Third-person view

Third-person view as seen from the front of the player.
Third-person view as seen from the back of the player.

Third-person view allows the player to view the nearby environment from an "outside" perspective.

Usage

Different perspectives can be toggled by pressing F5 (or fn + F5 on other keyboards) or D-pad up when using a controller. Pressing it once displays the back of the player, and pressing it again displays the front. Pressing it once more reverts to first-person view.

In Bedrock Edition, it can be changed in the settings, or when "Show camera perspective button" toggle is enabled for touch control. In the Mobile Edition of Minecraft China, it can be changed by pressing the Fold button, which shows multiple buttons to change between perspectives.

When in third-person view, the player can be viewed from an angle of 0 degrees (Y axis) when the mouse is leveled with the ground, up to an angle of 90 degrees when looking straight down toward the player. In Java Edition, if the player suffocates while in this mode, the camera doesn't automatically switch back to the first-person view.[1]

A third-person front view can also be seen while the survival inventory is open; the player, in this case, always faces the cursor.

The third-person view camera has a collision that collides with solid blocks, except non-solid and transparent blocks. This can obstruct the player's vision with a close-up view in some situation where solid blocks are placed behind or in front of the player.

In Java Edition, the third-person view camera's position can be changed by modifying camera_distance attribute. It controls how far the camera's position from the player's front or back, or while spectating an entity in third-person view. In Bedrock Edition, it can be controlled by using /camera command, which allows extensive customization of the camera's view.

Video

History

Java Edition Indev
20100218-0016Added third-person mode. Pressing F5 now switches the view to third-person view.
Java Edition Infdev
20100227-1414The player is no longer visible when the third-person mode is shown.
20100316The player is now visible again when the third-person mode is shown.
20100413F5 now toggles rain (a reimplemented feature from Classic), causing water particles to now surround the player while in third-person.
Java Edition Alpha
v1.0.3The player's body no longer slowly rotates to face forward while in third-person view.
v1.0.5F5 no longer toggles rain, so water particles no longer surround the player while in third-person.
v1.0.6Items can now be seen being held in third-person mode. However, the items are larger than the usual.
v1.0.11When in third-person view, the player is off center by one block to the left, giving an "over-the-shoulder" appearance.
Because mobs looked at the camera and not the player's head, in third-person view they looked at the wrong location.
v1.0.15The arm swinging animation of the player in third-person view has now been added.
v1.0.17The player is now centered when in third-person view.
v1.2.0?Holding F1 while in third-person view now causes the front of the player to be shown.
Java Edition Beta
1.3The front of the player is no longer shown by holding F1 while in third-person view.
View bobbing now also applies in third-person view.
Java Edition
1.0.0Beta 1.9 Prerelease 2Pressing F5 twice now switches the camera to the front of the player, while it now takes a third press of F5 to switch back into first person view.
Beta 1.9 Prerelease 5The debugging view manipulation, known in the code as the "deadmau5 camera",[2] was accidentally enabled.
This feature causes the keys Y, H, U, O, I, K, J, L, N, and M to change the camera position in a variety of ways, and pressing F9 freezes the view. Pressing two functionally connected keys at the same time reverts the view back to normal, except pressing U + O.
This feature was added only for deadmau5.[2]
Beta 1.9 Prerelease 6The deadmau5 camera was removed.
1.2.112w08aThe deadmau5 camera was accidentally added again.[3]
The sides of the player's head may now be shown when rotating the view using the deadmau5 camera.
1.2The deadmau5 camera was removed again.
1.7.213w36aThe camera switching key, default set to F5, can now be rebound.
1.915w31aCrosshairs no longer show in 3rd person view.
15w46aBeing inside of a block no longer reverts the player's view to first person.[4]
1.1419w11aNo longer blocked by most non solid blocks like grass.
Due to a bug the camera direction is now vertically reversed in third-person front view, similar to how it was in old versions of Legacy Console Edition.
Third-person view now works properly while sleeping in a bed.
19w12aThe bug that caused the camera direction to be vertically reversed in third-person front view has been fixed.
1.1620w12aNo longer obstructed by glass and other such blocks.
However, it is still obstructed by fences, slime blocks, honey blocks and ice.[5]
1.21.625w15aIncreased the third-person camera distance when spectating or riding Ghasts, Ender Dragons, and Giants.
Added camera_distance attribute for changing third-person camera distance from a player's perspective, or an entity while spectating.
Pocket Edition Alpha
v0.1.2Added an option for third-person view.
v0.12.1build 6Added the front third-person view.
Bedrock Edition
1.2.1The crosshair no longer appears in third-person view.
Legacy Console Edition
Xbox 360Xbox OnePS3PS4PS VitaWii USwitch
TU1CU11.001.001.00Patch 11.0.1Added third-person view.
TU19CU71.121.121.12The camera direction is no longer vertically reversed in third-person front view to match Java Edition.
TU43CU331.361.361.36Patch 13No longer blocked by most non solid blocks like grass.
TU46CU361.381.381.38Patch 15Crosshairs no longer show in 3rd person view.
TU53CU431.491.501.49Patch 231.0.3The camera switching key, can now be rebound.

Issues

Issues relating to "Third-person view", "Third person", or "Third-person" are maintained on the bug tracker. Issues should be reported and viewed there.

Trivia

  • In Bedrock Edition, the third-person view allows the player to reach further than in first-person, and behind them when using touch controls.
  • In older versions of Legacy Console Edition, the third-person front view looked up and down with your character before eventually being updated to match Java Edition.

Gallery

Screenshots

References

  1. "Does 3PV reset back to FPV when suffocating? [MC JE 1.20.4"] – Le Sharkoïste on YouTube, January 17, 2024
  2. a b "@PaulScelus They don't really.. They are called "deadmau5 camera" in the code and was only added for him. They were accidentally enabled"@jeb_ (Jens Bergensten) on X (formerly Twitter), February 24, 2012
  3. "@retsynNL I forgot to disable them in the snapshot"@jeb_ (Jens Bergensten) on X (formerly Twitter), February 24, 2012
  4. MC-128
  5. MC-175927 — resolved as "Invalid"., MC-177512 — resolved as "Invalid".

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