Custom armor

In this guide you will make a Ruby Chestplate and learn how to turn it into a full set of four pieces. Armor is the first item where the behavior pack and the resource pack each do a big job: the BP decides how much it protects, and the RP decides how it looks on the player's body, not only in the inventory.

This guide builds on Your first custom item. If icons, textures and lang files are new to you, read that first.

The quick way: GodCraft

GodCraft makes all four pieces at once, including the worn look, so you skip the trickiest file of this guide.

1. Open the Workshop and add an Armor to your add-on.
2. Paint the icons and the worn texture in the pixel editor.
3. Set protection, durability and repair items for each piece.
4. Tap Export and try the set on in game.

Ready to see the files? Here we go.

How armor works

Each armor piece needs three things:

We use the namespace myname. Replace it with your own everywhere.

By hand

Step 1: the item file

{
  "format_version": "1.26.30",
  "minecraft:item": {
    "description": {
      "identifier": "myname:ruby_chestplate",
      "menu_category": {
        "category": "equipment",
        "group": "minecraft:itemGroup.name.chestplate"
      }
    },
    "components": {
      "minecraft:icon": {
        "textures": {
          "default": "myname_ruby_chestplate"
        }
      },
      "minecraft:display_name": {
        "value": "item.myname:ruby_chestplate.name"
      },
      "minecraft:max_stack_size": 1,
      "minecraft:wearable": {
        "slot": "slot.armor.chest",
        "protection": 7
      },
      "minecraft:durability": {
        "max_durability": 500
      },
      "minecraft:enchantable": {
        "slot": "armor_torso",
        "value": 12
      },
      "minecraft:repairable": {
        "repair_items": [
          {
            "items": ["myname:ruby"],
            "repair_amount": "query.max_durability * 0.25"
          }
        ]
      },
      "minecraft:tags": {
        "tags": ["minecraft:is_armor"]
      }
    }
  }
}

The important parts:

• minecraft:wearable is what makes it armor. slot is where it goes and protection is how many armor points it adds to the bar above your health. Each full armor icon is 2 points.
• minecraft:durability is how many hits it can absorb before breaking.
• minecraft:enchantable uses the armor slot names, so Protection and the other armor enchantments can go on it.
• minecraft:repairable lets players fix it on an anvil with a ruby.
• minecraft:tags marks it as armor.
• minecraft:max_stack_size is 1. Wearing it in an armor slot forces a stack of 1 anyway, but saying it is clearer.

Step 2: the other three pieces

Copy the chestplate file three times and change these values in each copy:

Remember to change the identifier, icon and display name too, and pick the matching creative group (helmet, leggings or boots instead of chestplate).

Step 3: the worn texture

Armor on the body uses a different, bigger texture than the icon. It is laid out like the vanilla armor files: a 64x32 PNG that wraps around the body. Vanilla splits each set into two layers:

• Layer 1 (ruby_1.png): helmet, chestplate and boots.
• Layer 2 (ruby_2.png): leggings.

64x32 PNG: the helmet, chestplate and boots parts

64x32 PNG: the leggings parts

The easiest way to get the layout right is to start from the vanilla diamond_1.png and diamond_2.png and paint over them. See Pixel textures for painting tips.

Step 4: the attachable

An attachable tells the game what to draw on the player when the item is worn or held. Create an attachables folder in your resource pack:

{
  "format_version": "1.10.0",
  "minecraft:attachable": {
    "description": {
      "identifier": "myname:ruby_chestplate",
      "materials": {
        "default": "armor",
        "enchanted": "armor_enchanted"
      },
      "textures": {
        "default": "textures/models/armor/ruby_1",
        "enchanted": "textures/misc/enchanted_actor_glint"
      },
      "geometry": {
        "default": "geometry.humanoid.armor.chestplate"
      },
      "scripts": {
        "parent_setup": "variable.chest_layer_visible = 0.0;"
      },
      "render_controllers": ["controller.render.armor"]
    }
  }
}

Line by line:

1. identifier must be the item's ID exactly. This is how the game links the attachable to the item.
2. materials and the enchanted texture make the purple shimmer show up when the armor is enchanted.
3. textures.default is your worn texture, without .png.
4. geometry uses the built-in vanilla armor model, so you do not need to build a 3D model.
5. parent_setup hides the vanilla armor layer for that body part, so nothing draws on top of yours.
6. render_controllers uses the vanilla armor controller.

For the other pieces, change three values:

Step 5: icons and names

Add one icon per piece to item_texture.json (inside texture_data), and save the 16x16 icons in RP/textures/items/:

"myname_ruby_helmet": { "textures": "textures/items/ruby_helmet" },
"myname_ruby_chestplate": { "textures": "textures/items/ruby_chestplate" },
"myname_ruby_leggings": { "textures": "textures/items/ruby_leggings" },
"myname_ruby_boots": { "textures": "textures/items/ruby_boots" }

item.myname:ruby_helmet.name=Ruby Helmet
item.myname:ruby_chestplate.name=Ruby Chestplate
item.myname:ruby_leggings.name=Ruby Leggings
item.myname:ruby_boots.name=Ruby Boots

Test it

1. Load the packs into a world (see Export and install).
2. Run /give for each piece, for example /give @s myname:ruby_chestplate.
3. Put it on and check the armor bar. Press F5 on PC, or change the camera view in settings, to see it from the outside.

When something goes wrong

More fixes are in Troubleshooting. Next, let players craft the set in Crafting and furnace recipes, or pair it with a Ruby Sword.