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How to Install a Skin in Minecraft Beta

Released in its beta phase in December 2010, Mojang's independent sandbox game, "Minecraft," immerses players in an expansive landscape of three-dimensional cubes. The substantial library of community-created "Minecraft" skins and texture packs allow players to transform the game's simple, stylized graphics while retaining the fundamental game mechanics. Skins replace the default "Minecraft" avatar graphic with one of the account holder's choosing, allowing players to customize their character's appearance. While avatar skinning has little effect on "Minecraft" gameplay, a custom avatar allows players to express identity and to distinguish their character from others on populous multiplayer servers.

Instructions

- 1
  Open your Web browser and use a search engine to locate a website with free "Minecraft" skins. Search for terms like "Minecraft skin" or "Minecraft character skin," or visit the "Community" page of the official "Minecraft" website for links to several popular player-created skinning sites.
- 2
  Choose a skin you like and click on its link to begin your download. Select a location on your hard drive to save the file and wait for the download to complete.
- 3
  Go to the official "Minecraft" website and log in with your username and password. Click on the "Preferences" link at the top of the page. Click the "Browse" button under the "Replace this Skin" heading and browse to the location on your hard drive containing your downloaded skin.
- 4
  Click the "Upload Image" button to install the skin. When the installation is complete, your new skin will appear in the character portrait under "Your Current Skin" in the Preferences menu.
- 5
  Launch your "Minecraft" client and enter the game to see your new character skin in action.

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