Render types: face, head, bust, body, front, back, skin, cape
Every render type of the Minecraft skin API with its default size, aspect ratio, which parameters apply and live example URLs for each one.
Overview
The second path segment picks one of 8 render types. Three of them (head, bust, body) are drawn by the 3D rasteriser and accept the camera, lighting and pose parameters. The other five are exact pixel layouts of the texture, scaled with nearest-neighbour sampling so the pixels stay crisp.
| Type | Aliases | Default canvas | Aspect (w ÷ h) | 3D | Parameters |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
face | avatar | 256 × 256 px | 1 | no | 11 |
head | — | 256 × 256 px | 1 | yes | 27 |
bust | portrait | 256 × 256 px | 1 | yes | 50 |
body | full | 320 × 512 px | 0.625 | yes | 53 |
front | — | 256 × 512 px | 0.5 | no | 18 |
back | — | 256 × 512 px | 0.5 | no | 18 |
skin | — | 256 × 256 px | 1 | no | 9 |
cape | — | 160 × 256 px | 0.625 | no | 9 |
size sets the height; the width follows the aspect ratio. Pass width and height to choose both, for instance width=400&height=400 for a square body render with empty space on the sides.
Face /face
The 8×8 face with the hat layer on top, scaled with crisp pixels. The classic avatar.
- Default canvas
- 256 × 256 px (aspect 1)
- Renderer
- Flat pixel layout, nearest-neighbour scaling
- Parameter groups
- OutputModelLayersFallback
- Good for
- minecraft avatar, minecraft face api, player head icon
/render/069a79f444e94726a5befca90e38aaf5/face?size=64 A 64 px avatar for a comment thread. /render/853c80ef3c3749fdaa49938b674adae6/face?size=128&hat=false Without the hat layer. /render/61699b2ed3274a019f1e0ea8c3f06bc6/face?size=96&bg=1e1e2e On a solid background. The face is the 8×8 front of the head with the 8×8 hat layer composited on top. Requesting a size that is a multiple of 8 (64, 128, 256…) keeps every texture pixel the same width; other sizes are still crisp but pixels alternate between two widths. See the avatar guide.
Head /head
The head as a 3D cube, lit and angled, with the hat layer.
- Default canvas
- 256 × 256 px (aspect 1)
- Renderer
- 3D rasteriser with lighting, camera and pose
- Parameter groups
- OutputCameraModelLayersLightingPoseFallback
- Good for
- minecraft head render, isometric head, 3d player head
/render/069a79f444e94726a5befca90e38aaf5/head?size=160 The default angle. /render/853c80ef3c3749fdaa49938b674adae6/head?size=160&yaw=45&pitch=30 Isometric-style: yaw 45°, pitch 30°. /render/61699b2ed3274a019f1e0ea8c3f06bc6/head?size=160&yaw=-30&fov=50 Perspective, turned the other way. The full cube with all six faces, so yaw and pitch can show the sides and the top. fov=0 (the default) is orthographic and gives the isometric look; see the head render guide.
Bust /bust
Head, torso and arms from the waist up, posable.
- Default canvas
- 256 × 256 px (aspect 1)
- Renderer
- 3D rasteriser with lighting, camera and pose
- Parameter groups
- OutputCameraModelLayersLightingPoseFallback
- Good for
- minecraft bust render, player portrait
/render/069a79f444e94726a5befca90e38aaf5/bust?size=200 Default bust. /render/853c80ef3c3749fdaa49938b674adae6/bust?size=200&pitch=-10&fov=40&pose=think A portrait with a low perspective camera. /render/alex/bust?size=200&yaw=-20&pose=salute Saluting, slim arms. Head, torso and both arms, cropped just below the belt. Poses apply to the parts that are visible, so pose=wave, think, salute and shrug read well here. Legs are not drawn, which keeps the canvas square.
Body /body
The full posable player model with every layer and the cape.
- Default canvas
- 320 × 512 px (aspect 0.625)
- Renderer
- 3D rasteriser with lighting, camera and pose
- Parameter groups
- OutputCameraModelLayersLightingPoseFallback
- Good for
- minecraft full body render, minecraft skin 3d render, player model png
/render/069a79f444e94726a5befca90e38aaf5/body?size=320 Default body. /render/853c80ef3c3749fdaa49938b674adae6/body?size=320&pose=wave Waving, cape drawn if the profile has one. /render/61699b2ed3274a019f1e0ea8c3f06bc6/body?size=320&fov=35&shadow=true&pose=sneak Sneaking with a drop shadow and perspective. The whole model: every layer, both arms, both legs and the cape. This is the type the pose system is built for, and the only one with the shadow parameter. Read the body render guide for camera and pose combinations that work.
Front /front
A flat, front-on layout of the whole skin, as skin sites show it.
- Default canvas
- 256 × 512 px (aspect 0.5)
- Renderer
- Flat pixel layout, nearest-neighbour scaling
- Parameter groups
- OutputModelLayersFallback
- Good for
- minecraft skin preview, flat skin render
/render/069a79f444e94726a5befca90e38aaf5/front?size=256 The classic flat preview. /render/alex/front?size=256&overlay=false Base layer only. A 2:1 flat layout that stacks the front faces of head, torso, arms and legs the way skin-editing sites preview a texture. No camera and no pose, but the layer toggles apply, so overlay=false shows the base layer alone.
Back /back
The same flat layout seen from behind, cape included.
- Default canvas
- 256 × 512 px (aspect 0.5)
- Renderer
- Flat pixel layout, nearest-neighbour scaling
- Parameter groups
- OutputModelLayersFallback
- Good for
- minecraft skin back view
/render/069a79f444e94726a5befca90e38aaf5/back?size=256 Seen from behind. /render/853c80ef3c3749fdaa49938b674adae6/back?size=256&cape=false With the cape hidden. The same layout as front, seen from behind, with the cape drawn over the back of the torso when the profile has one. cape=false hides it.
Skin /skin
The raw 64×64 texture, upgraded from the legacy 64×32 layout when needed.
- Default canvas
- 256 × 256 px (aspect 1)
- Renderer
- Flat pixel layout, nearest-neighbour scaling
- Parameter groups
- OutputModelFallback
- Good for
- minecraft skin download, skin texture png, get skin by uuid
/render/069a79f444e94726a5befca90e38aaf5/skin The raw texture, scaled 4× with crisp pixels. /render/steve/skin?size=64 At its native 64×64. The texture as stored on Mojang’s servers, normalised to the modern 64×64 layout the way the game upgrades legacy 64×32 skins, so the output is always the same shape. Use it to feed your own renderer, or with download=1 to let players save their skin.
Cape /cape
The front of the profile’s cape, flat.
- Default canvas
- 160 × 256 px (aspect 0.625)
- Renderer
- Flat pixel layout, nearest-neighbour scaling
- Parameter groups
- OutputModelFallback
- Good for
- minecraft cape render, cape png
/render/853c80ef3c3749fdaa49938b674adae6/cape?size=160 The cape front, flat. /render/61699b2ed3274a019f1e0ea8c3f06bc6/cape?size=160&bg=000 On black. The 10×16 front of the cape, scaled up. Only profiles that own a cape have one; for everyone else (including steve and alex) the response is still 200 but a fully transparent PNG of the same size, not an error. /api/profile/<id> tells you in advance (capeHash is null otherwise), so check it before showing a cape slot in your UI.
Every example URL on this page was generated from the parameter table in the code, with default values omitted. That is also why they are short.