How to make a Minecraft Bedrock skin pack

What is inside a skin pack?

A skin pack is a zip file renamed to .mcpack. These files sit at the top of it:

"type": "free" means anyone who has the pack can wear the skin. Marketplace packs mark most skins as "paid", which only unlock once the pack is bought, so a pack you make yourself always uses free.

Make one with the Skin Pack Maker

1. Open the Skin Pack Maker and start a skin: a blank or colour-coded template, a PNG you already have, a Java player’s skin by username, or one of the default skins. Pick classic (4-pixel) or slim (3-pixel) arms.
2. Paint it on the 64×64 template or right on the 3D model. Every skin is saved on your device as its own project, and its name is the name players see in the game.
3. Make the other skins for the pack the same way.
4. Open one of them, choose Export › Bedrock skin pack (.mcpack), name the pack, tick the other skins to include and press Download pack.
5. Open the .mcpack on Windows, Android, iPhone or iPad. Minecraft imports it.
6. In Minecraft go to Dressing Room > Classic Skins, find your pack, pick a skin and press Equip.

The maker writes manifest.json, skins.json and the language file for you, with new IDs for every pack. Classic and slim skins can share a pack, each skin keeps its own name, and the pack name you type is the heading players see above the skins.

Install it on Windows, Android and iOS

Update or remove a skin pack

To change a pack you already imported, edit the skins, export the pack again from the same project and open the new file. The maker keeps the pack’s two IDs and raises its version (1.0.0, then 1.0.1 and so on), so Minecraft replaces the installed pack instead of listing it twice.

Made the pack by hand? Keep both UUIDs and raise the version in manifest.json, in the header and the module. New UUIDs give you a second pack, and the same version again is not imported because that pack is already installed.

To delete a pack, go to Settings > Storage, select it and delete it.

Classic or slim arms

Every skin in a pack has its own model, so one pack can mix both. Classic (Steve) arms are 4 pixels wide and use geometry.humanoid.custom; slim (Alex) arms are 3 pixels wide and use geometry.humanoid.customSlim. The model has to match the way the skin was painted, or the arms look cut off or get a see-through stripe.

Imported packs can only use these two models. Custom shapes, such as an oversized head, are not allowed in a skin pack you import yourself.

Make a skin pack by hand

You can also write the files yourself in any text editor. A pack with two skins looks like this:

Adventure Crew.mcpack
├── manifest.json
├── skins.json
├── wizard.png
├── robot.png
└── texts/
    ├── en_US.lang
    └── languages.json

manifest.json needs two different UUIDs. Make your own with any UUID generator instead of copying the ones below, and keep them for later updates:

{
  "format_version": 2,
  "header": {
    "name": "Adventure Crew",
    "uuid": "3f1c8a52-6b0e-4d7a-9c21-5e8f0b4d2a17",
    "version": [1, 0, 0]
  },
  "modules": [
    {
      "type": "skin_pack",
      "uuid": "a94e27d0-1c3b-4f6e-8d55-2b7c9e0f6a83",
      "version": [1, 0, 0]
    }
  ]
}

skins.json lists the skins. serialize_name and localization_name are the pack’s ID: one word with no spaces that no other pack uses. The Skin Pack Maker adds the start of the pack’s UUID to make sure.

{
  "serialize_name": "AdventureCrew_3f1c8a52",
  "localization_name": "AdventureCrew_3f1c8a52",
  "skins": [
    {
      "localization_name": "Wizard",
      "geometry": "geometry.humanoid.custom",
      "texture": "wizard.png",
      "type": "free"
    },
    {
      "localization_name": "Robot",
      "geometry": "geometry.humanoid.customSlim",
      "texture": "robot.png",
      "type": "free"
    }
  ]
}

texts/en_US.lang holds the names shown in the game, and texts/languages.json contains ["en_US"]:

skinpack.AdventureCrew_3f1c8a52=Adventure Crew
skin.AdventureCrew_3f1c8a52.Wizard=Wizard
skin.AdventureCrew_3f1c8a52.Robot=Robot

1. Put the files in a folder as shown, with the PNGs next to manifest.json.
2. Select the files inside the folder, not the folder itself, and add them to a zip.
3. Rename the zip from .zip to .mcpack and open it.

If the import fails, the usual cause is a folder around the files inside the zip, a typo in the JSON, or two equal UUIDs. The Skin Pack Maker writes exactly these files, so you can also export a pack, rename it to .zip and look inside.

Marketplace packs and personal packs

Want to make a skin pack for the Minecraft Marketplace? Only Marketplace partners can publish there: studios and creators that Mojang has accepted into its partner programme, who submit each pack for review. There is no way to upload a pack to the Marketplace from the game or from a website.

• Personal skin pack: free, made by anyone, imported from an .mcpack on Windows, Android, iPhone and iPad. You can share the file with friends.
• Marketplace skin pack: made by an approved partner, bought with Minecoins or free, available on every device including consoles.

Only put skins in a pack that you made yourself or are allowed to share.

Why friends may see a default skin

Bedrock has a setting called Only Allow Trusted Skins. Players who turn it on see every custom skin, including the ones from imported packs, as a default skin such as Steve or Alex. It is a setting on their side, so you cannot change it for them. Everyone else sees your skin as you made it.

Questions