_vines_head.png" has beed added to the assets/minecraft/textures/block/ directory.
		21w13a			Removed the calibrated sculk sensor textures from the assets/minecraft/textures/block/ directory.
		21w16a			Removed the root vines texture from the assets/minecraft/textures/block/ directory.
Pocket Edition Alpha
v0.1.0					The old web, cake item and crying obsidian textures are present in terrain.png.
					Due to the absence of nether portals, its placeholder texture is unused.
v0.2.0					The crying obsidian texture has been replaced by the grass block overlay, which is also unused in this edition.
v0.8.0		build 2			terrain.png was split, removing some unused textures - specifics unknown.
v0.14.2					Added what appear to be prototype textures for the Allow and Deny blocks.
?					The textures for allow and deny have been updated, and the blocks that use them actually implemented.[verify]
Bedrock Edition
1.9.0		beta 1.9.0.2			Added two unused barrel textures. Their fate remains unknown.

Items[]

Java Edition Indev
0.31		20091231-2			Added studded armor and quiver sprites to items.png.
		20100110			Added a bow texture to items.png, despite there not being bows at the time.
					There is now a large purple curve in items.png
		20100122			The quiver texture has changed.
					The bow texture has changed, and bows have been implemented, effectively removing the unused bow texture.
		?			The purple curve has been removed.
Minecraft Indev		20100206			Studded armor's sprites have been removed.
Java Edition
1.0.0		Beta 1.9 Prerelease 2			Three copies of cat and two copies of 13 have been added to items.png as placeholders for future discs.
1.3.1		12w21a			A ruby item texture has been added.
1.4.4		1.4.3			One of the extra cat discs has been replaced with the wait disc texture.
1.8		14w30a			Added banner_base and banner_overlay.
1.9		15w31a			Removed the quiver texture.
1.11		16w41a			Removed banner_base.
1.13		17w47a			Removed banner_overlay.
1.15		19w34a			The texture for crystallized honey was added to the assets/minecraft/textures/item/ directory.
		19w42a			Removed the crystallized honey texture from the assets/minecraft/textures/item/ directory.
1.17		21w13a			Removed the ruby texture.

Placeholders

Java Edition Beta
1.2					Nine identical item placeholder textures have been added to items.png.
					Total: 9
1.8		Pre-release			Ten more identical item placeholder textures have been added to items.png, and one removed due to being replaced by the melon slice.
					Total: 18
Java Edition
1.0.0		Beta 1.9 Prerelease			Five of the placeholder textures has been replaced with the fire charge, blaze rod, ghast tear, gold nugget and nether wart textures.
					Total: 13
		Beta 1.9 Prerelease 2			Twelve more identical item placeholder textures have been added to items.png, and six removed due to being replaced by the spider eye, fermented spider eye, blaze powder, magma cream and the two potion textures.
					Total: 19
		Beta 1.9 Prerelease 3			Three of the placeholder textures have been replaced with the brewing stand, cauldron and eye of ender textures.
					Total: 16
		Beta 1.9 Prerelease 4			Two of the placeholder textures have been replaced with the splash potion and glistering melon textures.
					Total: 14
1.1		11w49a			One of the placeholder textures has been replaced with the spawn egg texture.
					Total: 13
		12w01a			One of the placeholder textures has been replaced with the spawn egg overlay texture.
					Total: 12
1.2.1		12w04a			One of the placeholder textures has been replaced with the bottle o' enchanting texture.
					Total: 11
1.3.1		12w17a			One of the placeholder textures has been replaced with the written book texture.
					Total: 10
		12w21a			One of the placeholder textures has been replaced with the ruby texture.
					Total: 9
1.4.2		12w34a			Added 22 more placeholder textures to items.png.
					Four of the placeholder textures have been replaced with the flower pot, empty map, nether star and item frame textures.
					Total: 27
		12w36a			Added 11 more placeholder textures to items.png.
					Five of the placeholder textures have been replaced with the carrot on a stick, skeleton and wither skeleton skull, and player and zombie head textures.
					Total: 33
		12w37a			One of the placeholder textures has been replaced with the leather leggings overlay texture.
					Total: 32
1.4.6		12w49a			Four of the placeholder textures have been replaced with the firework rocket, enchanted book, and both firework star textures.
					Total: 28
1.5		13w01a			Three of the placeholder textures have been replaced with the comparator, nether quartz and nether brick textures.
					Total: 25
		13w02b			items.png has now been removed, also removing all item placeholder textures.
					Total: 0

Entities[]

Java Edition Classic
0.0.20a					A unused solid white player-shaped texture called 2char now exists in the game.
Java Edition Indev
Minecraft Indev		20100212-1			Added char_2.png.
		20100214-2			char_2.png has been removed.
Java Edition Infdev
Minecraft Infdev		20100607			Added a texture called "door".
Java Edition Alpha
v1.2.0		preview			Added a pigman texture.
v1.2.2					Removed 2char.png, likely due to texture pack support implementation.
Java Edition
1.0.0		Beta 1.9 Prerelease			Added a "villager" texture.
		Beta 1.9 Prerelease 4			Added some ender dragon textures. These two, entitled "body" and "dragon", are assumed unused due to being later removed.
1.4.6		12w50a			Added a texture for skis.
1.6.1		13w24a			Removed the door, pigman, weird villager, "body", "dragon" and skis textures.

Particles[]

Java Edition Beta
1.4					Two particles were added that visually resemble water droplets, or possibly water or blue analogues of the existing "flame" and "lava" particles.
Java Edition
1.4.2		12w34a			Added an angry villager head particle texture, which was unused.
1.14		19w06a			The three unused particle textures have been removed with the splitting of particles.png.
Pocket Edition Alpha
v0.1.0					The unused water/fire particle textures exist in this version of the game's particles.png.
					The two older splash textures also added in this version had a very high likelihood of being unused.
v0.12.1		build 1			The angry villager head particle now exists in particles.png.
Bedrock Edition
1.16.0		?			Added a "soul lava" particle texture to particles.png.

Miscellaneous[]

Java Edition Classic
0.0.14a					Added tallterrain.png to client.jar.
0.28					Removed tallterrain.png.
Java Edition Beta
1.6.6		July 26, 2011			Added humble.png to .minecraft\resources\pe.
Pocket Edition Alpha
v0.1.0		reupload			Added add.png, trash.png, sm_multi.png, sm_options.png, sm_play.png.
v0.1.1					trash.png has been removed.
v0.2.0					sm_multi.png, sm_options.png, sm_play.png have been removed.
v0.3.0					Added 123123.png.
					add.png has been removed.
v0.3.3					123123.png has been removed.
v0.16.0		build 1			Added titleOSX.png.
		build 2			Removed titleOSX.png.

Developer version exclusive textures[]

These textures appeared exclusively in development screenshots or videos. In most cases, the raw files have never been released publicly; all cases documented here are derived from recreations unless otherwise stated.

Blocks[]

This section needs cleanup to comply with the style guide. ^[discuss]

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Java Edition Beta
June 7, 2011					Showed pistons. The texture had extra band around the face, and smaller edge buckles.
Java Edition
September 30, 2011					A prototype version of the brewing stand is revealed.
September 30, 2011					A prototype enchanting table is revealed, once again.
September 30, 2011					A prototype enchanting table is revealed. The top texture is now identical to a release.
April 24, 2013					Showcased an image featuring colored wood planks, which ultimately never made it into the game.
June 8, 2014					This texture was shown for wet sponges.
January 23, 2017					Jeb showcases updated wool colors. Some may not have made it into 17w06a, however this is currently unknown.
November 18, 2017					Prototypes for coral were shown in a clip at MINECON Earth.
January 11, 2019					Showed campfire with unanimated texture.
September 28, 2019					This honey block was showcased at MINECON Live 2019.
Minecraft Live 2020 (October 3, 2020)		30:08			This version of the spore blossom was shown at at Minecraft Live 2020.
		41:32			Deepslate was shown unnamed as part of deep dark caves biome at Minecraft Live 2020.
		38:10			The sculk sensor, the sculk catalyst, and the sculk jaw were shown off at Minecraft Live 2020.
		1:50:44			These textures were used for the reveal of copper related blocks.
		38:14			This sculk veins texture was shown.
		33:06			This dripleaf texture was shown.
		38:14			This sculk catalyst texture was shown.
November 13, 2020					This sculk sensor texture was shown.
November 13, 2020					This sculk catalyst texture was shown.
November 13, 2020					This sculk veins texture was shown.
November 13, 2020					The sculk block has a new texture in a tweet from Brandon Pearce.
1.17		October 19, 2020			Henrik Kniberg shows this modified dandelion texture for testing purposes.
		November 18, 2020			JAPPA tweets an image of an alternate tuff texture.
		November 23, 2020			Showed new animated texture of active tendril.
		November 27, 2020			File:Big Dripleaf (pre-release 2 texture).png The big dripleaf has a new texture in a tweet from Agnes Larsson.
		December 6, 2020			The big dripleaf has a new texture in a tweet from Agnes Larsson.
		February 5, 2021			JAPPA tweets an image of alternate hanging roots and rooted dirt textures.
		February 9, 2021			Showed early design of glow lichen.
		February 17, 2021			Henrik Kniberg shows grimstone variants of overworld ore.
		February 18, 2021			JAPPA shows new textures of iron ore, gold ore and updated grimstone variants of overworld ore.
		February 18, 2021			JAPPA shows a new texture for the grimstone variant of diamond ore.
		February 22, 2021			JAPPA shows updated iron ore, copper ore, redstone ore and updated grimstone variant of overworld ore.
		March 4, 2021			JAPPA shows the new texture of deepslate.
		April 4, 2021			Showed block of raw iron.
		May 7, 2021			xilefian shows one of 18 different concepts of pointed dripstone created in October 2020, and early textures of dripstone block.
Pocket Edition Alpha
May 2, 2016					A rejected observer texture is released.
Texture Update
July 18, 2017					Jeb tweets the first image containing updated textures. Included are unreleased obsidian and birch log textures. The grass texture also changed, but whether this was released is unknown.
July 19, 2017					Jeb showed new textures of obsidian and block of diamond.
July 19, 2017					Jeb replies with an image of all the new logs.
July 19, 2017					JAPPA tweets an image of a less-blurry birch log.
July 19, 2017					Jeb tweets an image of an unreleased jungle planks texture.
July 20, 2017					JAPPA showed second new texture of block of diamond.
July 21, 2017					Showed new texture of block of emerald.
July 22, 2017					JAPPA tweets an image of new crafting table, oak planks, and oak wood.
August 2, 2017					Showed new textures of chorus flower and chorus plant.
August 9, 2017					Showed new textures of stone bricks, mossy stone bricks, cracked stone bricks, chiseled stone bricks and vines.
August 10, 2017					Compared new textures from previous post with old one.
August 22, 2017					Showed new second textures of oak planks and oak log.
August 30, 2017					Showed new textures of hay bale.
August 30, 2017					Showed new textures of dead bush and cactus.
September 4, 2017					Showed new texture of cobblestone.
September 4, 2017					Showed new textures of glass and wheat.
September 18, 2017					Showed new second texture of cobblestone.
September 28, 2017					Showed new textures of skeleton and mossy cobblestone (and torch?).
September 28, 2017					Compared textures of oak planks from previous post and old one.
October 16, 2017					Showed new texture of glowstone.
October 16, 2017					Showed new second texture of glowstone.
October 16, 2017					Showed new texture of cave spider.
October 18, 2017					Showed new texture of block of quartz, quartz pillar block and chiseled quartz block.
October 18, 2017					Showed closer new texture of chiseled quartz block from previous post.
October 20, 2017					Showed closer new texture of sand (and husk?).
October 30, 2017					Showed new textures of zombie and carved pumpkin.
November 2, 2017					Showed new texture of pigman, netherrack, soul sand, nether bricks and spawner.
November 2, 2017					Showed new texture of red mushroom.
November 2, 2017					Showed closer new texture of soul sand from previous posts.
November 8, 2017					Showed maybe new textures of grass block, oak leaves, pumpkin pie, wheat, cauldron, redstone dust, slimeball, apple, saddle, iron ingot, feather and new third texture of oak log.
November 8, 2017					Same textures from previous post, but all items dropped from inventory.
November 9, 2017					Showed new textures of wolf, stone, andesite and coal ore. Updated textures of apple and feather.
November 13, 2017					Showed new textures of cake in block and item forms, jungle boat, carrot in item form, water bottle, totem of undying, minecart with furnace in item form, cookie, bucket, emerald and more.
November 13, 2017					Showed closer textures of cake in block form.
November 13, 2017					Showed closer texture of totem of undying.
November 17, 2017					Showed new textures of block of gold, block of emerald and third new texture of block of diamond.
November 17, 2017					Showed closer textures from previous post.
November 30, 2017					Showed closer texture of spawner and cobblestone from previous post (or new).
November 30, 2017					Showed new textures of pig, spider, chicken, melon, gravel, birch leaves, rose bush and dandelion.
December 12, 2017					Showed new textures of sheep and snow.
January 2, 2018					Showed new texture of snow golem.
January 4, 2018					Showed new textures of redstone ore, diamond ore, gold ore, emerald ore and red sand.
January 8, 2018					Showed new second texture of glass.
January 9, 2018					Showed new second textures of brich leaves and brich logs.
January 9, 2018					Showed new third texture of oak planks.
January 11, 2018					Showed new textures of redstone lamp and acacia leaves.
February 1, 2018					Showed new second texture of jungle boat in item form.
January 22, 2018					Showed new texture of diamond and new second texture of diamond ore.
January 22, 2018					Showed new second textures of block of gold, block of emerald and fourth texture of block of diamond.
February 1, 2018					Showed new second texture of jungle boat in item form.
March 8, 2018					Showed new third texture of block of emerald.
July 11, 2018					JAPPA tweets an image of updated obsidian.
July 11, 2018					JAPPA tweets an image of updated diorite and andesite.
August 28, 2018					Showed new textures of oak log, stone, cobblestone and glass "This is just soms tests, exploring. Not V3."
August 28, 2018					Showed new textures of oak log, stone, cobblestone and glass. "Sometimes, to explore options and things I try drastic changes like this:"
August 30, 2018					Showed new second textures of stone and granite.
September 6, 2018					Showed new texture of obsidian.
September 7, 2018					Showed new textures of obsidian and golden sword.
September 10, 2018					Showed new textures of spruce log, spruce planks.
September 10, 2018					Showed new textures of swords.
September 25, 2018					Showed new textures of ice, packed ice and new second texture of snow.
September 25, 2018					Compared textures from previous post and old one.
October 26, 2018					Showed new textures of sand and cactus.
October 27, 2018					Showed new textures of sandstone, cut sandstone, chiseled sandstone and cactus.
November 15, 2018					Something was revealed.
November 19, 2018					Showed new textures of oak log and oak planks.
November 27, 2018					Showed new textures of bedrock.
November 29, 2018					Jasper Boerstra tweets an image from the boat texturing process. A new (probably experimental) cobblestone and mossy cobblestone can be seen atop the background.
February 14, 2019					Showed new texture of skeleton horse.
February 18, 2019					Showed new textures of zombie horse and skeleton horse.
February 19, 2019					Showed new textures of stained glass.
April 13, 2019					Showed new texture of block of quartz.

Items[]

Java Edition Beta
1.2					Leftovers of old dye textures can be seen in items.png with 100% opacity.
April 9, 2011					Alternate iron shovel texture was shown in a Mojang test video.
July 19, 2011					A teaser image for cooked chicken is revealed by Jeb.
Java Edition
May 21, 2012					Jeb released a screenshot of himself testing the trading system. At this time, what would become emeralds were rubies.[2]
August 15, 2012					Dinnerbone showed an item frame in item form.
August 5, 2014					Searge tweeted an image of an armor stand. The appearance was changed before release.
June 11, 2017					The Super Duper Graphics Pack is announced. Inventory icons of several items can be seen in some of the released screenshots and videos.
September 28, 2019					Piglin spawn egg was shown.
October 3, 2020					Lightning rods are revealed at Minecraft Live 2020. Inventory model was different.
October 3, 2020					Brushes and ceramic shards were shown at Minecraft Live 2020.
October 3, 2020					In Minecraft Live 2020, a bucket of axolotl was shown.
					On the live event, it has an untranslated name: item.minecraft.axolotl_bucket.
October 6, 2020					Kingbdogz showed a warden spawn egg.
April 16, 2021					JAPPA shows new raw copper, raw gold and raw iron textures again.
October 16, 2021					Frog and tadpole spawn eggs were shown.
Texture Update
November 13, 2017					Showed new textures of cake in block and item forms, jungle boat, carrot in item form, water bottle, totem of undying, minecart with furnace in item form, cookie, bucket, emerald and more.

References[]