In the vast world of Minecraft, capes are a rare sight because you don’t just stumble upon them like iron ingots or diamonds.
They’re usually given away to players for their contribution to the Minecraft community, like attending their prestigious conventions or winning certain awards.
Capes in Minecraft are a sign that the player has fought, discovered, and built hard in the game over the course of their playtime.
Although they provide no combat benefit, there’s an aura among wearers because they’re as rare as they’re cool and iconic.
Moreover, while capes can also be accessed through mods available on the internet, such modifications will only be visible to you and anyone else using the same mod.
Either way, if you’re ready to get your hands on one, here’s how to do it!
How To Get Cape in Minecraft – No Mods Required
Capes are one of the more elusive items in Minecraft. They’re only given out to users who attend certain events or complete specific tasks, like attending the real-world MINECON event from 2011 to 2016. Mojang brought these capes back for MINECON 2019, but only for Bedrock Edition players.
Mapmakers who’ve had their maps accepted into the Realms Content Creator Program and earned enough points might be awarded a cape, as well.
If you bought the Java Edition before December 2020, converting your legacy account into a Microsoft account will get you the “Migrator” cape.
Unless you’ve been lucky enough to earn one of these special capes, there’s no easy way to get one without mods.
Additionally, players who attended Minecon events before 2022 can simply search their email for a code that will give them access to their original capes.
There are also a few capes that any player can get at any time, but they’re exclusive to Bedrock Edition. The “Pan Cape” is given to players who download the beta versions of Bedrock Edition, and then opt into those betas.
Using Mods to Acquire Cape in Minecraft
Luckily for us all, there are a lot of options when it comes to getting a cape in Minecraft. However, there’s one mod that stands above the rest and is worth shelling out your hard-earned cash for the OptiFine mod.
OptiFine is the popular mod that revamps Minecraft’s graphics engine and lets you optimize the game for your computer.
It supports everything from shaders to resource packs, and can even help with lag if your computer isn’t up to snuff.
It also lets you design and wears custom capes, but unlike the mod’s other features, capes are locked at the start.
But don’t worry! There’s a simple way to unlock this feature and more. All you have to do is donate $10 to the OptiFine team and choose your cape design from this webpage.
Once your cape is active, you should see it appear on your character the next time you open the game.
If it’s not, make sure that you have OptiFine installed and capes turned on in-game: Open Options, then Skin Customization, and then make sure Cape is set to ON.
Also, keep in mind that other Minecraft players you meet online won’t be able to see your capes unless they’ve also got OptiFine installed. And although most Minecraft servers support it, some servers will temporarily remove your cape.
The best part about having a custom cape is that you can turn it into whatever you want. You can change the design at any time (or temporarily deactivate it) by opening Minecraft, selecting Options, Skin Customization, OptiFine Cape, and then Open Cape Editor.
Minecraft Cape Designs Across Different Versions of The Game
Throughout the time, Minecraft has released several different cape designs for title iterations across platforms. Here’s a handy list of cape designs available on different versions of the game:
Java Edition Capes
Mojang Capes
- Classic Mojang Cape – Several people who work for Mojang have this pattern on their capes. It was used from December 20, 2010, to October 7, 2015.
- Original Mojang Cape – Employees at Mojang Studios have been awarded this cape for their exceptional contributions to the Minecraft community.
- Mojang Studios Cape – A select few employees of Mojang Studios have this cape. This design has been adorned by its followers since July 25, 2023. It was designed by Johan Aronson and it resembles the “Mojang’s” or “gizmos” that make up the Mojang Studios logo.
Minecon Capes
- Minecon 2011-2016 Capes – The commemorative capes handed out at MINECON 2011-2016 can be redeemed with a redemption code emailed to all who scanned their tickets at the event entrance.
Festival Capes
- Minecraft Festival 2022 Cape – This regal cape will be given to those in attendance at the convention held in Orlando in 2022. The very fine cape will be available for both Java and Bedrock Edition owners to all attendees.
Personal Capes
- Bacon Cape – This luxurious cape was created by Miclee in honor of Notch. However, due to the idea of other users asking for personal capes, it was removed from Miclee.
- Millionth Customer Cape – This cape, which was bequeathed to akronman1 for buying the 1,000,000th copy of Minecraft on the website (the lucky customer received it as a reward), made him feel like he was part of something important for a minute.
- Danny B Style’s Cape – This cape was a gift to Danny B Style, a video game music composer, from Markus Persson, the creator of Minecraft. The cape was given to Danny B Style as a token of gratitude for his musical contributions to the game.
- Julian Clark’s Cape – Julian Clark’s cape was rumored to have been given to him by Notch the TV presenter and actor Ray Cokes.
- Cheapsh0t’s Cape – This intricately crafted cape was awarded to cheapsh0t in 2013 for assisting the Mojang team in Tokyo. The design pattern incorporates a Japanese flag.
- MrMessiah’s Cape – In recognition of his work on BetterLight, a mod to Minecraft, the developers of Minecraft decided to give MrMessiah a cape.
- Prismarine Cape – a symbol of creativity and diligence, this cape was crafted for Drullkus as an acknowledgment of his willingness to create the prismsarine blocks in his Chisel mod rather than using Mojang’s textures. Jeb himself had this cape created long before reaching out to Drullkus, but never had an opportunity to present it.
- Birthday Cape – a gift from the community to one of the founders of Minecraft.
Insider Capes
- Translator Cape – Some proofreaders have been rewarded with a special Translator cape in recognition of their exceptional contributions to the translation project.
- Chinese Translator Cape – The Chinese Translator Cape is a very rare cape awarded for major contributions to the Chinese translation of Minecraft. One side of the cape is purple and the other is a pixelated Chinese flag. It currently has three wearers, which are sjjklh, Craft_Lawrence, and Powup333.
- Scrolls Champion Cape – In November 2014, Mojang began giving the Scrolls Champion cape to any players who won five weekly tournaments of the online game Scrolls. The capes were also given to the top finishers at the first annual Scrolls Tournament at Minecon.
- Cobalt Cape – In 2016, the Cobalt cape was presented to the winners of level-making competitions and Cobalt League tournaments. The design of the cape’s elytra texture is based on a wasp enemy from Cobalt.
- Mojira Moderator Cape – An exclusive cape for the bug tracking moderators of Mojang.
- Realms Mapmaker Cape – The recipient of this cape was recognized as a top-notch mapmaker in the Java Realms Content Creator Program.
- Turtle Cape – This decorative cape was given to billyK_ for suggesting the addition of turtles into the game. Only Mojang Employees were able to wear this cape up until its removal.
- Migrator Cape – This cape is given out to players that migrated their Mojang or legacy account to a Microsoft account starting on July 9, 2021. The official design of this cape was released by Ined on Twitter on June 30, 2021.
Bedrock Edition Capes
Character Creator Capes
- Founder’s Cape – If you have $10 million to spare, you can purchase The Founder’s Cape from the Minecraft Marketplace.
- The Pan Cape – This cape is given to Bedrock Edition players as a reward by the character creator. When elytra are worn with the cape, a pancake design is visible. A stylized version of this cape can be seen as the icon for the capes tab in the character creator.
- Mojang Studios Cape – The Mojang Cape was introduced in the December 10, 2021 update. This is a cape that can only be equipped by Mojang employees and current owners of the cape.
Unconventional Capes
- Microsoft Xbox Cape – The Minecraft Xbox cape was an exclusive gift to all Microsoft employees who played on the Xbox 360 version of Minecraft.
Skin Pack Capes
- Ender Dragon Wings Cape – The Ender Dragon Wings cape was a skin element (and could only be seen while the skin was equipped) in the 1st Birthday Skin Pack. The skin is no longer available, but the cape continues to exist.
- Devil’s Cape – This cape was made for the Devil skin included in the Halloween Mash-Up and cannot be shown without the skin equipped.
- Dracula’s Cape – The Dracula Skin for the Vampire included in the Halloween Mash-Up Pack was furnished with a cape that could only be seen when the skin was equipped.
- Evil Wizard’s Cape – This sumptuous cape is tailor-made for the Evil Wizard skin included in the Halloween Mash-Up.
- Bride of Frankenstein’s Cape – This cape was made for the Bride of Frankenstein skin included in the Halloween Mash-Up and can be only shown with the skin.
- The Grim Reaper’s Cape – The Reaper’s Cape is a cosmetic item that can be displayed while wearing the Grim Reaper Skin.
- Wicked Witch’s Cape – This luxurious, deep purple velvet cape was made for the Wicked Witch’s skin and can only be shown when the skin is equipped.
Xbox 360 Avatar Capes
- 1st Birthday Cape – A special Birthday cape was awarded from May 9 to 13, 2013 to all players of the Xbox 360 Edition. This cape did not exist in any other edition of Minecraft.
- Minecraft Cape – Purchasable at the Xbox 360 Marketplace, this cape is meant to be displayed on an avatar.
The Elytra
When a player equips Elytra over their cape, the elytra will adopt the design of the player’s cape. If a player does not have a cape, the Elytra will appear to float behind them.
Elytra is only obtainable in the End through an Ender Dragon or from killing a Guardian. Elytra is only found in the creative inventory tab.
Final Words
In our opinion, the cape allows for a bit of personal style in Minecraft. With the addition of capes in Minecraft, you can now set yourself apart from other players and give yourself a unique look.
If you’ve never played with capes before, then we highly recommend giving them a shot. You won’t be disappointed.
