CustomSkyboxes

Fully customize the Minecraft sky in real time using textures or animated GIFs from a resource pack.
Replace the sky, sun, moon, stars, clouds, rain and snow individually, globally or per biome, in the Overworld, the Nether and the End — with entrance and exit animations, looping effects and stackable suns and moons.

Client-side mod. No server installation needed.

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Supported Versions

Loader	Minecraft
Fabric	1.20.1 · 1.20.4 · 1.21.1 · 1.21.4 · 1.21.5 · 1.21.8 · 1.21.11 · 26.2
NeoForge	1.20.1 · 1.20.4 · 1.21.1 · 1.21.4 · 1.21.5 · 1.21.8 · 1.21.11 · 26.2
Forge	1.20.1 · 1.20.4

Fabric versions require Fabric API.

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Commands

/customskyboxes set   <type> <texture|color> [name=value ...]
/customskyboxes clear <type|all> [layer=N]
/customskyboxes reload
/customskyboxes animate <sky|day_sky|night_sky|sun|moon> <preset> [time] [name=value ...]
/customskyboxes animate stop [preset]
/customskyboxes biome set     <biome> <type> <texture|color> [name=value ...]
/customskyboxes biome animate <biome> <type> <preset> [time] [name=value ...]
/customskyboxes biome list
/customskyboxes biome clear   <biome> <type|all>

<type>: sky · day_sky · night_sky · stars · sun · moon · clouds · rain · snow

Every argument is written as name=value, all of them are optional and the order does not matter.
Tab completion offers the names each type accepts and their values, and stops offering one once you have used it.

/customskyboxes set sun vanilla scale=2.5 posX=EAST layer=2 anim_in=zoom_in anim_in_time=60

Argument	Types	What it does
opacity	all	0 to 1
fadein / fadeout	all	fade time in ticks (0 = instant)
speed	textures	GIF playback speed; on rain and snow it is 0 to 1, where 0 stops the fall
scale	sun, moon, stars	size multiplier
rotation	domes, sun, moon	turns the dome image, or rolls the sun and moon
layer	sun, moon	1 to 8: extra suns or moons, each with its own arguments
posX / posY	sun, moon	moves its path so it rises there and peaks at that height
direction / tilt	rain, snow	which way the weather leans, and how much
amount / daycycle	stars	how many stars, and whether they only show at night
skycolor	clouds	tints the clouds with the time of day
anim_in / anim_out	domes, sun, moon, stars	entrance and exit animation
anim_in_time / anim_out_time	same	how long that animation lasts, in ticks
animation_preset / animation_time	sun, moon	looping animation and its loop length

vanilla as the texture keeps the vanilla one and only applies the arguments, which is handy for giving rain a direction or the sun a second layer without replacing anything.

Your skyboxes are saved automatically and restored when you restart the game.

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Entrance and Exit Animations

Every one exists as _in and _out.

• Movement: fade zoom spin drop ripple curtain smoke
• Wipes: top_merge bottom_merge left_wipe right_wipe diagonal diagonal_reverse blinds iris iris_close spiral vortex
• Noise, the sky is eaten instead of faded: dissolve consume_top consume_bottom shatter
• Stars only: random_scale star_fall twinkle
• Sun and moon: the plain ones — fade zoom spin

Every animation mixes gradient noise into its edge, so the front breaks up into the sky instead of showing a drawn line, and the noise wraps around the horizon so nothing appears at the seam. Anything that travels slows down as it arrives.

/customskyboxes set sky galaxy.png anim_in=consume_top_in anim_in_time=80
/customskyboxes set sky galaxy.png anim_out=vortex_out anim_out_time=60

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Live Effects

/customskyboxes animate fires an effect without changing what is set.

Target	Presets
sky, day_sky, night_sky	pulse shockwave black_hole glitch aurora flash ripple vortex rotation nova static heartbeat
sun, moon	circle shake glitch scale float spin pulse swing orbit bounce wobble flicker

• color, strength and size shape the effect; scale (0 to 100) is what the sun or moon grows to with the scale preset.
• loop=true keeps it playing until you stop it. vortex and rotation keep turning the same way instead of rewinding.
• Several effects run at once and are mixed together, and firing one that is already playing hands over smoothly instead of restarting it.
• animate stop ends all of them, animate stop <preset> only that one.
• biome animate scopes an effect to one biome: it plays while you stand in it and goes quiet when you leave.

/customskyboxes animate sky pulse 60 color=CYAN size=3 strength=2
/customskyboxes animate sky rotation 200 loop=true
/customskyboxes animate sun scale 60 scale=8 loop=true
/customskyboxes biome animate minecraft:desert sky heartbeat 40 color=RED loop=true
/customskyboxes animate stop vortex

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Sky Domes

• sky is always visible, day_sky fades in during the day and night_sky at night.
• Works in the Nether and the End, including during the Ender Dragon fight.
• Textures are mapped as a 360° panorama (2:1 images look best): the top of the image is the zenith and the middle is the horizon.
• The left and right edges blend smoothly where they meet. Use rotation to move that spot, for example behind mountains.
• The sun and the moon are drawn above the dome and the stars, so nothing covers them.

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Resource Pack Folder Structure

assets/customskyboxes

customskyboxes/
├── sun
├── moon
├── night_sky
├── day_sky
├── sky
├── clouds
├── rain
└── snow

Supports .png and animated .gif files, in folders or in .zip packs. After adding textures, run /customskyboxes reload or press F3+T.

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Multiplayer

Use the CustomSkyboxesPlugin (Paper/Spigot 1.20.1+) to control the skies of @a or any player from the server:

/customskyboxesplugin set     <@a|player> <type> <texture|color> [name=value ...]
/customskyboxesplugin clear   <@a|player> <type|all>
/customskyboxesplugin animate <@a|player> <type> <preset> [time] [name=value ...]
/customskyboxesplugin biome set     <@a|player> <biome> <type> <texture|color> [name=value ...]
/customskyboxesplugin biome animate <@a|player> <biome> <type> <preset> [time] [name=value ...]
/customskyboxesplugin biome clear   <@a|player> <biome> <type|all>
/customskyboxesplugin reload  <@a|player>

Everything tab completes, so there is nothing to memorise. Players need the mod installed and the textures in their resource pack.

There is also the Client Execution Mod if you prefer running the client command directly.

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For Developers

org.cotii.customskyboxes.api.CustomSkyboxesAPI drives the mod from code, with the same name=value arguments the command takes:

CustomSkyboxesAPI.set(SkyboxType.SKY, Identifier.of("mymod", "sky/aurora.png"), "fadein=40 rotation=90");
CustomSkyboxesAPI.setVanilla(SkyboxType.SUN, "layer=2 posX=EAST posY=HIGH scale=0.6");
CustomSkyboxesAPI.animateDome(SkyboxType.SKY, "pulse", 60, 0x00FFFF, 1f, 3f);
CustomSkyboxesAPI.clear(SkyboxType.SUN);

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Why Use CustomSkyboxes?

CustomSkyboxes is perfect for Minecraft map makers, server developers, and content creators who want to create immersive environments and cinematic effects.

With real-time sky customization, you can:

• Create dynamic weather and atmosphere
• Add animated skies using GIFs
• Build unique biomes and dimensions
• Improve storytelling and immersion
• Make maps feel more alive and professional
• Instantly change visuals during gameplay

Whether you're making an adventure map, horror experience, RPG server, or cinematic project, CustomSkyboxes gives you full creative control over the Minecraft sky.

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What's New in 1.0.3

• New syntax: every argument is now an optional name=value in any order, with full tab completion
• New: entrance and exit animations (anim_in / anim_out) — wipes, noise reveals that eat the sky, and more
• New: /customskyboxes animate with 12 sky effects and 12 sun and moon presets, stackable, loopable and per biome
• New: up to 8 suns and moons at once with layer, placed with posX and posY
• New: direction and tilt to make rain and snow lean, and speed from 0 to 1 to slow or stop the fall
• New: developer API
• Fixed: the sky being cut off by the void
• Fixed: clouds vanishing instantly when changing biome, and biome overrides ignoring their exit animation
• Fixed: animations not drawing on 1.21.11 and 26.2
• Fixed: textures inside .zip resource packs not loading
• Improved: the seam where the two edges of the image meet is now equally smooth on every version
• Improved: much lighter — effects and animations run two to three times faster than before