Color in Minecraft: The hard-coded palette

Most of what you see in Minecraft is texture color — RGB values baked into 16×16 PNGs. But alongside those ~1,100 textures, the game maintains a parallel layer of programmatic color: hard-coded numeric values that tint, replace, or categorize what you see at runtime. Map colors are the most complete and self-contained of these systems — 61 base colors × 4 shades = 244 fixed values that define the entire visual vocabulary of in-game maps.

World materials

GRASS

1 block
  • grass block

PLANT

72 blocks
  • oak sapling
  • spruce sapling
  • birch sapling
  • jungle sapling
  • acacia sapling
  • cherry sapling
  • dark oak sapling
  • pale oak sapling
  • mangrove propagule
  • oak leaves
  • spruce leaves
  • birch leaves
  • jungle leaves
  • acacia leaves
  • cherry leaves
  • dark oak leaves
  • pale oak leaves
  • mangrove leaves
  • azalea leaves
  • flowering azalea leaves
  • short grass
  • fern
  • dandelion
  • torchflower
  • poppy
  • blue orchid
  • allium
  • azure bluet
  • red tulip
  • orange tulip
  • white tulip
  • pink tulip
  • oxeye daisy
  • cornflower
  • wither rose
  • lily of the valley
  • wheat
  • cactus
  • sugar cane
  • attached pumpkin stem
  • attached melon stem
  • pumpkin stem
  • melon stem
  • vine
  • lily pad
  • cocoa
  • carrots
  • potatoes
  • sunflower
  • lilac
  • rose bush
  • peony
  • tall grass
  • large fern
  • torchflower crop
  • pitcher crop
  • pitcher plant
  • beetroots
  • bamboo
  • sweet berry bush
  • warped fungus
  • crimson fungus
  • cave vines
  • cave vines plant
  • spore blossom
  • azalea
  • flowering azalea
  • pink petals
  • big dripleaf
  • big dripleaf stem
  • small dripleaf
  • hanging roots

DIRT

32 blocks
  • granite
  • polished granite
  • dirt
  • coarse dirt
  • jungle planks
  • jungle log
  • stripped jungle log
  • jungle wood
  • stripped jungle wood
  • farmland
  • jungle sign
  • jungle wall sign
  • jungle hanging sign
  • jungle wall hanging sign
  • jungle pressure plate
  • jukebox
  • jungle trapdoor
  • packed mud
  • brown mushroom block
  • jungle stairs
  • jungle slab
  • jungle fence gate
  • jungle fence
  • jungle door
  • dirt path
  • sniffer egg
  • polished granite stairs
  • granite stairs
  • polished granite slab
  • granite slab
  • granite wall
  • rooted dirt

PODZOL

22 blocks
  • podzol
  • spruce planks
  • spruce log
  • mangrove roots
  • muddy mangrove roots
  • stripped spruce log
  • spruce wood
  • stripped spruce wood
  • creaking heart
  • spruce sign
  • spruce wall sign
  • spruce hanging sign
  • spruce wall hanging sign
  • spruce pressure plate
  • spruce trapdoor
  • spruce stairs
  • spruce slab
  • spruce fence gate
  • spruce fence
  • spruce door
  • campfire
  • soul campfire

SAND

40 blocks
  • birch planks
  • sand
  • suspicious sand
  • birch log
  • stripped birch log
  • birch wood
  • stripped birch wood
  • sandstone
  • chiseled sandstone
  • cut sandstone
  • birch sign
  • birch wall sign
  • birch hanging sign
  • birch wall hanging sign
  • birch pressure plate
  • glowstone
  • birch trapdoor
  • end portal frame
  • end stone
  • sandstone stairs
  • birch stairs
  • birch slab
  • sandstone slab
  • cut sandstone slab
  • smooth sandstone
  • birch fence gate
  • birch fence
  • birch door
  • end stone bricks
  • bone block
  • turtle egg
  • end stone brick stairs
  • smooth sandstone stairs
  • end stone brick slab
  • smooth sandstone slab
  • sandstone wall
  • end stone brick wall
  • scaffolding
  • candle
  • ochre froglight

CLAY

1 block
  • clay

STONE

69 blocks
  • stone
  • andesite
  • polished andesite
  • cobblestone
  • bedrock
  • gravel
  • suspicious gravel
  • gold ore
  • iron ore
  • coal ore
  • acacia log
  • acacia wood
  • lapis ore
  • dispenser
  • sticky piston
  • piston
  • piston head
  • mossy cobblestone
  • spawner
  • diamond ore
  • furnace
  • cobblestone stairs
  • stone pressure plate
  • redstone ore
  • stone bricks
  • mossy stone bricks
  • cracked stone bricks
  • chiseled stone bricks
  • infested stone
  • infested cobblestone
  • infested stone bricks
  • infested mossy stone bricks
  • infested cracked stone bricks
  • infested chiseled stone bricks
  • stone brick stairs
  • cauldron
  • water cauldron
  • lava cauldron
  • powder snow cauldron
  • emerald ore
  • ender chest
  • cobblestone wall
  • mossy cobblestone wall
  • hopper
  • dropper
  • stone slab
  • smooth stone slab
  • cobblestone slab
  • stone brick slab
  • smooth stone
  • observer
  • mossy stone brick stairs
  • mossy cobblestone stairs
  • stone stairs
  • andesite stairs
  • polished andesite stairs
  • mossy stone brick slab
  • mossy cobblestone slab
  • andesite slab
  • polished andesite slab
  • mossy stone brick wall
  • stone brick wall
  • andesite wall
  • smoker
  • stonecutter
  • copper ore
  • crafter
  • trial spawner
  • vault

DEEPSLATE

30 blocks
  • deepslate gold ore
  • deepslate iron ore
  • deepslate coal ore
  • deepslate lapis ore
  • deepslate diamond ore
  • deepslate redstone ore
  • deepslate emerald ore
  • deepslate copper ore
  • deepslate
  • cobbled deepslate
  • cobbled deepslate stairs
  • cobbled deepslate slab
  • cobbled deepslate wall
  • polished deepslate
  • polished deepslate stairs
  • polished deepslate slab
  • polished deepslate wall
  • deepslate tiles
  • deepslate tile stairs
  • deepslate tile slab
  • deepslate tile wall
  • deepslate bricks
  • deepslate brick stairs
  • deepslate brick slab
  • deepslate brick wall
  • chiseled deepslate
  • cracked deepslate bricks
  • cracked deepslate tiles
  • infested deepslate
  • reinforced deepslate

RAW_IRON

1 block
  • raw iron block

METAL

15 blocks
  • iron block
  • iron door
  • brewing stand
  • anvil
  • chipped anvil
  • damaged anvil
  • heavy weighted pressure plate
  • iron trapdoor
  • blast furnace
  • grindstone
  • smithing table
  • lantern
  • soul lantern
  • lodestone
  • heavy core

QUARTZ

34 blocks
  • diorite
  • polished diorite
  • pale oak wood
  • pale oak planks
  • pale oak log
  • stripped pale oak log
  • stripped pale oak wood
  • pale oak sign
  • pale oak wall sign
  • pale oak hanging sign
  • pale oak wall hanging sign
  • pale oak pressure plate
  • pale oak trapdoor
  • quartz block
  • chiseled quartz block
  • quartz pillar
  • quartz stairs
  • pale oak stairs
  • sea lantern
  • pale oak slab
  • quartz slab
  • smooth quartz
  • pale oak fence gate
  • pale oak fence
  • pale oak door
  • polished diorite stairs
  • smooth quartz stairs
  • diorite stairs
  • polished diorite slab
  • smooth quartz slab
  • diorite slab
  • diorite wall
  • target
  • quartz bricks

WOOD

65 blocks
  • oak planks
  • oak log
  • stripped oak log
  • oak wood
  • stripped oak wood
  • note block
  • dead bush
  • bookshelf
  • chiseled bookshelf
  • oak stairs
  • chest
  • crafting table
  • oak sign
  • oak door
  • oak wall sign
  • oak hanging sign
  • oak wall hanging sign
  • oak pressure plate
  • oak fence
  • oak trapdoor
  • oak fence gate
  • trapped chest
  • daylight detector
  • white banner
  • orange banner
  • magenta banner
  • light blue banner
  • yellow banner
  • lime banner
  • pink banner
  • gray banner
  • light gray banner
  • cyan banner
  • purple banner
  • blue banner
  • brown banner
  • green banner
  • red banner
  • black banner
  • white wall banner
  • orange wall banner
  • magenta wall banner
  • light blue wall banner
  • yellow wall banner
  • lime wall banner
  • pink wall banner
  • gray wall banner
  • light gray wall banner
  • cyan wall banner
  • purple wall banner
  • blue wall banner
  • brown wall banner
  • green wall banner
  • red wall banner
  • black wall banner
  • oak slab
  • petrified oak slab
  • bamboo sapling
  • loom
  • barrel
  • cartography table
  • fletching table
  • lectern
  • composter
  • beehive

GOLD

4 blocks
  • gold block
  • light weighted pressure plate
  • bell
  • raw gold block

DIAMOND

6 blocks
  • diamond block
  • beacon
  • prismarine bricks
  • prismarine brick stairs
  • prismarine brick slab
  • conduit

LAPIS

1 block
  • lapis block

EMERALD

1 block
  • emerald block

WATER

6 blocks
  • water
  • seagrass
  • tall seagrass
  • kelp
  • kelp plant
  • bubble column

ICE

4 blocks
  • ice
  • packed ice
  • frosted ice
  • blue ice

SNOW

9 blocks
  • white wool
  • snow
  • snow block
  • white carpet
  • white shulker box
  • white glazed terracotta
  • white concrete
  • white concrete powder
  • powder snow

FIRE

3 blocks
  • lava
  • tnt
  • redstone block

WOOL

4 blocks
  • white bed
  • cobweb
  • mushroom stem
  • white candle

GLOW_LICHEN

2 blocks
  • glow lichen
  • verdant froglight

Dye colors

Dyed blocks Terracotta
red
orange
yellow
light green
green
cyan
light blue
blue
purple
magenta
pink
brown
white
light gray
gray
black

Nether

NETHER

18 blocks
  • nether gold ore
  • netherrack
  • nether bricks
  • nether brick fence
  • nether brick stairs
  • nether quartz ore
  • nether brick slab
  • magma block
  • red nether bricks
  • red nether brick stairs
  • red nether brick slab
  • nether brick wall
  • red nether brick wall
  • weeping vines
  • weeping vines plant
  • crimson roots
  • chiseled nether bricks
  • cracked nether bricks

CRIMSON_NYLIUM

1 block
  • crimson nylium

CRIMSON_STEM

15 blocks
  • crimson hanging sign
  • crimson wall hanging sign
  • crimson stem
  • stripped crimson stem
  • stripped crimson hyphae
  • crimson planks
  • crimson slab
  • crimson pressure plate
  • crimson fence
  • crimson trapdoor
  • crimson fence gate
  • crimson stairs
  • crimson door
  • crimson sign
  • crimson wall sign

CRIMSON_HYPHAE

1 block
  • crimson hyphae

WARPED_NYLIUM

37 blocks
  • warped nylium
  • weathered copper
  • oxidized copper
  • oxidized cut copper
  • weathered cut copper
  • oxidized chiseled copper
  • weathered chiseled copper
  • waxed oxidized chiseled copper
  • waxed weathered chiseled copper
  • oxidized cut copper stairs
  • weathered cut copper stairs
  • oxidized cut copper slab
  • weathered cut copper slab
  • waxed weathered copper
  • waxed oxidized copper
  • waxed oxidized cut copper
  • waxed weathered cut copper
  • waxed oxidized cut copper stairs
  • waxed weathered cut copper stairs
  • waxed oxidized cut copper slab
  • waxed weathered cut copper slab
  • oxidized copper door
  • weathered copper door
  • waxed oxidized copper door
  • waxed weathered copper door
  • oxidized copper trapdoor
  • weathered copper trapdoor
  • waxed oxidized copper trapdoor
  • waxed weathered copper trapdoor
  • weathered copper grate
  • oxidized copper grate
  • waxed weathered copper grate
  • waxed oxidized copper grate
  • weathered copper bulb
  • oxidized copper bulb
  • waxed weathered copper bulb
  • waxed oxidized copper bulb

WARPED_STEM

15 blocks
  • warped hanging sign
  • warped wall hanging sign
  • warped stem
  • stripped warped stem
  • stripped warped hyphae
  • warped planks
  • warped slab
  • warped pressure plate
  • warped fence
  • warped trapdoor
  • warped fence gate
  • warped stairs
  • warped door
  • warped sign
  • warped wall sign

WARPED_HYPHAE

1 block
  • warped hyphae

WARPED_WART_BLOCK

1 block
  • warped wart block

Invisible

NONE

154 blocks
  • air
  • glass
  • powered rail
  • detector rail
  • moving piston
  • brown mushroom
  • red mushroom
  • torch
  • wall torch
  • fire
  • soul fire
  • redstone wire
  • ladder
  • rail
  • lever
  • redstone torch
  • redstone wall torch
  • stone button
  • soul torch
  • soul wall torch
  • nether portal
  • cake
  • repeater
  • white stained glass
  • orange stained glass
  • magenta stained glass
  • light blue stained glass
  • yellow stained glass
  • lime stained glass
  • pink stained glass
  • gray stained glass
  • light gray stained glass
  • cyan stained glass
  • purple stained glass
  • blue stained glass
  • brown stained glass
  • green stained glass
  • red stained glass
  • black stained glass
  • iron bars
  • chain
  • glass pane
  • redstone lamp
  • tripwire hook
  • tripwire
  • flower pot
  • potted torchflower
  • potted oak sapling
  • potted spruce sapling
  • potted birch sapling
  • potted jungle sapling
  • potted acacia sapling
  • potted cherry sapling
  • potted dark oak sapling
  • potted pale oak sapling
  • potted mangrove propagule
  • potted fern
  • potted dandelion
  • potted poppy
  • potted blue orchid
  • potted allium
  • potted azure bluet
  • potted red tulip
  • potted orange tulip
  • potted white tulip
  • potted pink tulip
  • potted oxeye daisy
  • potted cornflower
  • potted lily of the valley
  • potted wither rose
  • potted red mushroom
  • potted brown mushroom
  • potted dead bush
  • potted cactus
  • oak button
  • spruce button
  • birch button
  • jungle button
  • acacia button
  • cherry button
  • dark oak button
  • pale oak button
  • mangrove button
  • bamboo button
  • skeleton skull
  • skeleton wall skull
  • wither skeleton skull
  • wither skeleton wall skull
  • zombie head
  • zombie wall head
  • player head
  • player wall head
  • creeper head
  • creeper wall head
  • dragon head
  • dragon wall head
  • piglin head
  • piglin wall head
  • comparator
  • activator rail
  • white stained glass pane
  • orange stained glass pane
  • magenta stained glass pane
  • light blue stained glass pane
  • yellow stained glass pane
  • lime stained glass pane
  • pink stained glass pane
  • gray stained glass pane
  • light gray stained glass pane
  • cyan stained glass pane
  • purple stained glass pane
  • blue stained glass pane
  • brown stained glass pane
  • green stained glass pane
  • red stained glass pane
  • black stained glass pane
  • barrier
  • light
  • end rod
  • structure void
  • sea pickle
  • potted bamboo
  • void air
  • cave air
  • crimson button
  • warped button
  • potted crimson fungus
  • potted warped fungus
  • potted crimson roots
  • potted warped roots
  • polished blackstone button
  • candle cake
  • white candle cake
  • orange candle cake
  • magenta candle cake
  • light blue candle cake
  • yellow candle cake
  • lime candle cake
  • pink candle cake
  • gray candle cake
  • light gray candle cake
  • cyan candle cake
  • purple candle cake
  • blue candle cake
  • brown candle cake
  • green candle cake
  • red candle cake
  • black candle cake
  • tinted glass
  • potted azalea bush
  • potted flowering azalea bush
  • frogspawn
  • potted open eyeblossom
  • potted closed eyeblossom

In practice

Top-down map of spawn area rendered using official map colors, 1001 by 1001 blocks
1001×1001 blocks centered on spawn, rendered with official map colors (normal shade, no height shading). Each pixel is one block column.
Same spawn area map with transparent background showing gaps where blocks have no map color
Same area with transparent background — gaps show blocks not in the map color table.

The other color systems

Map colors are one of about a dozen hard-coded color systems in the codebase. The most interesting:

Dye colors — 16 DyeColor constants, each carrying different RGB values per context (entity tinting, fireworks, sign text, beacons). Dyed blocks like wool and concrete don't use these values at all — they have separate texture files per variant. Runtime tinting applies to leather armor, sheep, collars, and banners. Leather armor goes further: players can mix dyes for arbitrary colors stored as NBT data.

Biome tints — Grass and foliage textures are grayscale, multiplied by per-biome tint colors at runtime. Most biomes derive tints from colormap textures indexed by temperature and downfall; swamp, badlands, pale garden, and a handful of others use hard-coded overrides.

Text formatting — The 16 § color codes are hex values lifted from the 1981 CGA palette. Gold (§6) is the only one Mojang changed.

The remaining systems — status effects (~36 colors for particles and HUD), spawn eggs (~73 base+overlay pairs), redstone wire (16-level gradient), sky/fog colors, particles, and utility constants — follow the same pattern: hard-coded RGB values applied at runtime.

System Count Source What it colors
Map colors 61 × 4 shades MapColor In-game maps
Dye colors 16 × 4 contexts DyeColor Armor, sheep, banners, beams, fireworks, signs
Biome tints ~70 biomes Biome defs + colormaps Grass, leaves, vines, water
Status effects ~36 StatusEffect Particles, HUD icons
Text formatting 16 + hex Formatting Chat, signs, books
Spawn eggs ~73 × 2 SpawnEggItem Egg tint
Redstone wire 16 levels RedstoneWireBlock Wire tint
Sky/fog ~6+ Dimension/weather classes Atmosphere
Particles many Individual classes Particle tint
Utility constants ~13 Colors UI, debug, fallbacks

Textures give artists per-pixel control — red terracotta has its own character, not just a red filter. Programmatic tinting handles cases where flexibility matters: biome-dependent grass, customizable armor, signal-strength redstone.

References

Minecraft Wiki

Fabric Yarn Javadoc (1.21.4)

Other