Armor

The armor system uses ArmorItem to handle wearable protection. There are five material tiers and four equipment slots.

Key source files: Minecraft.World/ArmorItem.h, Minecraft.World/ArmorItem.cpp

ArmorItem

Each ArmorItem is built with an ArmorMaterial, a render index, and a slot index.

Constructor

ArmorItem(int id, const ArmorMaterial *armorType, int renderIndex, int slot);

Parameter	Description
id	Item ID offset (constructor adds 256)
armorType	Pointer to an ArmorMaterial constant
renderIndex	Which armor model texture layer to use (0-4 for vanilla materials)
slot	Which body slot (0=head, 1=torso, 2=legs, 3=feet)

The constructor sets:

• maxStackSize = 1
• maxDamage = healthPerSlot[slot] * armorType->getDurabilityMultiplier()

Member variables

Field	Type	Description
slot	int	Equipment slot index
defense	int	Defense points for this piece (from armorType->slotProtections[slot])
renderIndex	int	Texture layer index for rendering
armorType	const ArmorMaterial *	The material this armor is made from

ArmorMaterial

Defined in: ArmorItem::ArmorMaterial (nested class in ArmorItem.h), instantiated as _ArmorMaterial

Constructor

ArmorMaterial(int durabilityMultiplier, const int slotProtections[4], int enchantmentValue);

Parameter	Description
durabilityMultiplier	Multiplied by per-slot base health to get total durability
slotProtections	Array of 4 defense values: {helmet, chestplate, leggings, boots}
enchantmentValue	How well this armor takes enchantments

Material definitions

const ArmorMaterial *CLOTH   = new ArmorMaterial( 5, {1,3,2,1}, 15);
const ArmorMaterial *CHAIN   = new ArmorMaterial(15, {2,5,4,1}, 12);
const ArmorMaterial *IRON    = new ArmorMaterial(15, {2,6,5,2},  9);
const ArmorMaterial *GOLD    = new ArmorMaterial( 7, {2,5,3,1}, 25);
const ArmorMaterial *DIAMOND = new ArmorMaterial(33, {3,8,6,3}, 10);

Material	Durability Multiplier	Defense (H/C/L/B)	Total Defense	Enchantability
Cloth (Leather)	5	1 / 3 / 2 / 1	7	15
Chain	15	2 / 5 / 4 / 1	12	12
Iron	15	2 / 6 / 5 / 2	15	9
Gold	7	2 / 5 / 3 / 1	11	25
Diamond	33	3 / 8 / 6 / 3	20	10

Repair items

The getTierItemId() method uses pointer identity checks (comparing this against static constants) to return the repair item:

Material	Repair Item
Cloth	Leather (Item::leather, ID 334)
Chain	Iron Ingot (Item::ironIngot, ID 265)
Iron	Iron Ingot (Item::ironIngot, ID 265)
Gold	Gold Ingot (Item::goldIngot, ID 266)
Diamond	Diamond (Item::diamond, ID 264)

If none match (custom material), returns -1.

Armor Slots

Constant	Value	Slot Name
SLOT_HEAD	0	Helmet
SLOT_TORSO	1	Chestplate
SLOT_LEGS	2	Leggings
SLOT_FEET	3	Boots

Health Per Slot (Base Durability)

Durability is calculated as healthPerSlot[slot] * durabilityMultiplier.

static const int healthPerSlot[] = {11, 16, 15, 13};

Slot	Base Health	Purpose
Helmet	11	Multiplied by material multiplier for final durability
Chestplate	16	Highest base, so chestplates are always the most durable
Leggings	15	Second highest
Boots	13	Third highest

Complete Armor Table

Piece	ID	Material	Defense	Durability	Enchantability
Leather Helmet	298	Cloth	1	55 (11*5)	15
Leather Chestplate	299	Cloth	3	80 (16*5)	15
Leather Leggings	300	Cloth	2	75 (15*5)	15
Leather Boots	301	Cloth	1	65 (13*5)	15
Chain Helmet	302	Chain	2	165 (11*15)	12
Chain Chestplate	303	Chain	5	240 (16*15)	12
Chain Leggings	304	Chain	4	225 (15*15)	12
Chain Boots	305	Chain	1	195 (13*15)	12
Iron Helmet	306	Iron	2	165 (11*15)	9
Iron Chestplate	307	Iron	6	240 (16*15)	9
Iron Leggings	308	Iron	5	225 (15*15)	9
Iron Boots	309	Iron	2	195 (13*15)	9
Diamond Helmet	310	Diamond	3	363 (11*33)	10
Diamond Chestplate	311	Diamond	8	528 (16*33)	10
Diamond Leggings	312	Diamond	6	495 (15*33)	10
Diamond Boots	313	Diamond	3	429 (13*33)	10
Gold Helmet	314	Gold	2	77 (11*7)	25
Gold Chestplate	315	Gold	5	112 (16*7)	25
Gold Leggings	316	Gold	3	105 (15*7)	25
Gold Boots	317	Gold	1	91 (13*7)	25

Chain armor: not craftable

In the Java source, chain armor is crafted using fire blocks (Tile::fire). But 4J Studios commented this out in the ArmorRecipes class:

// 4J-PB - removing the chain armour, since we show all possible recipes
// in the xbox game, and it's not one you can make
// ADD_OBJECT(map[0],Tile::fire);

Chain armor still exists in the game (IDs 302-305), but there is no crafting recipe for it. It can only be obtained through other means like mob drops or commands.

Leather Armor Dyeing

Leather armor (ArmorMaterial::CLOTH) supports custom colors through NBT. The color data lives at tag.display.color as an integer.

Default color

When no custom color is set, getColor() returns DEFAULT_LEATHER_COLOR, which maps to eMinecraftColour_Armour_Default_Leather_Colour.

Sprite layers

Leather armor has two sprite layers (checked via hasMultipleSpriteLayers()):

1. Base layer (getIcon(0)) gets tinted with the custom color
2. Overlay layer (getIcon(1)) renders untinted, providing detail that stays the same regardless of dye

This dual-layer system is why leather armor always has those little accent details that stay the same color even when you dye it.

Empty slot icons

getEmptyIcon() returns the grayscale armor slot icon shown in the player’s armor equipment slots when no armor is equipped.

How dyeing works

Dyeing happens through the ArmorDyeRecipe crafting recipe, which combines leather armor with one or more DyePowderItem instances. See Crafting & Recipes for the details on that system.

ArmorItem methods

Method	Description
getMaterial()	Returns the ArmorMaterial pointer
getDefense()	Returns defense value for this piece
getColor(ItemInstance *)	Returns custom color from NBT, or default
hasMultipleSpriteLayers()	Returns true only for CLOTH material
getIcon(int layer)	Layer 0 = base, layer 1 = overlay (CLOTH only)
getEmptyIcon()	Grayscale slot icon for empty armor slots
isValidRepairItem(source, repair)	Checks if repair item matches material’s getTierItemId()
getEnchantmentValue()	Returns the material’s enchantment value

MinecraftConsoles differences

The armor system is mostly unchanged. Same five materials, same defense values, same durability multipliers.

The main difference is naming: the CLOTH material’s item fields are renamed from _cloth to _leather (e.g., boots_cloth becomes boots_leather, helmet_cloth becomes helmet_leather, etc.). This is just a naming cleanup to match vanilla Minecraft’s conventions. The ArmorMaterial enum value itself is still CLOTH internally.

MinecraftConsoles also adds horse armor items (horseArmorMetal, horseArmorGold, horseArmorDiamond), but those are not wearable by players. They are equipment for the new horse entity. Horse armor protection values are defined in EntityHorse as ARMOR_PROTECTION[4] for none/iron/gold/diamond.