Settings
| Minecraft Version | Minimum Snapshot | Base Colors* | Map Colors* |
|---|---|---|---|
| Java 1.8.1 to 1.11.2 | 1.8.1-pre1 | 35 | 140 |
| Java 1.12 to 1.15.2 | 17w17a | 51 | 204 |
| Java 1.16 to 1.16.5 | 1.16-pre6 | 58 | 232 |
| Java 1.17 or newer | 21w16a | 61 | 244 |
* Excluding transparent colors
Map items in Minecraft only support a limited palette of map colors, with more colors being added in recent versions. This palette is constructed from a number of base colors. Each base color is associated with 4 map colors, with each map color being a certain shade of the base color. For more details, see this article on the map file format.
In general, you should select the Minecraft version setting that matches the version that you would like to upload the map file to. Selecting an older or newer version than the one you are targeting is not guaranteed to work due to unsupported colors, or changes to the map file format between versions.
Sets the number of horizontal and vertical maps to create from your image.
- Set to 1 x 1 for a single map.
- A maximum of a 10 x 10 grid can be created.
- Note that processing will take longer with more maps.
This step processes and resizes the source image into the dimensions of Minecraft map items (128 by 128 pixels each).
| Fit[2] | Fill (Crop) | Stretch |
|---|---|---|
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| Resize to... | Description | If the width and height are unequal: |
|---|---|---|
| Fit | Resizes the image to fit within the map item dimensions while retaining the image's aspect ratio. | There will be excess space on the top/bottom or sides of the image that will be filled in by the color set in the Background setting. |
| Fill (Crop) | Resizes the image to fill the entirety of the map item dimensions while retaining the image's aspect ratio. | The top/bottom or sides of the image will be cropped out. |
| Stretch | Resizes the image to stretch across the entirety of the map item dimensions without retaining the image's aspect ratio. | The smaller dimension is stretched until it is equal to the larger dimension. |
Sets the amount of image smoothing when resizing the source image.
Note: This setting only works on Chrome or Edge. It has no effect on Firefox or Safari.
| None (Pixelated)* | High |
|---|---|
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|
* Note the jagged diagonal edges and unaliased text.
| Resize Quality | Description |
|---|---|
| None (Pixelated) | No smoothing. Best used for pixel art. |
| Low | Low amount of smoothing. |
| Medium | Medium amount of smoothing. |
| High | High amount of smoothing. Best used for most other images. |
Sets the background color of the intermediate image.
| Transparent | Black | White |
|---|---|---|
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This step takes the 16,777,216 (2563) possible colors in an image and reduces them to the 244 (or less) map colors.
For every pixel in the image, we need to find the map color nearest to the pixel's color. There are many different algorithms for calculating the nearest color that involve complicated mathematics and color spaces, but for our purposes the main points to keep in mind are:
- When in doubt, just use the "CompuPhase" algorithm, as it should be good enough for most images.
- Algorithms using the sRGB color space are faster, but sRGB is not perceptually uniform. This means that while a map color may be considered the "nearest" mathematically using numerical RGB values, it may not appear to be the "nearest" when perceived by the human eye.
- DeltaE algorithms attempt to address this by comparing the colors in the CIELAB color space, which has better (though not perfect) perceptual uniformity. These algorithms are slower, but are more likely to produce perceivably accurate results.
| Example Image[3] | CompuPhase |
|---|---|
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| Euclidean | DeltaE 1976 |
|---|---|
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| CMC 1984 | DeltaE 2000 |
|---|---|
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Note: These example images have Dithering set to "None".
| Color Difference Algorithm | Color Space | Speed | Accuracy | Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| CompuPhase | sRGB | Fastest | Good | A "low-cost approximation" algorithm that produces reasonable results. Should be good enough for most images. |
| Euclidean | sRGB | Fast | Poor | Most likely to choose "incorrect" nearest colors due to sRGB not being perceptually uniform. |
| DeltaE 1976 | CIELAB | Moderate | Good | Equivalent to the Euclidean algorithm, but in the CIELAB color space. |
| CMC 1984 | CIELAB | Slow | Depends | A unique algorithm made by the Color Measurement Committee of the Society of Dyes and Colourists. Intended for use with textiles. |
| DeltaE 2000 | CIELAB | Slowest | Best | The most complicated but most accurate DeltaE algorithm. |
Dithering adds a form of noise that helps eliminate color banding and makes images appear smoother overall.
| None | Floyd-Steinberg |
|---|---|
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| Dithering Algorithm | Description |
|---|---|
| None | No dithering applied. Best for images with flat, solid colors. |
| Floyd-Steinberg | One of the first and most popular image dithering algorithms. Best for photographs. |
Any image pixels that have a transparency (alpha) value less than this threshold will appear as fully transparent in the map file.
If enabled, the map .dat files or .zip file will be automatically downloaded after processing is complete.
| Automatic Download | Description |
|---|---|
| Off | No automatic download. |
| .dat files | Download the map .dat files automatically. For multiple files, you may be prompted by your browser to allow the download. |
| .zip file | Download the .zip file automatically. |
Image by ThePuzzlemaker at https://minecraft.fandom.com/wiki/Map_item_format?file=Map_colors.png, available under the Creative Commons BY-NC-SA 3.0 License.
"Bear Crossing Road Sign" by Arthur Chapman at https://www.flickr.com/photos/32005048@N06/5068004280, available under the Creative Commons BY-NC-SA 2.0 License.
"Big Blue Sky" by Cindy Cornett Siegle at https://www.flickr.com/photos/57038667@N00/409162476, available under the Creative Commons BY-NC-SA 2.0 License.