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Let's talk about Armor Trims!

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The upcoming 1.20 update will introduce a way to customize your armor with a new feature - armor trims - and you can try them out right now! Armor trims come in various patterns which you can find in the form of smithing templates hidden across the Minecraft world and can then be crafted with the smithing table in all manner of creative combinations!

To find out more about the feature check out the latest snapshot changelog. 

As with any new feature, we want to hear your feedback as we continue to fine-tune armor trims ahead of the release. Alongside your general feedback, we also have some specific questions which we’re hoping to help us iron out the design.  

  • How challenging is it to find Smithing Templates, and is it rewarding?
  • Does searching the world for Smithing Templates feel adventurous?
  • Do the diamond requirements for copying Smithing Templates make them feel rare or special?
  • Does applying armor trims with the redesigned Smithing Table feel intuitive?
  • How do armor trims look visually?
  • Are you able to be creative when combining different types of patterns on separate armor pieces?

Let us know your feedback, ideas, and suggestions for this feature in the comments!

How to test new Minecraft Features: 
https://www.minecraft.net/en-us/article/testing-new-minecraft-features

Latest Changelogs:

You can find all previous changelogs in the Knowledge Base in the "Beta Information and Changelogs" category.

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  • 0
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    The trim upgrades are fine, but the netherite upgrade cost is unnecessarily punishing for endgame players coming from older worlds.  It's a huge cost increase with no benefit.  The goal of incentivizing players to stay in diamond is silly; there are totally underutilized armor classes before diamond which need incentive before diamond, and diamond is arguably the cheapest once villagers are achieved unless there is a nerf there as well.  The endgame community has been vocal about reducing friction to the endgame (see all the problems with endgame inventory and how limited building can be with a wide palette), and this change is specifically raising a barrier for endgame players.  The netherite smithing template either needs to cost less (or none) to copy, or netherite needs to have a HUGE buff to offset the increased cost.  I have some ideas on that:

    1) Like elytra, netherite should not disappear when broken, but enter a state where it has to be repaired.  This applies to tools and armor.
    2) Netherite armor, as it's made of gold, should disable piglin anger
    3) Just like the turtle helmet gives 10 seconds of respiration in water, any piece of netherite armor should give 10 seconds of fire resistance 2 in lava.  Not all fire (like blaze) but specifically lava.

  • 13
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    Add prismarine?

  • 0
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    i don't feel that there's a good reason why mojang didn't make armor trims for leather armor. by adding armor trims to all armor types except leather, mojang is making leather armor pointless. Adding armor trims would add a lot more customization to armor, as there is no purple or white or orange armor in the game except for dyed leather. its not like this idea doesn't 'make sense' all it is is like iron or diamond wires on leather, so its not like something that couldn't exist in real life. 

  • 0
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    I think the rarity of finding them is enough "rarity". The diamond cost isnt terribly burdensome, it adds to the incentive to mine.

    It might be desirable to somehow include a way to sacrifice a high value item like a shard to have the materials benefits apply to the armor (gold trim pacifies piglins, netherite adds small knockback resistance, diamond adds durability, emerald increases villager stats, etc)

    As for the designs themselves, half of them are too similar, and they look greek in design. I understand the texture resolution is limiting, I hope you guys can work your magic and tweak the designs a bit. We could do with a more menacing set.

    Im also not a fan of the rib being darker, maybe add lighter pixels for a "glint"?

    As for gold armor, I think it would be desirable to include some way to add a special design template that used multiple materials for a "jewel encrusted" look.

    Pie in the sky request: each template could maybe offer new helmet shapes/designs? Like a sauron helm, crown, circlet, greathelm, etc.

    The new shapes could help offer more leeway with the designs as well as offer more vanilla RP options, and it leans into the medieval design of the game.

  • 0
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    IMO the armor trims are wayyyy too expensive. The excitement of finding one early-game would be severely undercut by the fact that I'm too poor to use it. It'd probably collect dust in an item frame somewhere until I finally get netherite armor, which I think is a shame.

    I think it'd be so cool if the armor trims could serve as a visual expression of your adventures throughout your playthrough. In their current state, though, you're discouraged from using the trims for self-expression and encouraged to hold on to them to use as a late-game flex. For most common purposes, you would NEVER see these used on iron or gold armor, at least not by someone who doesnt have resources to burn.

    I think a good medium would be to add a durability meter similar to the elytra's to the tablets. You could use them maybe four times before having to repair them at an anvil with Blackstone or netherrack or whatever. This would still provide a tradeoff of XP for deciding to use the design, but it won't have the ridiculous downside of permanently trashing your rare and valuable item if used early on.

  • 0
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    Some Of The Armor Trims (vex for example) Are Extremely Rare, Considering The Structures They Spawn In Are Rare Themselves Without Too Many Chests.
    Needing 7 Diamonds For Every Armor Trim Template Copy Also Seems Way Too Expensive For No Reason Other Than To Be Expensive Without Much Regards To Gameplay, As Well, Especially For Just A Cosmetic Option. The Netherite Upgrading Option Also Seems Expensive, But Not Nearly Quite As Much Considering The Importance Of Netherite Gear.
    Now, For Suggestions, I Would Suggest The Use Of Bone, Nautilus Shells, Scute/Turtle Shells, Prismarine, Purpur, And Possibly Echo Shards As Other Armor Trim Options. Bone Being Similar To Quartz Color-wise, But With Orange Yellow Undertones, Scute Being A Darker Green Than Emerald, Nautilus Shells Being A Nice Orange And Cream Color Scheme, And Purpur Being A Pinker One. Prismarine And Echo Shards Could Possibly Be Animated Like The Blocks/Items Themselves, Slowly Changing Hues And Twinkling, Altho That Might Be Too Much Work For Such A Small Addition, Assuming It's Possible At All. Other Suggestions Would Be Weapon Trims For Swords And Axes, And Horse Armor Trims (possibly being found in villages?) As Others Have Suggested As Well.
    I'd Also Like To See Material Trim On The Same Armor Material (i.e. diamond armor trim on diamond armor), It'd Be Another Nice Customization Option With No Downsides.

  • 15
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    How likely is it that one day the new armor customization will glow in the dark? I clarify that what they have done is WONDERFUL!

  • 0
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    I think it would make more sense to change the recipe slightly, just to make it a bit less expensive. 7 diamonds is a lot for something that's only cosmetic. I think the diamond cost for upgrading is fine, but for a *trim*?

    ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    D = Diamond, S = Stone, T = Trim
    SDS
    DTD   -   THIS is a better recipe (IMO) for a trim. Less diamonds, but still not an insubstantial amount. 
    SDS
    ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    ALSO, I believe this is a bug but currently upgrading diamond armor with a netherite trim keeps the trim on the netherite, which is otherwise impossible to get. I really hope you all don't remove this. It's really cool and a major flex considering it's twice the netherite (and especially considering getting netherite armor in the first place is now much harder).

  • 0
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    The designs are rather "busy". Im not feeling the specific themes, however nice they are for the lore aspect. The Vex template is probably the worst of them (the helmet eyebrows are interesting enough for mix and matching). Its less trim and customization and more of like a faction banner. I think people want cabochons and gilded edges, rusted/withered aesthetics, aquatic/desert/jungle/snowsuit vibes. An intuitive design scheme that inherently tells the player where to go for their desired look.

    The helmet patterns are the least interesting feature. Some tweaks are sorely needed. Ward and Dune chestplate designs need to be raised one or two pixels.

    People seem to be 50/50 on the new glint, maybe add a slider if thats feasible? Personally I would just tone it down slightly and also offer a way to pick the color of the enchantment sheen (and possibly new animations, like a ripple starting from the center 🥺🙏🏻)

  • 1
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    COOLER ARMOR TRIMS: SKULK

    you should be able to add a skulk shard with a template to give the armor a cool new skulk colored trim

  • 0
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    I feel like the price with diamonds is going to make these (as well as the upgrades) INSANELY difficult to get on servers with more than like, 10 people. It can become nearly impossible to find diamonds mining after about a week on a server of medium size. This was never really a problem before, since you can get diamond armor other ways (villagers). But now that you're going to need more actual diamonds... yeahhh. I can absolutely see a problem with multiplayer. Only real way I know this could be fixed would be to change the recipe to not use diamonds - which defeats the purpose of making them more useful - or to make diamonds renewable in some way, hopefully a way that isn't too insanely OP (though with how easy it is to get diamond tools and armor I'm not too sure it would really make much of a difference).

  • 0
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    I LOVE this idea. The amount of excitement that I have heard from those around me has been amazing! My only request is that the templates be re-useable like the banner patterns. If they were reusable I can see people opening up shops on smps where they offer services to customize your armor. This will also solve the problem of having it be a limited resource. I play on two long term smps where world borders could mean that if you join the world a year or two after it started, you are forced to wear "boring" armor because all the templates were used up, or enough chunks were already loaded before the update that there isn't enough to go round.

  • 1
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    Echo shard armor trim would be awsome

  • 0
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    Armor is a good start. I think its time to give players the ability to craft capes in all 16 colors, and hear me out here: utilize the banner crafting or something like it for designs.

    Id also like to see this extend to Elytra. Can we also do something about looking shirtless when an Elytra is equipped lol? Dont need any advantages or armor, just pure aesthetics. If the trim doesnt do anything then it'd be nice to appear as if you had X chestplate while the Elytra is equipped. Or some straps or something? A barrel with suspenders?

  • 0
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    it is perfect as it is, the only thing i could add is to let all materials be used for their own type of armor, the netherite with netherite looks pretty good with the subtle details and i think it wouldnt hurt anyone if all the armors could have their own material as a trim.

    sorry for bad english, i am from argentina :)

  • 1
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    First i would like to say, i love the idea for the new armor trims. However i have a few notes.

    1.I would love to be able to use glow ink/glow stone dust with it. either make the colours brighter, or give them a slight glow affect.

    2. I you could use it on dyed leather armor, perhaps on leather armor you would you use dyes, and glow ink instead of the regular materials.

    3.If you could use prismarine with them, give it that gradient colour changing affect that prismarine has, i think would look really cool. also the same thing would look cool with magma 

    .4 Lastly, and I don't mean to come off as rude with this one, as I love the work you guys do. However there only two to three good designs, while a lot of them there's just a line going across the chest, with some slight slope change. I think the vex is a great one, as it instantly communicates where you got it. Plus looks really cool. But a lot of them look the same, and are rather boring, which is unfortunate as I really like the idea.

  • 0
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    If you wanted the complete Spire set youd have to find 4 templates in the End or copy one 4 times (leaving an extra in case you wanted the same design on a different material).

    IMO this is a problem for any large server, where people might not feel compelled to preserve templates for copying or trading. For a purely cosmetic upgrade this seems rather convoluted. Its not a terrible way to do it, but it could be more sustainable.

    It wouldnt be fun to have to travel 10k blocks in the End, Nether or OW in the hopes you can scrape up a single template because everything has been picked clean.

    I suggest making it so when a player obtains a template or crafts a design, they "learn" it and can make them provided they have the materials.

    This consumes the template, requiring others to find their own, yes, but also encourages cooperation and adds to the player economy so when pickings are slim people can at least obtain a design from a "blacksmith" player if all else fails, or "apprentice" others by selling templates (guilds based on designs!)

    This change would help on servers while still preserving the incentive to explore in singleplayer.

  • 22
    Registered User commented
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    There should be a challenge advancement for collecting every decorative smithing template.

  • 0
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    Having smithing templates be duplicatable kinda messes with the showing off on the server aspect, as once someone with an abundance of diamonds gets one the server gets flooded. I'd much rather they be infinite use, or perhaps have durability and need repairing.

  • 0
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    Positive it has been said before, but trims on tools would be great. I don't think there should be a unique trim for each template, as it would probably be too difficult to make that many with the limited space, but it could be that every template makes the same trim.

    No matter what the outcome is, I'd really love to have trimmed tools, it would be great to have tools that match my armor, and it would also provide a really easy way to distinguish certain enchantments at a glance (like a silk touch pick vs normal pick) Also... maybe trim bows too??? I neeeeed customization

  • 0
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    The templates remind me of runes. Add a tab to the smithing table with slots. When you obtain a template, put it into your smithing table. This "consumes" the template, imbuing the table with the ability to create as many of that type as you want. You can see your progression and which "runes" you need looking at the table. This progression is unique to you and any other player that interacts with the table will only see their progression (like an Enderchest). This applies to any smithing table you craft (or not!)

    People who want a specific set but arent interested in hunting for it can commission pieces from other players instead. Progression is purely up to the player. No risk of mistakes or misapplied templates (you can still risk dying and dropping a template on your way to insert it into the table).

    I dont find the idea of adding things solely to consume our glut of items a very compelling gameplay challenge. Sooner or later you'll end up with a surplus of any given item. Sustainability is always the better option.

  • 1
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    I think that glow ink and echo shards should be a trim as well, like glow ink making the trim glow and the echo shards making the trim sparkle. I also think the diamond price for duplicating a template is too expensive, maybe 4 diamonds instead. Otherwise, good feature.

  • 1
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    I like the idea of the trims, but if they are purely decorative, they shouldn't be this costly. The trim templates shouldn't be consumed, in my opinion. I would like to see additional colours available (i.e. more additive material options). Weapons and tools with trims could also be useful. If the trims themselves provided benefits then the consumption of the templates would be understandable, but reducing the cost to duplicate would be a happy medium.

    I don't truly understand or agree with the rationale behind making netherite upgrades more difficult than they currently are. Perhaps increasing the benefits of using netherite would be a fair trade-off. Otherwise I can see it putting players off from making the effort/paying the cost, since losing all your upgraded armour/tools to the void or despawn after death is always a risk.

  • 12
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    I think duplicating trim is currently way too expensive for a purely cosmetic change. I think using amethyst instead of diamonds for the duplication recipe would be better, as amethyst doesn't have many uses, and amethyst is already used to duplicate allays.

  • 0
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    Los patrones podrían tener características especiales, los elegirías según tu modo de juego. Ej: una pequeña mejora de velocidad / menos bajada de saturación de hambre. Al ser tan caras y meramente estéticas a muchos no nos merecen la pena.
    Sería una forma de customizar tu armadura (que también se podría aplicar a herramientas) a lo que mejor funcione con tu modo de juego. Es el sandbox más abierto y con menos posibilidades respecto a herramientas y armadura. //
    The patterns could have special features, you would choose them according to the form you play Ex: a small speed buff / less hunger saturation drop. Being so expensive and merely aesthetic, many of us are not worth it.
    It would be a way to customize your armor (which could also be applied to tools) to what works best with your gameplay. It is the most open sandbox and with the least possibilities regarding tools and armor

  • 0
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    i love this HOWEVER i think the default trim (the one to upgrade diamond to netherite) needs to be craftable

  • 0
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    • Do the diamond requirements for copying Smithing Templates make them feel rare or special?

    In my opinion, they should be made with iron, gold, or amethyst. While diamonds have been used to make items that more cosmetic like jukeboxes and fireworks, they make the armor trims far too expensive for something purely cosmetic.   If you really want to use diamonds maybe the templates can become "broken" like elytra do when it runs of durability and just make the broken template repairable with diamonds in an anvil.   Either making the armor trims with something less expensive, or making them reusable like banner designs or broken elytra would make it more accessible for something entirely cosmetic.

  • 0
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    So far i think the features looks very nice, but in my personal opinion.It looks kinda odd when i applied it  on any armor tier other than netherite.While the netherite itself looks extremely well, but on other armor tier it looks kinda like it was slapped into the armor texture.
    I think its because the difference of how other armor tier and netherite textured.Netherite have some details and patterns, it looks well when you add trims in it, meanwhile other armor looks bland, no pattern and no details making it weird to see trim in there, it looks like some random stripe drawn into the armor.Thats my thought about it,idk if you guys will consider texture rework on old armor tiers. Thank you!!

  • 3
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    Also the "vex" trim on boots should look like an evoker's feet rather than its legs.

  • 1
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    It'd be nice if the trim_type predicate applied to non-armour items too, a data pack could then add trims to other items using the smithing table UI