Missing textures and models

Minecraft makes use of missing textures and missing models to handle potential errors present in the game's resources as well as resource packs.

Missing texture

The missing texture is a dynamic placeholder texture used by Minecraft for handling cases where a suitable texture cannot be found. Outside of its use in missing models, this is almost always due to a texture being referenced which simply does not exist under that name.

The texture uses a prominent black
 #000000 and magenta
 #f800f8 checkerboard in Java Edition or a black
 #000000 and magenta
 #fc00ff checkerboard in Bedrock Edition, in order to stand out as much as possible in most cases. Using bright colors to indicate missing textures is industry standard. The black and magenta combination is most typically employed by games developed using the Source video game engine,^[1] although Minecraft itself does not use the engine.

While internally referred to as missingno, there is no file for the missing texture in Java Edition, and it therefore cannot be changed under intended mechanics. It is possible to overwrite the copies of it which appear in texture atlases with another texture using atlas json files,^[2] although this is presumably not intended.

As of Java Edition 25w17a, there are five main ways in which the missing texture can appear without using a resource pack, all of which require commands. Hover over any text below saying "ids" for a list of namespaced IDs which return the missing texture when used in a given example command.

History

History of the texture itself

Java Edition Beta
1.4							The missing texture has been implemented. It differs depending on the system - see the subsection below.
Java Edition
1.5			13w02a				The missing texture has changed to display more descriptive text.
1.6.1			13w18a				The missing texture generated has changed to a magenta and black checkerboard texture.
1.7.2			13w38a				When anisotropic filtering is enabled, the missing texture has a 4×4 checker instead of a 2×2 checker.[3][4][5] This is due to this option extending each texture by 8 pixels in each direction using the pixels from the opposite side of the texture, which for the missing texture gives the appearance of a 4×4 tiling.
1.8			14w25a				Removed the anisotropic filtering option, meaning that the 2×2 checker is once again the only missing texture.
1.13			17w43a				The missing texture generated has changed.
Pocket Edition Alpha
v0.16.0			build 5				The missing texture has been implemented.
							Prior to this version,​ graphics which could not be loaded​ would use a zero-opacity black texture instead.

b1.4-13w17a platform differences

The missing texture used in these versions would be generated differently depending on the operating system and Java version.^[6]

Texture		Operating system	Java version	Notes
b1.4 - 13w01b	13w02a - 13w17a
		Windows XP	6.0.370.6[7]	Appears standard across all Windows versions. No smoothing.
		Windows 7[8]	7[9] Update 11[10] Update 13[11] r15[12] Update 17[13]
		Windows 10	1.8.0_51[14]
		Solaris 10[15]	1.6.0_37[16]
		Windows 10	11.0.10[14] 16.0.2	Minor differences in the x and u. No smoothing.
		macOS 10.3.9[17]	4[17]	No smoothing - standard for non-Retina systems.[14]
		macOS 10.5.8	1.5.0_30[18]
		macOS 10.6.8[19]	6[19]
		macOS 10.14.6[14]	Apple legacy Java runtime 1.6.0_65-b14-468[14]
		macOS 10.14.6[14]	Apple legacy Java runtime 1.6.0_65-b14-468[14]	Monochromatic smoothing - standard for Retina systems.[14]
		macOS 10.14.6	Apple legacy Java runtime 1.6.0_65-b14-468[20]	Uses polychromatic smoothing instead of monochromatic smoothing like above.
		MacOS 10.3.9[21]	4[21]	Monochromatic smoothing. Almost identical to the previously-mentioned version, with almost unnoticeable single-pixel differences.
		macOS 10.5.8[22]	Unknown
		Leopard (specific version unknown)[23]	Unknown
		macOS 10.4.11	1.5.0_19[24]	Polychromatic smoothing.
		macOS 10.6.8	1.6.0_65 (UseQuartz set to true)[21]	Polychromatic smoothing.
		Unspecified macOS versions[25]	Unknown
		macOS 10.14.6[14]	1.7.0 80-b15[14] 1.8.0_51[14]	No smoothing.
		macOS 10.14.6[14]	1.8.0_301, GraalVM EE 21.2.0 11.0.12, GraalVM EE 21.2.0 16.0.2, GraalVM EE 21.2.0	Monochromatic smoothing.
		macOS 12.3.0[26]	1.8.0_74 (64-bit)[26]	Appears to have been smoothed monochromatically with all non-white pixels subsequently set to black.
		Debian[27]	1.8.0_351	No smoothing.
		Kubuntu 24.04	1.8.0_202 via Prism Launcher
		Debian[27]	Zulu OpenJDK 1.8.0_352	No smoothing.
		Debian under WSL2[28]	11.0.11
		Ubuntu	16.0.1[29]
		Kubuntu 24.04	1.8.0_422 64bit
		FreeBSD	16.0.2
		OpenBSD	16.0.2
		Solaris 11[30]	1.8.0_311[31]
		Arch[32]	Temurin-17.0.3+7	No smoothing.
		Ubuntu 23.10	default Java (from launcher)
		Kubuntu 24.04	1.8.0_202 via Mojang's launcher	No smoothing.
		Arch 6.1.1[33]	1.8.0_352 (64-bit)	No smoothing.

General history

Missing model

In an analogous fashion to the missing texture being used for instances where no texture is defined, the missing model is use in cases where no model is defined, or the model is invalid.

By default, the missing model is a full 16×16 cube which uses the missing texture on all six faces. These faces are culled accordingly where possible. Only two faces will have the same color at each vertex, rather than the three one may expect; Mojang have decided to not fix this.^[42]

The missing model is obviously also never intended to appear in standard gameplay, and uses the missing texture again to appear prominent and highlight errors to fix.

Contrary to popular belief, no central "missing texture block" has ever existed in the game; all cases of blocks which use this model are due to another block simply having no assigned texture or model.

As of Java Edition 24w36a, there is one main way in which the missing model can appear without using a resource pack, which requires commands.

History

History of the model itself

Block

Java Edition
1.8			14w06b				Added the missing model.
							It is worth noting that despite being 8x8x8, it maps the entire 16x16 texture on each side as opposed to only the central 8x8 section. This results in no visual oddities for the 2x2 missing texture due to it already only having four distinct square regions at each corner.
			14w10a				The missing model has changed to be a full cube.
			14w25a				Removed the anisotropic filtering option, meaning that the 2x2 checker is once again the only missing texture, and the missing model that uses it the only missing model.
1.13			17w43a				The missing texture's change has resulted in the appearance of the missing model also changing.

Item

GUI

Java Edition
1.8			14w25a				The missing model now also applies to items. Its "gui" display type appears equivalent to other cubes.
1.9			15w31a				In the inventory, the missing model visually appears to be a 2D missing texture; this is due to its viewing angle defaulting to straight-on from a face instead of at an angle, due to changes in how item models can be rendered, and only one face is visible as a result.
1.13			17w43a				The changes to the missing texture have modified the appearance of the missing model.
1.15			19w39a				Major changes to rendering in this version have made the missing model appear very slightly darker by default.
			19w40a				Items in the inventory are now shaded far less than previously. As a result, the missing model now appears much brighter.
			pre3				Shading has returned to items. The missing model now appears far darker than before 19w40a.
			pre4				Item shading has changed, resulting in the missing model appearing darker than in the prior pre-release.
1.17			21w10a				The missing model's shading has returned to the level of shading it had in 1.15-pre3.

Ground

Java Edition
1.8			14w25a				The missing model now also applies to items. Its "ground" display type appears equivalent to other cubes.
1.9			15w31a				The missing model now appears the size of a full block as a dropped item.
1.13			17w43a				The changes to the missing texture have modified the appearance of the missing model.
1.21.5			25w07a				No longer clips into the ground as a dropped item.

Fixed

Java Edition
1.8			14w25a				The missing model now also applies to items. Its "fixed" display type appears equivalent to other cubes, with an edge length of four block pixels.
			14w31a				Changed lighting for the "fixed" model.
1.9			15w31a				The missing model now appears larger than before in an item frame, with an edge length of eight block pixels.
1.13			17w43a				The changes to the missing texture have modified the appearance of the missing model.

Held, first person

Java Edition
1.8			14w25a				The missing model now also applies to items. Its "firstperson_righthand" display type appears equivalent to other cubes.
1.9			15w31a				The missing model now appears the size of a full block when held in first person.
							Objects can now be held in the player's left hand.
1.13			17w43a				The changes to the missing texture have modified the appearance of the missing model.

Held, third person/other entity

Java Edition
1.8			14w25a				The missing model now also applies to items. Its "thirdperson_righthand" display type appears equivalent to other cubes.
							Translucent items with a missing model exhibit a particularly interesting visual bug in relation to entities (including its holder) and translucent objects.
			14w29a				The "thirdperson_righthand" model has changed.
			14w30a				For most items, the missing model is now the size of a full block when held in third person or by a mob or another player. Invalid data value chests, trapped chests and ender chests still appear to use the normal size.
1.9			15w31a				The hold position for the missing model is now lower, covering less of the player's shoulder.
							Objects can now be held in the player's left hand.
							Invalid data value chests, trapped chests and ender chests now use the full-size missing model.
1.13			17w43a				The changes to the missing texture have modified the appearance of the missing model.
1.15			19w39a				Fixed the rendering bug that caused translucent items with broken models to render very strangely around entities and translucent objects, likely as part of the fix to MC-9553.

On head

Java Edition
1.8			14w25a				The missing model now also applies to items. Its "head" display type appears equivalent to other cubes.
							Translucent items with a missing model exhibit a particularly interesting visual bug in relation to entities (including its holder) and translucent objects.
			14w26a				The missing model now appears smaller when equipped in a head slot, presumably due to the fix for MC-57188.
1.13			17w43a				The changes to the missing texture have modified the appearance of the missing model.
1.15			19w39a				Fixed the rendering bug that caused translucent items with broken models to render very strangely around entities and translucent objects, likely as part of the fix to MC-9553.

General history

Missing font character

Much like for missing textures and missing models, Minecraft also uses a graphic for rendering Unicode characters when it cannot find a valid texture. This appears as a hollow rectangle, sometimes referred to as "tofu".

Generally, in fonts, the .notdef character is used for this purpose, and is defined per-font. However, Minecraft's missing font character is hardcoded and cannot be configured by resource packs.

The missing font character is most often seen when trying to render a character for which no fonts currently define a glyph; this most often affects Private Use Area characters such as , as well as unassigned or recently assigned code points which are not covered by GNU Unifont.

It can also be seen when the game attempts to render a character with an invalid texture, such as one whose dimensions exceed 256 pixels on one or both axes. In this case, the horizontal width of the character will still be used, causing either large gaps in text or the missing glyph to intersect the next character, a bug which Mojang has decided not to fix.^[46] There is also no error produced in the log.^[47]

History

History of the character itself

Java Edition
1.13			pre7				Added the missing font character.
							Before this version, characters without defined glyphs would simply render as blank and of minimum width.
			pre9				The center of the missing font character is now solid black.
1.13.1			18w30a				The center of the missing font character is now transparent again.[48]

General history

Other missing assets

Missing and misconfigured sounds are not played at all. Errors are still logged in the game output when attempting to play a sound event with no assigned sound, for example.

Missing post shaders (at least in 1.13's development phase) do not appear to load at all, and the view is normal without the expected modifications by the shader.

Translation strings which are not specified in any used lang files will display as they are.

"missingno" text

The term "missingno" was used in previous versions for some cases where text could not be loaded, specifically for splash texts from Alpha v1.0.12 up to 19w12b, for items with a CanDestroy NBT tag from 14w02a to 24w07a, and for items with a CanPlaceOn NBT tag from 14w06a to 24w07a. All of these cases have since been removed in 19w13a and 24w09a respectively, and the term "missingno" is no longer used in-game in any known cases, besides when referring to missing texture and model assets.

• 
  The "missingno" splash test
• 
  "missingno" on an item with CanDestroy NBT
• 
  "missingno" on an item with CanPlaceOn NBT

Notable bugs

Examples of cases where the missing model is not used

By definition, any block which does not use a model does not use the cubic missing model. If a model is still not defined for the block, however, this will likely still reflect in the block's particles.

The vast majority of entity models are also completely hardcoded. There are two notable exceptions in the item frame and glow item frame, which do in fact have customizable models. Therefore, the item frame and glow item frame are the only two entities which are capable of using the missing model; all other entities may lose their texture, but retain the same model shape.

Entities that exist to extend the behaviour of blocks, such as falling sand and primed TNT, reference block models, and therefore will use the missing model if required. In addition, other entities that incorporate block models, such as mooshrooms, endermen holding blocks, and minecarts containing blocks, will use the missing model for the part that references the block model, but the entity model itself will remain intact.

Horses are a particularly interesting example of an entity which are discussed further in a later section. In multiple version ranges, certain invalid horses can either appear completely invisible or have a solid white texture, neither of which are the missing model.

Translucency ordering

From 14w25a up to 19w38b, there existed a remarkable visual bug where missing models associated with blocks that used translucent rendering (such as ice, stained glass, stained glass panes and slime blocks) would interact anomalously with the rendering of transparent blocks in the world, as well as of entities, including the holder. Unlike normal missing models, translucent blocks and other entities would render in front of such a model when held, even if they were physically farther away from the camera. However, this only applies if the distant entity or transparent block in question is not first occluded by the player model. As a result, the held translucent block can form a player-shaped silhouette around the player model in front of a background made of entities (such as paintings) or translucent blocks.

This effect can be seen without the use of resource packs up to 17w46a simply by holding ice, stained glass, stained glass panes or slime blocks of an invalid data value. For versions 17w47a up to 19w38b a resource pack is required to break the model of an existing translucent item, and from 19w39a the bug is no longer present at all.

This only appears to affect items that are either equipped on an entity's head or held in their hand (in the case of the player, only in third person). This would not affect things held in first person, dropped on the ground, or in an item frame.

This effect also happened to particles and certain other objects in-game from 13w41a onwards.

Unloading the default resources

If a sufficiently broken resource pack is loaded, the game will catch such resource packs and unload them automatically if errors were detected. From 17w43a up to the full release of 1.13, this also included the default resources, meaning that applying a flawed resource pack would result in all assets being unloaded, and as such the missing error assets appearing everywhere.

From 18w30a onwards, the game was made to unload all resource packs except the default resources in cases like these.^[52]

As textures-atlas becomes 16x16 (its minimum possible size), the enchantment glint looks much different from what may be expected otherwise. A table is provided on said page.

Layered textures

Certain game objects do not use textures in the standard way, instead layering them on top of each other. Horses use these for their pattern variants, and banners for each banner pattern. When there is no texture to pick from, these instead appear completely white. If the textures in question have already been loaded into the game, it is not possible to unload them even if all other textures are unloaded.

As shields use an item model, even though said item model points to an entity model, it appears as a missing model even though it makes use of texture layering.

Tropical fish, despite also using composite textures to distinguish variants, do not turn white if a texture cannot be loaded, and instead use the usual checkerboard (which is tinted in certain cases).

The screenshots below also demonstrate that player skins, despite not being layer-based, are also not unloaded due to not being resource pack dependent.

Main menu

It is interesting to note how this bug highlights different changes to parts of the game through 1.13's development. Focusing on the main menu, for example, reveals multiple details:

• From 17w43a up to 18w22c, the menu appears as in the first image. The panorama cube is clearly visible, with each square replaced with the missing texture.
• From 1.13-pre1 up to 1.13-pre5, the main menu background is now a large missing texture itself, obscuring the view of the panorama cube. This is likely due to the introduction of the panorama_overlay.png texture file in this version, which is responsible for the whitish gradient effect visible above the panorama; previously the gradient was hardcoded and unable to be changed with resource packs.
• In 1.13-pre6, the font does not seem to load at all.
• In 1.13-pre7 and 1.13-pre8, the newly-implemented missing font character is used for all non-space glyphs; in versions before 1.13-pre6, they instead used colors from the missing texture, implying that the font was reading from the missing texture itself as though it were a font texture file.
• From 1.13-pre9 up to the full release of 1.13, due to the missing font character visually changing, this also manifests visually; the interior is black rather than transparent.

Font charactter sizes are variable in 1.13-pre5 and earlier, and appear to be inherited from whatever resource pack was active previously.

Contagious textures

In 1.8 snapshots 14w07a and 14w08a, in some cases, missing models would cause nearby blocks to display the missing texture. This could also affect the player's held item. Why exactly this happens is unknown, as it appears to be positional, and is somewhat unstable; placing some blocks such as ladders or vines nearby can nullify the effect entirely.

Blocks known to be affected include oak and iron doors, oak and iron trapdoors, pumpkin stems and melon stems, beds, tripwire, lily pads, flower pots and their contents, and cakes. Wooden slabs also appear to be affected in rarer cases.​

The following screenshots are triggered by a cocoa pod with metadata 12:

Trivia

The missing texture graphic used in several Source Engine games (__error.vmt), on which the Minecraft texture is based. Note the transparent black.

• 14w04b is the last Java Edition version in which the missing texture cannot be encountered in the vanilla game without resource packs:
  • From 14w05a through 14w21b inclusive, the end portal item uses the missing texture.
  • In 14w25a, the version directly following 14w21b, the end portal item is removed, but all invalid data value items use the missing item model.
    • In addition, this is the first version that allows the use of the /particle command to generate block particles, which includes particles for invalid blocks such as air. This functionality is temporarily removed in later snapshots and the full release of 1.8, but returns soon after, and the missing texture can still be seen via invalid data value items.
  • In 17w47a, invalid data value items are effectively removed, however it is still possible to generate missing texture particles if the air item is specified. From 24w09a, this could crash the game, and from 1.20.5 Pre-Release 1, is now forbidden.
  • Since 21w42a, it has been possible to create block_marker particles which use the missing texture by referencing air, cave air or void air. This continues to the latest version.
• The missing texture can be seen in the official version banners for 14w10a and 17w47a, and is also referenced by the banner for 13w24a.

Gallery

Screenshots

• 
  The 2019 Classic remake also has a missing texture.

Development images

• 
  14w10a's release banner
• 
  17w47a's release banner
• 
  13w24a's release banner, which references the texture
• 
  A screenshot by Dinnerbone with no rain texture
• 
  A screenshot by jeb with no phantom texture
• 
  Blaze3D UI rendering. Missing texture can be seen as part of the blocks.png-atlas.

Notes

ID lists

Lists of relevant IDs for commands listed in previous sections.

References

Navigation