What's actually in the resource pack
A Sulfur Cube ships four PNG files, all under assets/minecraft/textures/entity/sulfur_cube/:
| File | Size | Used for |
|---|---|---|
sulfur_cube_outer.png | 128×128 | Full-size cube's visible shell and face |
sulfur_cube_inner.png | 128×128 | Full-size cube's inner layer |
sulfur_cube_outer_small.png | 64×64 | Small cube's visible shell and face |
sulfur_cube_inner_small.png | 64×64 | Small cube's inner layer |
The small/full-size split mirrors the classic Slime pattern: the jar also defines a separate SmallSulfurCubeModel, which is almost certainly the model used after a Sulfur Cube splits, the same way a Slime splits into smaller Slimes on death.
Why you can't reshape it
The cube's actual geometry lives in compiled Java classes (SulfurCubeModel, SmallSulfurCubeModel, SulfurCubeRenderer), not in a JSON entity model you can edit. This is normal for vanilla mobs — unlike items and blocks, mob geometry generally isn't resource-pack-editable. A resource pack can replace the four PNGs above, and nothing else about the mob's shape.
Two layers, two jobs
The two texture names aren't decorative. The jar defines a dedicated SulfurCubeInnerLayer render layer, separate from the base model, which is why there are two independent textures instead of one:
- Outer is the texture you'd expect from a slime-family mob: a standard box-net layout (the flattened faces of a cube) with a pale, blob-highlighted surface and a simple two-eyes-and-a-mouth face on the front panel. This is the shell everyone will actually recognize in-game.
- Inner does not follow that box-net layout at all — it's a mottled, marbled pattern instead, closer to a gas or goo texture than a mob skin. That's consistent with a layer meant to peek through cracks or translucent parts of the outer shell, the same idea as the glowing crack layer under a Magma Cube's skin.
Practically: if you only touch sulfur_cube_outer.png, you're repainting what players actually see most of the time. The inner texture is worth customizing too, but treat it as an abstract pattern, not a face or a body part.
The swallow mechanic doesn't get its own texture
The Sulfur Cube can swallow certain blocks and items (there are sulfur_cube_swallowable and sulfur_cube_food tags defining what), and the jar defines twelve distinct behavior archetypes — bouncy, explosive, fast_flat, fast_sliding, high_resistance, hot, light, regular, slow_bouncy, slow_flat, slow_sliding, and sticky — plus a SulfurCubeContent item component that almost certainly records what a given cube swallowed.
What we did not find is twelve sets of textures. There's exactly one outer/inner pair for the full-size cube and one for the small one, regardless of archetype. That strongly suggests archetype and swallowed content change behavior and possibly an in-game color tint, not which texture file gets loaded. We're stating this as an inference from the file list, not a confirmed fact about the renderer — but the practical takeaway is solid either way: a custom resource pack skin applies to every archetype equally. You cannot give the "hot" cube a different look from the "sticky" one through textures alone.
Painting the outer skin
- Open the texture painter and set the canvas size to 128×128 for the full-size cube, or 64×64 if you're painting the small variant.
- There's no built-in Sulfur Cube template, so you're painting on a blank canvas at the right resolution — the same way you'd approach any vanilla mob retexture. Block in the base color first, keep the front face's eyes and mouth simple and high-contrast (they're what players actually focus on), and add surface detail last.
- Zoom back to real size often. At this resolution, a cube seen from a few blocks away reads mostly as color and silhouette — the same rule from our texture size guide applies here.
- Export as
sulfur_cube_outer.png(orsulfur_cube_outer_small.png).
Painting the inner layer
For the inner texture, don't reach for a face template — paint an organic, blotchy pattern instead: clumped color regions with soft edges, similar to a marbled gas cloud. Since it's most visible through gaps or translucent spots in the outer shell, high local contrast in a few small areas will read better than a texture that's busy everywhere.
Packaging the pack
The resource-pack generator is built around items, blocks, armor, and CustomModelData slots, and doesn't currently expose raw entity texture paths like this one. For a mob retexture, build the folder structure by hand instead: a pack.mcmeta at the root, matching the standard resource pack path layout, with your PNGs placed at exactly assets/minecraft/textures/entity/sulfur_cube/<filename>.png, then zip the folder (not a folder containing the folder) for a working resource pack.
FAQ
Can I make the Sulfur Cube a different shape with a resource pack?
No. Its geometry is compiled into the game's Java code, not defined in an editable JSON model. A resource pack can only replace the four texture files — it can't add limbs, resize the cube, or change its silhouette.
Do I need to edit all four texture files?
No. If you only care about the full-size cube's normal appearance, sulfur_cube_outer.png alone covers what players notice most. Skip a file and the game keeps using the vanilla version of it.
Will my custom texture look different depending on the archetype (bouncy, hot, sticky, etc.)?
Almost certainly not through the texture itself — there's only one texture pair regardless of archetype. Any visual difference between archetypes, if there is one, would come from an in-game tint applied on top of your texture, not from the pack.
What happens if I get the pixel dimensions wrong?
Minecraft will still try to load a mismatched PNG, but the UV mapping baked into the model expects exactly 128×128 (or 64×64 for the small variant), so anything else will stretch or misalign badly. Keep the canvas size in the texture painter matched to the file you're replacing.
Where to go next
New to painting mob skins in general? Start with our texture size and workflow guide for how to think about silhouette, contrast, and tiling before you commit to a final design.