> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://items.lodemc.net/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# 3D armour

> Armour worn in full 3D from a Blockbench model, with shader-pack support and a flat fallback.

Give a set a Blockbench model, and players see it worn in full 3D: horns, shoulder pads, capes, anything you can build out of cubes. It moves with the arms and legs and works on players, armour stands and grown-up mobs (baby mobs wear it flat).

```yaml items/armor/lodestone/lodestone.yml theme={null}
lodestone_helmet:
  material: netherite_helmet
  name: "<gray>Lodestone Helm"
  texture: lodestone_helmet.png          # the item icon
  armor:
    set: lodestone
    model: lodestone_armor.bbmodel       # the 3D look, for the whole set
    body: lodestone_layer_1.png          # flat look: helmet, chestplate, boots
    legs: lodestone_layer_2.png          # flat look: leggings

lodestone_chestplate:
  material: netherite_chestplate
  name: "<gray>Lodestone Cuirass"
  texture: lodestone_chestplate.png
  armor: { set: lodestone }
```

This is the Lodestone set that Lode Items installs on first start, in `items/armor/lodestone/`. Open its `lodestone_armor.bbmodel` in Blockbench to see how a 3D set is built.

Each piece still has its own item icon (`texture:`), a normal 16×16 item texture. Everything else about [sets](https://items.lodemc.net/armor.md#sets) (effects, `full-set`) works as for flat armour.

## Building the model

Build it in Blockbench around a player, with each body part's cubes in a bone (group) named after it:

| Piece | Bone names |
| - | - |
| Helmet | `head`, `helmet` |
| Chestplate | `torso` (or `chest`, `body`), `right_arm`, `left_arm` |
| Leggings | `hips` (or `waist`, `belt`), `right_leg`, `left_leg` |
| Boots | `right_boot`, `left_boot` (or `right_foot`, `left_foot`) |

* Cubes can be rotated and inflated, and nested bones work too. Only cubes are supported, not meshes.
* Keep the player in the default pose (standing, arms down). The bones follow vanilla's joints: neck, shoulders and hips.
* Save the textures inside the model (Blockbench does this by default), or keep them next to it.

## Shader packs (Iris)

Shader packs replace the game's own shaders, so Lode Items also writes the model as a **custom entity model** for the [EMF](https://modrinth.com/mod/entity-model-features) and [ETF](https://modrinth.com/mod/entitytexturefeatures) mods. Players with **Iris, EMF and ETF** see it in 3D, shader pack and all.

Iris players without EMF and ETF see the flat look.

> [!NOTE]
>
> EMF's model format can't turn a face's texture a quarter turn, so faces rotated 90° or 270° show unturned for these players. The console warns when a model has any.
>
> Armour no 3D set picks keeps its normal look for EMF players, and other EMF armour packs keep working.

## The flat look

Not every player can see 3D armour, so each set also needs a flat look. It is used:

* by players with Iris but without EMF and ETF,
* on Macs and other graphics drivers without subgroup support,
* for armour further away than `armor.3d-distance` blocks (default 48) in [config.yml](https://items.lodemc.net/configuration.md#armor).

Give it as usual with `body:` and `legs:`, or add two textures named `…layer_1` and `…layer_2` to the Blockbench model, and Lode Items uses those. A piece with nothing modelled is always worn flat.

## Limits

> [!WARNING]
>
> 3D armour can't be `dyeable`: the layer colours are what tell the game which part of the model to draw. Armour trims and the enchantment glint still draw on the plain armour shape.

> [!NOTE]
>
> 3D armour comes with a replacement for the game's entity shader, so resource packs that also replace it (ModelEngine's shader, for example) can't be used at the same time. Lode Items' version wins and the console says so.

[Bedrock players](https://items.lodemc.net/bedrock.md) see 3D sets in 3D too.


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