Best Texture Packs of the Month | January 2023

Kal has released a few themed texture packs so far, and a new one has been published, which is Kal’s Grimdark Viking Pack. With it, you can change the appearance of all your tools and Swords, giving them a Viking theme.

The Totem of Undying has been turned into a Runestone of Protection, and the Trident is now a Stormhammer. Though one of the coolest features is the Shields, which have 10 different styles, which can all be achieved through renaming, and they’re circular. Some other changes also come to Bows, Shears, and Fishing Rods.

Chess is a simple pack and allows you to rename Bone Blocks into different Chess pieces, which can be both black and white. Then they can be placed inside an item frame.

You’ll probably want an invisible Item Frame Texture Pack to work alongside it. While they make great decoration pieces, they could also be used to play a game of Chess, though it would require a bit of effort.

This Texture Pack will cause the Overworld to look like the Deep Dark. It will change most aspects of Minecraft, including mobs, sky boxes, lighting, and more.

The pack definitely gives a new feeling to the game, and it feels like you’ve entered the Upside Down in Stranger Things, as most of the Overworld structures and terrain are still recognizable.

The Medieval Cart Texture Pack will change Donkeys, causing them to drag a small wooden cart around with them, which carries a Chest. This texture is only activated when a Chest is placed on a tamed Donkey.

The wheels even spin, which makes for some great details. The cart has 2 wheels, but another one with 4 wheels is available, though it’s locked behind the developer’s Patreon.

Party Pups is a huge pack, adding over a hundred different naming options for Wolves. You can even rename them so that there are both Skeletal and Zombie Variants.

When it comes to the available breeds, your options include Labradors, Wiener Dogs, Jack Russells, Huskies, Golden Retrievers, Dalmatians, Bull Dogs, and a lot more. The Vanilla untamed Wolf is mostly the same, with a few extra variants.

An overhaul pack is Consistently Cubed, which the developer says gives Minecraft a more cartoon-like and fun feeling. It’s marked as one hundred percent complete, and it looks great in-game.

I think it also gives Minecraft a retro feeling, and I’ll show a few more clips from this pack so that you can see what it offers. Even though this list is themed around Java, this texture pack is also available on the Bed-rock Marketplace.

If you’ve seen the Animation vs. Minecraft Series, then you might be familiar with the Command Staff. This Texture Pack adds it into the game as a rename option for the Netherite Axe. But for a bit of role-playing, you might like this if you’re a server admin.

Another overhaul comes with the Tectonic pack, which also gives Minecraft a more simplistic appearance, even though I think the textures look crisper. When looking at the properties of some of the textures, they seem to be 16 by 16 in size.

The pack is mostly complete; there are just some textures that still have their Vanilla look, like some different blocks and mobs. And once again, I’ll show you a few more clips, so you can see if this is a pack you want to try out.

This Texture Pack will add over 40 different Hats into Minecraft, which can be obtained by renaming and equipping Carved Pumpkins. It’s one of the better packs I’ve seen when it comes to hats too.

You might get some clipping issues if your skin is using the Hat layer, but they still look great. There are so many options, like a Diving Helmet, Gas Mask, Fox Hat, Crown, Top Hat, Disguise, Headphones, Cardboard Box, and a lot more. And on the packs page, you can see an image showing every naming option available.

For some more Deep Dark content, try out the Warden Pack, which replaces all your Netherite Equipment. It includes a replacement for your Armor, Bow, Sword, and each Tool.

And it definitely fits the theme nicely, and would work well alongside the previously mentioned Deep Dark Overworld. But it is a replacement, so you can’t keep your original Netherite Armor. 

Props and Stuff is a Custom Item Texture Pack, meaning it adds new decorative blocks which can be obtained through renaming. And they are purely decorative, as you will just be renaming items like Planks or Wool to obtain them.

They can then placing them in Item Frames, so you’ll even be able to walk through them. But included with this pack is lots of household items, such as Couches, Office Chairs, Televisions, Benches, Clocks, Shelves, Plushies, Flower Pots, and even items like a Nintendo Switch.

There’s a whole catalog available which shows how to obtain each item. But it’s an easy way to add furniture into Minecraft without having to install mods.

After installing Fancy Foliage, one of the first changes you’ll notice is that Leaves are bushy, which is applied to every leaf block for each tree type. When it comes to Grass, you’ll find some more variations, and I think they look a bit more dense overall.

Whereas some Flowers have been changed, adding new variations of Poppies, Allium, and Dandelions. In the Swamps, Lilypads have Stems and can flower. And Dead Bushes can spawn to look like a smaller Cactus.

You can also install Wild Plants to further change nature, although this pack requires you to rename items instead, as you won’t find them naturally spawning. So these are all decorative, and the pack requires you to rename Grass.

Then you’ll be able to create different Flowers, Plants, Trees, and Mushrooms, including Palms, Biggo’s, Soul Fruit, Ferns, Hazard Flowers, and quite a few others. And they’ll need to be placed in item frames to be displayed.

Max’s Better Mobs is a culmination of all of the developer’s packs from the ‘Better’ series. So it brings changes to Creepers, Pillagers, Silverfish, Zombies, Squids, Piglins, and more.

And most of these packs were released over the previous months; it’s only this combination that is new. There are so many changes in this pack, with most mobs now having multiple variants with a lot of them being biome dependent too.

As Skeletons and Zombies will both blend in with their Biomes. Silverfish and Endermites look like Ants and will roll around, and you’ll find Pillagers equipped in some interesting outfits, with there being over 20 different variants.

It also includes the previously mentioned Party Pups. So if you want a complete overhaul of Minecrafts creatures while sticking to the Vanilla theme, then check this pack out.

A New Perception brings a Vanilla plus styled update with its texture changes. Through different areas of your world, you might notice some new variations of blocks, such as Cactus, Bookshelves, Gravel, Sand and a lot more.

In some places, these changes are miniscule, and not too noticeable. Whereas items like Eyes of Ender, Heart of the Sea, and the Cartography Table have been given some new animations.

While exploring, you can come across entirely new textures too, like Flowers growing on Grass Blocks, or Starfish underwater. So you should have a general idea of what this pack is all about, but sadly the Planet Minecraft page didn’t give too much information on changes.

By renaming a few items, you can obtain some new decoration blocks which are designed to be placed alongside water, like a Canal. It includes Grass Edges and Corners, aswell as Water Holes, Fishing Holes and Diving Holes when it comes to a dirt theme.

Bt all of these exist in a Sand theme too, which are the Sandy Shores and Sandy Corners. And by renaming a Barrel, you can create a Water Wheel, so this packs perfect for a lakeside cabin style build. 

Another pack to add some Hats is Hoshi’s Hat Pack, which also requires you to rename Carved Pumpkins. At the time of this video, there were around 20 hats available, and it’s been receiving frequent updates which add more options.

Currently, you can equip items like Elf Ears, Witch Hats,  Party Hats, a Fez, Traffic Cones, and Crowns, among a few others. There is a read-me file in the downloadable zip, which contains all the naming options.

This pack will add lots of useful textures when it comes to the likes of Redstone. When placing down Redstone Dust, you’ll see how much power is available.

And Repeaters and Comparators have received a similar treatment. Observers, Dispensers, and Droppers now show their directions. Even when you’re underground, you can easily identify which Amethyst is Budding.

All throughout Minecraft, you’ll notice similar changes, whether it be determining when Crops are ready to harvest or seeing how full a Composter is.

Re-Pillaged brings an immersive update to Pillagers. Now, they’ll have completely different outfits depending on the Biome they spawn in.

And these outfits are based on the clothes that Villages wear in these locations too. Plains Pillagers look the same, but those in the Taiga, Snowy Tundra, Savanna, Desert, Jungle, and Swamp Biomes have been changed.

If you’re a fan of Star Wars, then you might enjoy the Star Meows pack, which starts by adding Darth Vader’s Helmet.

You can also get Lightsabers which come in different colors, by renaming Tinted Glass. And by renaming Iron Blocks, some cool decoration items can be displayed in Item Frames, such as Baby Yoda, BB-8, R2D2, and an X-Wing.