Animated Items is a vanilla-style resource pack for Minecraft Java Edition that gives more than 70 items a subtle looping animation instead of a static icon, from the totem of undying to a full set of netherite armor. It changes nothing about stats, crafting, or block shapes, and needs no other mod or loader to work. Drop it in and the animations run immediately on any Java release from 1.18 through the current 26.2.
What changes visually
The animated set has grown with every update since the pack's first release and now spans ores and gems, combat gear, light sources, and a handful of one-off items like the wind charge and echo shard. None of the base textures are redrawn. The pack only adds extra animation frames on top of the vanilla look, so a player who has never seen Animated Items before will still recognize every item at a glance.
- Ores, ingots, and gems: iron, gold, copper, diamond, emerald, netherite, and amethyst
- Combat gear: iron, gold, diamond, and netherite swords, plus every armor piece in gold, iron, copper, diamond, and netherite
- Light sources: torches, lanterns, and campfires, including their soul variants and the copper lantern
- Liquids and mob drops: water and lava buckets, bucket-caught fish, axolotls, and tadpoles
- Notable one-offs: totem of undying, eye of ender, end crystal, wind charge, echo shard, and the golden apple
Companion mods and emissive textures
No companion mod is required for the base animations to play. From resource pack version 1.4 onward, glowing items such as torches and lanterns also ship an emissive layer, but that glow only renders with Continuity or OptiFine installed; without either, the item still animates, just without the extra light. The pack also recognizes two other Modrinth projects when they are installed alongside it: the Tool Trims mod, which unlocks 220 additional animated sword-trim textures, and the Combat Expansion data pack, which extends the same animation set to its katanas, claymores, daggers, and cutlass.
Animated Items in action
This community showcase from Critters Mod Menagerie covers an earlier 1.2 release of the pack. The animation set has grown substantially since, but the video still gives a clear sense of how the looping textures look in play.
Animated Items showcase
Installing Animated Items
For a fuller walkthrough on managing packs on both editions, see how to install Minecraft resource packs.
- 1.Download the resource pack zip file from the source link below without unzipping it.
- 2.In Minecraft Java Edition, open Options, then Resource Packs.
- 3.Click Open Pack Folder and drop the zip file into the folder that opens.
- 4.Select Animated Items from Available and move it into Active.
Supported Minecraft versions
Animated Items currently covers Java Edition 1.18 through the 26.2 release, with the newest build, v1.6.3 published in August 2026, adding animated copper gear and copper lantern variants. The project has no Bedrock Edition build; it is Java-only.
Known limitations
- Java Edition only. There is no Bedrock or Marketplace version of this pack.
- The emissive glow on torches, lanterns, and similar items needs Continuity or OptiFine; without one, those items still animate but stay unlit.
- Licensed CC BY-NC 4.0: free to install and share with credit, but reposting or reselling it commercially needs the creator's permission.
- Item stats, crafting, and models stay vanilla; this is a pure animation-texture pack, not a full retexture.
Questions about Animated Items.
5 questions
What does Animated Items change in Minecraft?
Animated Items is a resource pack that gives more than 70 vanilla items a looping animation instead of a static icon, covering swords, ingots, light sources, and one-off items like the totem of undying. It does not touch stats, crafting recipes, or block models, and works immediately once the pack is active.
Does Animated Items need OptiFine?
No. The core animations play with nothing else installed. From pack version 1.4 onward, a few items such as torches and lanterns also carry an emissive glow layer, and that glow only renders with Continuity or OptiFine active; without either, those items still animate normally.
Which Minecraft version does Animated Items support?
Animated Items supports Java Edition from 1.18 through the current 26.2 release. The creator updates it alongside new Minecraft drops, and the newest build as of this writing is v1.6.3, published in August 2026.
Can I use Animated Items on Bedrock Edition?
No. Animated Items is built and distributed only for Minecraft Java Edition. There is no Bedrock or Marketplace version of the pack, and the vanilla-style texture animation format it uses is Java-specific.
Is Animated Items free to use?
Yes, downloading and installing Animated Items costs nothing. It is licensed CC BY-NC 4.0, so personal use and sharing with credit are both fine, but repackaging or reselling it for commercial purposes needs the creator's permission first.
