Alpha Skins Mod FAQ

It stops the game from stripping the alpha channel off your skin when it renders, so transparent pixels in your skin file stay see-through. It adds no items, blocks or commands, so there is nothing to craft or configure.

Open your skin PNG in an editor that supports alpha transparency and erase the pixels you want hidden, so they are truly transparent. Don't just paint them a background color. Then save as PNG and apply the skin as usual.

Usually the pixels aren't actually transparent in the file, or the editor flattened the alpha when saving. Check that you used the eraser or a transparent selection and saved as PNG with transparency, not JPEG or a format without an alpha channel. Also confirm the mod is loaded, since without it the game turns those pixels opaque.

No, it is the same standard skin PNG with transparency in the pixels you want hidden. Apply it through your normal skin settings, then reload the world or rejoin to check it.

The change happens in the game's client-side skin rendering. Expect other players to see the transparency only if their game also has the mod. Players without it will probably see those pixels as solid.

The mod's goal is to let transparent pixels stay transparent in the skin rendering, so you can erase pixels on the base layer as well as the outer layer. Test your design in game, since hidden base-layer areas can show gaps in the model, such as missing body parts.

Erase a clearly visible patch of your skin, such as an area on the torso, apply the skin, and look at yourself in third person or in the inventory preview. If you can see through that patch, the mod is working. If it shows black or solid, the mod isn't loaded or the file has no real transparency.

Because the alpha channel is no longer stripped, partially transparent pixels should render as partly see-through. Results can vary, so check them in game, and use fully erased pixels if you want a clean invisible effect.

No, only the pixels you erased are see-through, and the rest of your skin still renders normally. Armor and held items also still show, so you won't be fully invisible.

It only turns off one bit of skin-processing code through mixins, so you shouldn't expect any noticeable performance cost. Conflicts are most likely with other mods that also change skin rendering or texture handling. If your transparency stops working, try removing those mods to find the cause.