Minecraft:Cape

File:Steve MINECON2011Cape.png

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Capes are special commemorative items that are shown on the back of the player's Minecraft:skin. They are purely cosmetic and they do not alter any gameplay. Wearing a cape also changes the appearance of the Minecraft:elytra, fitting the look of the respective cape. Unlike skins, capes cannot be custom-made and have to be earned. In addition, they cannot be transferred between accounts. Some capes can be earned through various promotions, while others are not available to the general public.

Various Minecraft:mods offer unofficial capes for players to use. These capes, however, are only visible to other users of those mods. Only capes added by Minecraft:Mojang Studios are featured below.

Obtaining

With the exception of the Minecraft:Pan Cape, capes that are available to the general public can only be obtained through limited-time promotions. Some types of promotions that distribute capes are social media campaigns, Minecraft:event servers, and in-person events. Capes cannot be obtained after their respective promotions have ended.<ref group=note>Various capes are obtained by redeeming codes. In these cases, new codes can only be obtained during the promotion period. However, although many cape codes were explicitly stated to have redemption deadlines, Mojang has apparently not enforced these deadlines for capes released in 2024 and beyond, allowing for codes obtained during the promotion period to be redeemed long after it ends.</ref>

Modern capes are often distributed to both editions of the game at the same time, although logging into Template:BE is often required to activate such capes in Template:JE.<ref>Template:Citation</ref>

Overview

Java Edition

File:MinecraftCapesSelection.png

The Minecraft.net cape selection menu, as it would be viewed with a hypothetical account with all of the capes. The order that capes are displayed in varies per user.

In Template:JE, capes can either be equipped on the skin creation menu in the Minecraft:Minecraft Launcher, or in the profile page on the Minecraft website.

For about a decade after the introduction of capes in 2010, Java Edition capes could be split into five groups:

Mojang capes, given only to Mojang employees.
Minecraft:MINECON capes, distributed to attendees of the convention. Around 27,000 of these capes exist.<ref group=note>https://namemc.com/capes shows a rough estimate of how many capes of each type have ever been equipped on Java Edition. Note that it is possible to hide previously equipped capes or to simply not equip an owned cape, both of which will cause a cape to not count towards these totals. These totals also do not include Bedrock Edition players, who may later add to the Java Edition counters of cross-platform capes if they equip a cross-platform cape there. Finally, as there is no way to detect capes that are removed from accounts by staff members, the totals will continue to count such capes. Cape removal is very rare and does not happen for most players, but it has happened in certain niche situations, such as when accounts with rarer capes are stolen, or when personal capes are given out for testing purposes/by accident.</ref>
Personal capes, which were given to single individuals as appreciation for something they did.
Volunteer capes, given to contributors in various programs, such as Minecraft:Crowdin, Minecraft:Mojira, and the Minecraft:Realms map making program.
Competition capes, given to those who had won competitions in Mojang's other games, Minecraft:Scrolls and Cobalt. These competitions were short-lived, with only the top players winning these capes, so only around 30 of these capes exist.

Of these, only MINECON capes were available to the public in significant numbers. Therefore, at the time, capes were far more exclusive items than they are today.

As Minecraft became more popular, however, this exclusivity caused capes, and accounts that had them, to become premier items on black markets.<ref>https://x.com/Marc_IRL/status/1319158179591344128</ref> Partly due to this, accounts with rare capes have been known to be common targets of hacking attempts<ref>https://x.com/cheapshot/status/1240855558619463680</ref><ref>https://x.com/billyK___/status/1666259127692083202</ref> and unwanted solicitation. This exclusivity grew in 2017 when MINECON events became livestreams and stopped distributing capes, leading to a period of almost five years between Minecraft:MINECON 2016 and the account migration in 2021 where no new Java Edition capes could be obtained by the public.

Since the account migration, which granted the Minecraft:Migrator Cape to all Java Edition players who migrated, various capes have been available to the general public without being tied to in-person events. This is likely in order to avoid the problems associated with the aforementioned exclusivity.

Bedrock Edition

File:MinecraftCapesSelectionBedrock.png

The Bedrock Edition cape selection menu, as it would be viewed with a hypothetical account with all of the capes.

In Template:BE, capes can be equipped in the Capes section on the Minecraft:Character Creator. As Character Creator items, they are assigned a rarity, usually Legendary.

Capes are also available as part of some skins included in certain Minecraft:skin packs, but they can only be equipped with their corresponding skin. Most notably, the Minecraft:MINECON 2016 Skin Pack included Steve and Alex skins wearing all Minecraft:MINECON capes from 2011 to 2016. However, these capes were locked to the skin pack, so they cannot be used with custom skins. For documentation purposes, capes from skin packs are considered to be separate from standard capes, which can be freely equipped with any skin. Statements about capes on this wiki will exclude these by default.

There were a few exclusive capes on Bedrock. Although cape support on Bedrock Edition was added on 2016, it was used exclusively for skin packs until 2019, when the Minecraft:Founder's Cape was released. A second cape, called the Minecraft:Pan Cape, was given to all Bedrock Edition players for free starting in 2020 and is still given out to this day. Thus far, it is the only cape on either edition to automatically be given out to all players without any known time limit.

Not long after this, however, the Java Edition account migration occurred, which ultimately led to the introduction of cross-platform capes.

On May 8, 2025, the Founder's Cape and Pan Cape were distributed to Java Edition players as well. The Minecraft:Progress Pride Cape is currently the only cape exclusive to Bedrock Edition.

Cross-platform capes

After the migration from Mojang accounts to Microsoft accounts in 2021, ownership of both Java Edition and Bedrock Edition was tied to a single account. In 2022, both editions were merged into one bundle, ensuring that all players would always have access to both. These changes allowed capes to be obtained in both editions at the same time after fulfilling the requirements, which became the standard. All capes released to the public after the merger were released for both editions, with the sole exception of the aforementioned Minecraft:Progress Pride Cape.

There may have been some hesitancy on Mojang's part to grant capes distributed through Bedrock Edition event servers to Java Edition accounts. This is supported by the fact that the Minecraft:Cherry Blossom Cape and the Minecraft:MCC 15th Year Cape, the first two capes tied to event servers, were not originally announced for Java. Ultimately, both of these capes were added to Java Edition after the conclusion of their respective events. Since then, capes added by live events have been announced for and immediately granted to both editions upon completion of the requirements.

Legacy Console Edition

Three Minecraft:Xbox 360 Edition capes were known to exist, none of which were permanently made available to the general public.

The Minecraft:Microsoft Xbox Cape, which was available only for Microsoft employees<ref>Template:Tweet</ref>
The Minecraft:Xbox 1st Birthday Cape, which was temporarily shown on all players during the Xbox edition's first anniversary
The Minecraft:Classic Mojang Cape, which was given out to Mojang employees<ref>Template:Tweet</ref>

Like Bedrock Edition, most of the Minecraft:Legacy Console Editions also featured skin packs, some of which came with capes.

The now-defunct Xbox 360 marketplace had some cosmetic Xbox avatar items based off of capes available for purchase. These include avatar versions of the Xbox 1st Birthday Cape and all of the MINECON capes released before 2016. These can be viewed on the Minecraft:Xbox 360 avatar items page.

List of capes

Account-related capes

These capes were given to players simply for owning or logging into the game during certain time periods.

Staff capes

These capes were only given out to employees of Mojang or Microsoft.

Event capes

Physical event capes

These capes were released in connection with in-person events, such as Minecraft:MINECON, Minecraft:Minecraft Experience, or Minecraft:TwitchCon.

Virtual event capes

These capes were released through or in connection with online events, such as Minecraft:Minecraft Live, social media campaigns, or Minecraft:event servers.

Personal capes

These capes were manually given to people from the community, often as appreciation for something they did. They are only available Template:In.

Competition capes

These capes were given to players who won competitions of Mojang's other games. They are only available Template:In.

Volunteer capes

These capes were given to volunteers in various programs. They are only available Template:In.

Other capes

Announced capes

On April 22, 2026, Minecraft:Anthony Toczek, the Head of Influence at Mojang, stated that they were "actively working" on a Minecraft:YouTube cape, but were "still building the tech to make drops work there".<ref>Template:Tweet, replying to Template:Tweet</ref>

Temporary capes

These were briefly shown on all for certain periods of time without being added to their accounts.

Skin pack capes

Template:Main Various skin packs for Minecraft:Bedrock Edition include capes as part of their included skins.

API testing capes

Template:Main These capes were added in some form by Mojang Studios, but should not be considered official.

size-m cape

size-m cape
Snail cape

Snail cape
ICU cape #1

ICU cape #1
ICU cape #2

ICU cape #2
Frog cape

Frog cape

Vote Update capes

Template:Main These capes were part of the April Fools joke snapshot Minecraft:23w13a_or_b. Within the snapshot, they can be obtained by passing proposals. All of them intentionally use the misspelling "caep".

Awesom caep

Awesom caep
Blonk caep

Blonk caep
No-Circle caep

No-Circle caep
Nyan caep

Nyan caep
Squid caep

Squid caep
Veterinarian caep

Veterinarian caep

Unused capes

These capes were designed, but never actually released.

MINECON 2011 cloak vote

File:Cloakvote.png

Minecon 2011 Cloak Candidates.

File:Creepercloak.png

The winning Minecon 2011 Cloak Candidate.

These capes were featured in a poll where readers could vote for the design of the Minecraft:MINECON 2011 cape.<ref>Template:Citation</ref> The red creeper cape won with 42% of the votes<ref name="polldaddy">Template:Citation</ref> and was chosen as the cape design for Minecraft:MINECON 2011.<ref>Template:Citation</ref> The blue cape with the pickaxe, which received 33% of the votes,<ref name="polldaddy" /> was later reused for Minecraft:MINECON 2012. The remaining cape designs, however, have never been used.

11 other capes were designed for the vote, but were ultimately excluded from it. The existence of and designs for these 11 capes were revealed in Minecraft:The World of Minecraft. The unused MINECON 2011 cape candidates represent the collection of unreleased cosmetic textures designed by Mojang Studios during the third quarter of 2011. Aside from the winning Red Creeper variant and the deferred Diamond Pickaxe design, three other officially pitched options were completely scrapped following a public community vote. Additionally, historical design documentation published years later revealed an expanded catalog of eleven concept variations that were fully designed but excluded from public polling entirely.

Publicly Voted Unused Candidates

Cloak #3 (The Golden Apple / Iconography Cape)

Vote Standing: 3rd Place
Total Allocation: 13% of public ballots (3,207 total votes)
Design Profile: Cloak #3 was designed to directly spotlight high-tier survival mechanics by leveraging early in-game status items. The canvas utilized a deep chocolate-brown base layer constructed with a grid-aligned border trim to mimic structured leather. Centered on the upper-middle quadrant of the cape was a low-resolution rendering of a Minecraft:Golden Apple, a prominent item within beta-era gameplay mechanics. The shading of the apple graphic utilized legacy yellow, gold, and light amber hex codes, mimicking the flat item sprite before enchanted variants received distinct animated glints.

Cloak #4 (The Earth / Terrain Cape)

Vote Standing: 5th Place (Last)
Total Allocation: 3% of public ballots (871 total votes)
Design Profile: Positioned as a literal representation of the game's terrain engine, Cloak #4 featured a green and brown biological pattern. The top third of the layout was rendered in vibrant lime and forest green shades, mirroring the legacy 2D pixel layouts of standard Grass Blocks. The lower two-thirds transitioned abruptly into cross-hatched brown layers designed to resemble subsurface dirt profiles. Due to the high visual noise and lack of a central, iconic focal point, it performed poorly with the community demographic, securing the fewest votes in the event's history.

Summary of the 2011 Public Vote Metrics


Candidate Identifier	Core Graphical Theme	Community Name	Final Standing	Vote Count	Vote Share	Release Status
Cloak #1	Diamond Pickaxe	Pickaxe Cape	2nd Place	8,278	33%	Reused as the official MINECON 2012 Cape
Cloak #2	Creeper Face	Red Creeper Cape	1th Place (Winner)	10,516	42%	Released as the official MINECON 2011 Cape
Cloak #3	Golden Apple	Golden Apple Cape	3rd Place	3,207	13%	Unused / Scrapped
Cloak #4	Grass & Dirt Layers	Earth/Terrain Cape	5th Place	871	3%	Unused / Scrapped
Cloak #5	Central Pale Square	Moon/Portal Cape	4th Place	2,317	9%	Unused / Scrapped

Concept Rejections (The Excluded Eleven)

In mid-2024, Mojang Studios released a comprehensive physical lore book titled The World of Minecraft. The publication included historical art pages revealing that early character designer Junkboy had generated eleven additional exploratory textures for the 2011 convention that were never selected for the public webpage poll.

Archival review of these textures by wiki data-miners cataloged the following structural themes:

The Weapon Variants: Two distinct designs centered on combat mechanics. The first featured a classic iron sword angled downward against a dark background, while the second utilized an alternative green-and-white layout focusing on structural weapon symmetry.
Industrial Tools: A hybrid design that merged an iron sword blade with a pickaxe handle, forming a silhouette that community historians noted resembled a classic hammer-and-sickle geometry.
Survival Utility Objects: Two individual concepts built around common item blocks: one explicitly rendering an upright, burning Torch on a gray back-shading, and another utilizing stacked horizontal lines to accurately render a wooden Ladder infrastructure up the length of the cape.
System Logic & Engineering: A pure redstone-themed model composed of deep crimson backing integrated with bright red geometric circuitry lines to mimic an active Minecraft:Redstone Dust logic line.
Abstract Patterns: A high-contrast, black-and-white alternating checkerboard configuration. This file configuration was highlighted by community members due to its visual similarities to the official 15th Anniversary Cape distributed over a decade later.
Character Characterizations: The most unusual asset in the collection depicted a stylized, high-contrast character head featuring an afro hairstyle, sunglasses, and a smiling, cyclopean single-eye layout.

All eleven internal developmental variants were permanently archived without receiving official asset indexes within the runtime engine. They remain entirely inaccessible outside of community-made skin modifications.

Recreations of unused capes
Row 1	2011 Minecon Cape	2012 Minecon Cape	File:TWoM Cape 3.png	File:TWoM Cape 4.png	File:TWoM Cape 5.png	File:TWoM Cape 6.png	File:TWoM Cape 7.png	File:TWoM Cape 8.png
Texture	2011 Minecon Cape	2012 Minecon Cape	File:TWoM Cape 3 (texture).png	File:TWoM Cape 4 (texture).png	File:TWoM Cape 5 (texture).png	File:TWoM Cape 6 (texture).png	File:TWoM Cape 7 (texture).png	File:TWoM Cape 8 (texture).png
Row 2	File:MineconCape4.png	File:TWoM Cape 10.png	File:TWoM Cape 11.png	File:TWoM Cape 12.png	File:TWoM Cape 13.png	File:MineconCape2.png	File:MineconCape3.png	File:TWoM Cape 16.png
Texture	File:Unused Cape 3.png	File:TWoM Cape 10 (texture).png	File:TWoM Cape 11 (texture).png	File:TWoM Cape 12 (texture).png	File:TWoM Cape 13 (texture).png	File:Unused Cape 1.png	File:Unused Cape 2.png	File:TWoM Cape 16 (texture).png

Customer support tool capes

Mojang has confirmed that a number of unused Minecraft:Java Edition capes have existed in the Customer Support tool, which have never been shown to the public. Some of them, such as the Minecraft:Birthday Cape, were first given an owner a long time after they had been made.<ref>Template:Tweet</ref>