Player Head

Player Head

Java Edition

Bedrock Edition

Rarity tier	Uncommon
Renewable	No
Stackable	Yes (64)
Tool	Any tool
Blast resistance	1
Hardness	1
Luminous	No
Transparent	Yes
Waterloggable	JE: No BE: Yes
Flammable	No
Catches fire from lava	No
Map color	0 NONE
Note block instrument	Silent by default

The player head is a block based on the head of a player's skin (Steve by default). Player heads cannot be obtained in Survival.

Obtaining

The player head can be obtained only by using Creative inventory, picking block or executing /give.

Breaking

No tool can accelerate the breaking process of player head.^[1]

Block	Player Head
Hardness	1
Breaking time (secs)
Default	11.5 (JE) 1.5 (BE)
Options
Efficiency	000
Haste	001 1JEBE

Legend

• incorrect tool, drops nothing
• correct tool, drops nothing or something other than the block itself
• correct tool, drops the block itself
• italicized can be instant mined

Player head drops itself when it's destroyed.

When destroyed by an explosion, the player head always drops as an item.

Usage

Decoration

Player heads can be oriented in 16 different directions when placed on top of a block, and in 4 directions when placed on the sides of blocks, similar to signs. They can be placed either on top of or beside blocks by shift-clicking.

Wearing

The player can wear player heads, similarly to pumpkins or helmets. This overlays the second layer of the player's skin.

Locator bar

Like all other mob heads, a player head can be worn by a player to hide their location, as it will prevent other players from finding them using the locator bar.

Dispensers

A dispenser can equip a player head on a player, mob, or armor stand with an empty helmet slot, within the block the dispenser is facing.

Enchantments

Player heads can receive the following enchantments, but only through an anvil.

Name	Max level	Method
Curse of Binding	I	Anvil
Curse of Vanishing	I	Anvil

Piston interactivity

Player heads are destroyed when pushed by a piston and cannot be pulled by a sticky piston.

Player skins

This feature is exclusive to Java Edition.

Player heads can be given NBT data so that they appear with the skin of any Minecraft account. This means if a player knows that a specific account has a head that is desired to display, the NBT data can be edited to make it appear. Commonly, this kind of head is called a custom head.

The command to give the player a head with the skin of another player is /give @s minecraft:player_head[minecraft:profile={name:PlayerName}]. This command will give a dynamic player head, which will update when the player updates their skin. A static player head instead saves the skin of the player from the time it was created, meaning if the player changes their skin, the head still displays the original texture.^[2] The command to get a static player is twofold: first type /fetchprofile name PlayerName, then click on the "Give Item" option to give yourself a static player head of the player named.

Note that it is therefore necessary to be connected to the internet to load the texture of a skin, whatever the property used. When they are loaded for the first time by the client, the skins textures are cached in .minecraft\assets\skins\(subfolders)\(files). If the client does not have access to the internet when it first loads, the player's head displays a regular head (Steve's skin) which is also cached. Afterward, even if the client reconnects to the internet, in order to display the skin correctly, it is necessary to clear the cache manually by deleting the recently created files in .minecraft\assets\skins\(subfolder), then restarting the game.

Marc's Head Format

Marc Watson created a number of accounts with specific skins so mapmakers could use common player heads without the risk of someone changing their skins.^[3] Nowadays, since heads do not update the skin if a player changes their skin, this is not something mapmakers need to worry about, though these skins are still useful. These accounts have names in the format MHF_<name>; e.g. MHF_PigZombie is the name of a Minecraft user with a zombified piglin head. MHF stands for "Marc's Head Format".^[4] There are also a few blocks and "bonus" heads, for more variety. These player heads have not been updated in compliance with the Texture Update, and are outdated. There are many unofficial MHF accounts.

Because these are names of player accounts, these player heads are obtained or placed using the minecraft:profile component, i.e. /give @s minecraft:player_head[minecraft:profile=MHF_<name>].

The following names/heads have been made available:^[5]

Mobs

Blocks

Bonus

Sounds

Generic

Java Edition:

stone sound type
Sound	Closed captions	Source	Description	Identifier	Translation key	Volume	Pitch	Attenuation distance
	​Block broken	Blocks	Once the block has broken	block.stone.break	subtitles.block.generic.break​	1.0	0.8	16
	​Block placed​[until: JE 26.4]	Blocks	When the block is placed	block.stone.place	subtitles.block.generic.place​	1.0	0.8	16
	​Block breaking	Blocks	While the block is in the process of being broken	block.stone.hit	subtitles.block.generic.hit​	0.25	0.5	16
	​Something falls on a block	Entity-Dependent	Falling on the block with fall damage	block.stone.fall	subtitles.block.generic.fall​	0.5	0.75	16
	​Footsteps	Entity-Dependent	Walking on the block	block.stone.step	subtitles.block.generic.footsteps​	0.15	1.0	16

Bedrock Edition:

stone sound type
Sound	Closed captions	Source	Description	Identifier	Translation key	Volume	Pitch
	​Block broken	Blocks	Once the block has broken	dig.stone	subtitles.block.generic.break​	1.0	0.8–1.0
	​Block placed	Blocks	When the block is placed	place.stone	subtitles.block.generic.place​	1.0	0.8–1.0
	​Block breaking	Blocks	While the block is in the process of being broken	hit.stone	subtitles.block.generic.hit​	0.37	0.5
	​Footsteps	Players	Falling on the block with fall damage	fall.stone	subtitles.block.generic.footsteps​	0.4	1.0
	​Footsteps	Players	Walking on the block	step.stone	subtitles.block.generic.footsteps​	0.3	1.0
	​Footsteps	Blocks	Jumping from the block	jump.stone	subtitles.block.generic.footsteps​	0.12	1.0
	​Footsteps	Blocks	Falling on the block without fall damage	land.stone	subtitles.block.generic.footsteps​	0.22	1.0

Unique

Java Edition:

Bedrock Edition:

Data values

ID

Java Edition:

Name	Identifier	Form	Item tags	Translation key
Player Head	player_head	Block & Item	skulls	block.minecraft.player_head
Player Wall Head	player_wall_head	Block	—	block.minecraft.player_wall_head

Name	Identifier
Block entity	skull

Bedrock Edition:

Name	Identifier	Alias ID	Numeric ID	Form	Item ID[i 1]	Translation key
Player Head	player_head	skull / 3	-967	Block & Giveable Item[i 2]	Identical[i 3]	item.skull.char.name

Name	Savegame ID
Block entity	Skull

Item data

Java Edition:

Block states

Java Edition:
Floor

Wall

Bedrock Edition:

Block data

A player head has a block entity associated with it that holds additional data about the block.

Java Edition:

Bedrock Edition:

See Bedrock Edition level format/Block entity format.

History

Java Edition

Java Edition
1.4.2			12w36a				Added heads, obtainable only from the Creative inventory.
			12w37a				Changed item textures.
							Added as a hidden and disabled feature, player heads can now have the skin of a specific player. A line in the language file implies that there either used to be, or in a future update, the possibility of obtaining a specific player's head.[6]
							Heads do not drop in vanilla, but mapmakers/modders/etc. can make them by adding an NBT string tag {"SkullOwner":"player_name"} on the skull items.[7]
November 7, 2012							Jeb states that the official opinion is that "[dropping] player heads [on player kills] are a bit too gory for Minecraft, so it's better suited for a plugin or mod."
1.4.6			12w49a				A head can now be used to craft a firework star with creeper-face effect.
1.7.2			13w36a				Custom heads can now be obtained without third party programs via /give.
1.8			14w03a				Heads now show the skin's hat layer (this also works when a mob/player wears the head).
			14w29a				Heads now display a cracking animation.
			14w30a				Heads in inventories and held by mobs/players now display as blocks.
							Heads worn by mobs and players are now displayed on the armor layer. Previously, the head replaced the mob/player's head texture; the hat layer appeared over the player head.
1.8.4			release				For security reasons, custom heads can now have textures only from mojang.com and minecraft.net.
1.9			15w31a				Heads now appear larger in the inventory.
			15w39a				Dispensers can now equip heads onto players, mobs, and armor stands.
			15w49a				Heads no longer turn red when the player or mob takes damage.[8]
1.13			17w47a				Renamed "Head" to "Player Head".
							Player heads now play a sound when placed.
							Player heads can no longer be placed inside entities.[9]
			18w21a				The rarity of player heads has been changed from "Common" to "Uncommon".
1.19.3			22w45a				The texture of the player head has been changed.
1.19.4 Experiment Update 1.20			23w03a				Player heads can now be placed on top of note blocks without sneaking.
1.19.4			23w05a				Player heads can now be swapped with other pieces of headgear in the head inventory slot by using them.[10]

Bedrock Edition

Pocket Edition Alpha
v0.12.1			build 1				Added heads.
							They use the Java textures prior to 14w30a.
v0.14.0			build 1				Heads can now be worn as armor.
Bedrock Edition
1.2.0			beta 1.2.0.2				Heads can now be used to craft firework stars.
			beta 1.2.0.11				Heads in inventories and when held by mobs/players now display as blocks.
1.19.60 Experiment Next Major Update			Preview 1.19.60.25				Heads can now be placed on top of note blocks without sneaking.
1.21.30			Preview 1.21.30.22				Changed name from "Head" to "Player Head" to match Java Edition.
			Preview 1.21.30.21				The rarity of player heads has been changed from "Common" to "Uncommon" to match Java Edition.

Legacy Console Edition

Legacy Console Edition
Xbox 360	Xbox One	PS3	PS4	PS Vita	Wii U	Switch
TU12	CU1	1.00	1.00	1.00	Patch 1	1.0.1	Added player heads to the Creative inventory.
TU19	CU7	1.12	1.12	1.12			A player head can now be used to craft a firework star with creeper-face effect.
TU34	CU22	1.25	1.25	1.25	Patch 4		Player heads can now be swapped with other pieces of headgear in the head inventory slot by using them.
TU49	CU39	1.42	1.42	1.42	Patch 18		Player heads are now held the same way as on Java Edition in first person.

New Nintendo 3DS Edition

New Nintendo 3DS Edition
0.1.0							Added player heads.

Data history

Java Edition

Bedrock Edition

Issues

Issues relating to "Player Head" are maintained on the bug tracker. Issues should be reported and viewed there.

Trivia

• When breaking a player head, the particle effect of breaking it is the same as soul sand.
• Despite there being a default Steve head, heads for the other protagonist skins cannot be obtained without using custom names.

Gallery

Screenshots

• 
  A picture of player heads, including some Mojang characters.

Development images

• 
  Notch's head in a minecart with chest.
• 
  First image of held heads rendering as blocks.
• 
  Second image of held heads rendering as blocks.

References