AnimatedArmor 1.0.1 — legacy setup guide

AnimatedArmor adds animated equipment textures to Nexo and ItemsAdder component armor. It reads vertical texture strips and their animation metadata during resource-pack generation. Optional emissive strips add glowing detail.

This is the existing 1.0.1 release, not a rebuilt 26.3 update. Its source project was unavailable for this refresh, and Minecraft 26.3 startup, pack generation and client rendering have not been verified. The historical catalogue listed 1.21.6–26.2; that is a legacy claim, not a new compatibility test. Keep a working server and pack backup before trying another Minecraft or provider version.

Requirements

A Paper-compatible server on a version supported by your installed provider and plugin build.
Nexo or ItemsAdder. The historical setup specified ItemsAdder 4.0.18 or later; later releases have not been verified in this refresh.
The Java runtime required by the server. The legacy plugin uses Java 21 bytecode; a newer Minecraft server can require a newer runtime.
Players accepting the finished resource pack.
Optional PacketEvents for equipment-packet handling. No new PacketEvents-version compatibility claim is made for this legacy binary.

Install and try the example

Stop the server and back up the existing plugin folders and resource pack.
Put AnimatedArmor.jar in plugins, alongside the selected provider. Keep one AnimatedArmor JAR installed.
Start the server and inspect its startup log and generated plugins/AnimatedArmor/config.yml.
On a test setup, run /aarmor generate cherry to install the bundled Cherry example into the detected provider.
Rebuild the provider pack. The legacy instructions use /nexo reload all for Nexo, or /iareload followed by /iazip for ItemsAdder. Use the commands appropriate to your installed provider version.
Reconnect, accept the new pack, obtain and equip an example armor piece through the provider, and check it with the clients you support.

Create an animated texture

First make an ordinary working custom armor set in the provider. Stack at least two armor-layer frames vertically in one PNG. Each frame is width × (width / 2): eight 64×32 frames make a 64×256 strip.

Put an animation file beside each strip, such as layer_1.png.mcmeta:

{
  "animation": {
    "frametime": 2,
    "interpolate": true
  }
}

frametime is ticks per frame; interpolate controls blending. Leave the top-left three pixels of the first frame transparent for the plugin’s control data.

Provider	Legacy source layout
Nexo	`<prefix>_armor_layer_1.png` and `<prefix>_armor_layer_2.png`, with matching `.png.mcmeta` files, in the main pack or an external pack.
ItemsAdder	`contents/<namespace>/textures/armor/<name>/layer_1.png` and `layer_2.png`, with matching `.png.mcmeta` files. The armor folder name must match the equipment name.

Layer 1 is used by the helmet, chestplate and boots; layer 2 is for leggings. Rebuild and deliver the complete provider pack after changing textures.

For emissive detail, add a same-sized _e.png strip beside the colour texture. Non-black pixels identify glowing areas; the emissive strip follows the colour strip’s timing and does not need its own animation metadata. Shaderpacks and other texture mods can change how this renders, so check the result in the actual client.

Configuration

The legacy defaults are:

speed-multiplier: 1.0
default-frametime: 1
debug: true
shader:
  skip-overlays:
    - mythicarmor
shader-fallback:
  enabled: true

speed-multiplier scales animation speed; default-frametime is used when the strip omits one. debug enables pack-generation diagnostics. shader.skip-overlays preserves matching third-party shader overlays. shader-fallback.enabled controls generation of per-frame equipment assets for the alternative frame-swapping route.

Apply configuration changes with /aashader reload, then rebuild the pack where the change affects generated assets. Preserve exclusions for another plugin’s shader rather than removing them to force an export.

Commands and permissions

Command	Purpose
`/aarmor generate cherry`	Install the bundled example armor through the detected provider.
`/aashader status`	Show your animation mode.
`/aashader on`	Select the shaderpack/frame-swapping mode on the supported Nexo route.
`/aashader off`	Select the core-shader mode on the supported Nexo route.
`/aashader auto`	Return to automatic client-brand selection.
`/aashader reload`	Reload configuration.
`/aashader debug <player>`	Show a player’s diagnostic report.

animatedarmor.shader defaults to everyone. animatedarmor.admin defaults to operators and is required for administration. The archived guide limits manual per-player overrides to the Nexo route; ItemsAdder uses automatic selection.

Troubleshooting and limits

If no animation is found, check the strip name, adjacent .mcmeta, provider folder and matching equipment name.
If a strip is visible instead of armor, check pack-generation errors, the control-pixel corner and that the client accepted the newest pack.
If shader patching reports an unrecognized structure, preserve the log and stop treating that client version as supported. A future shader layout needs an actual code update.
If only some clients render correctly, compare /aashader status, client mods and the pack actually loaded. Client-brand detection does not prove a shaderpack is active or compatible.

The legacy guide described shaderpack and converted Bedrock workflows. Those combinations, third-party shader merges and performance under load were not retested here. Do not infer 26.3 compatibility from a successful download or from the availability of the frame-swapping option.

Existing 1.0.1 changes

The archived update notes record ItemsAdder support, bStats integration, a Nexo external-pack armor correction and an ItemsAdder error-spam fix. This documentation refresh does not change the legacy JAR.