Many MCPatcher features use properties files to control how textures within your texture pack are used. Properties files are simple text files similar to the Windows .ini format. Each line is a property, specified as name=value.

# Sample comment
property1=value
property2=some other value

# Blank lines are allowed
property3=yet another value

All property names are case-sensitive; renderpass is not the same as renderPass. The order of properties within the file does not matter. Many properties have default values and can be omitted, and in some cases the entire properties file is optional. See the sections for each properties file for details.

Certain types of objects are used within properties files by different MCPatcher features. Rather than describe these common types separately in each feature section, they are summarized here instead.

Textures

Often, MCPatcher requires you to specify a path to an image file or some other resource within your texture pack. This is simply the path to the texture within the zip file. The folder structure within a texture pack can get deeply nested, so MCPatcher has some shortcuts to make things easier. Whenever MCPatcher calls for you to provide a texture file, any of these options can be used to specify the path.

The most straightforward method is simply a path relative to assets/minecraft:

texture=textures/entity/creeper/creeper.png

This refers to assets/minecraft/textures/entity/creeper/creeper.png within the zip file or folder of your texture pack. Always use forward slashes (/) to separate folder names. Regardless of your OS, do not use backslashes (\) or the game will not properly recognize the path.

An optional "namespace" prefix can be added. This example refers to exactly the same creeper.png file as above:

texture=minecraft:textures/entity/creeper/creeper.png

For textures used by other mods, the namespace will often be something other than minecraft:

texture=herobrine:textures/entity/him.png

This refers to assets/herobrine/textures/entity/him.png, not assets/minecraft/textures/entity/him.png.

Many textures specific to MCPatcher are in the assets/minecraft/mcpatcher folder. Since it is used so frequently, it can be represented by the tilde (~) character. The following refer to the same file:

texture=~/dial/clock0.png
texture=minecraft:mcpatcher/dial/clock0.png

Textures can also be specified relative to the path of the properties file that refers to them. For example, within ~/dial/clock.properties (remember ~ = assets/minecraft/mcpatcher)

# Relative path: Bare filename with no slashes
texture=clock0.png
# Relative path: Using ./ to denote the current directory
texture=./clock0.png
# Absolute path: Using ~
texture=~/dial/clock0.png
# Absolute path: Without namespace
texture=mcpatcher/dial/clock0.png
# Absolute path: With namespace
texture=minecraft:mcpatcher/dial/clock0.png

all refer to the same path, assets/minecraft/mcpatcher/dial/clock0.png. If the properties file were in another location, say ~/misc, then relative paths would be based on that folder instead but absolute paths would still refer to the dial directory.

In general, try to organize your textures with the properties files that go with them. Your paths will be shorter and easier to maintain when you move things around.

Blocks

As of 1.7, Minecraft is no longer refering to blocks by ID. The familiar 0-255 values are being phased out in favor of unique names. (Block IDs continue to exist within the game internally, but are no longer guaranteed to be fixed.) For example the stone block used to be ID 1 but is now called minecraft:stone. As with textures, the minecraft: prefix is optional, so just stone will also work. Mods will probably use a namespace other than minecraft so the prefix will be required there.

See Dinnerbone's list of Block and Item IDs with names.

MCPatcher features that call for a list of blocks (most notably Connected Textures, but also Custom Colors) understand both block IDs and names. However, block ID support is only for backward compatibility and the use of names is strongly encouraged. Future blocks may not even have fixed block IDs, so the name will be the only way to refer to them. Block names will also work in Minecraft 1.6; MCPatcher internally maps them to pre-1.7 numbers when needed.

Blocks can be further specified with metadata values by appending an additional colon (:) plus the desired values 0-15 after the name. For example, oak, spruce, birch, and jungle leaves all use the block name minecraft:leaves but with different metadata values. To specify only jungle leaves, use

blocks=minecraft:leaves:3,7,11,15

Again, the minecraft: prefix is optional, so this can also be written as

blocks=leaves:3,7,11,15

Items

Items are also named rather than numbered in Minecraft 1.7. As with blocks, ID numbers are acceptable for older items, but future items and items added by mods will likely require names.

See Dinnerbone's list of Block and Item IDs with names. Again, the minecraft: prefix is optional.

Biomes

For features that call for a list of biomes, use the names on the Minecraft wiki. Separate multiple biomes with commas like this:

biomes=Ocean, Deep Ocean, River, Beach

Blending methods

When two or more textures are combined, MCPatcher offers several options for specifying the blending operation.

Valid blending methods are described below. "This" or "current" texture refers to the texture currently being applied. "Previous" refers to whatever has been rendered so far, which could be a single texture or the result of an earlier blending operation.

• replace: Replace the previous layer entirely with the current bitmap. No blending and only simple on/off transparency.
• alpha: Blend the two textures using this texture's alpha value. This is the most common type of blending.
• overlay: RGB value > 0.5 brightens the previous image, < 0.5 darkens. color is a synonym for this method.
• add: Add this texture's RGB values multiplied by alpha to the previous layer.
• subtract: Subtract this texture's RGB values from the previous layer.
• multiply: Multiply the previous RGB values by this texture's RGB values
• dodge: Add this texture's RGB values to the previous layer.
• burn: New RGB = (1 - current RGB) * previous RGB
• screen: New RGB = 1 - (1 - current RGB) * (1 - previous RGB)

See Blend modes on Wikipedia for some illustrations.

Number lists

Occasionally you will need to specify a list of numbers. MCPatcher understands ranges and individual values:

# Single entry.
list=1
# Multiple values listed separately.
list=1 2 3
# Same values using ranges.
list=1-3
# Multiple ranges.
list=1-3 6 8 10-15
# Open-ended ranges
damage=100-

RGB colors

Color values are specified in hexadecimal RGB format:

# white
color=ffffff
# black
color=000000
# red
color=ff0000
# green
color=00ff00
# blue
color=0000ff