ChangeSkinX Minecraft Plugin

Last modified on Apr 18, 2023 in Plugins

By Nathan Young

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Overview

Customizing your Minecraft account is an extremely important and popular feature in the game, as it allows you to personalize your character for anyone to view. However, changing your skin while in-game is never simple and may create frustration. This is amplified if you’re roleplaying or simply messing around with friends. Luckily, there’s a solution for Spigot and Paper servers to quickly do this without leaving the game. This introduces the ChangeSkinX plugin, a popular tool that permits players to switch their skins to another player’s one. Users can use a short command to easily do it, which instantly applies to their in-game characters. Offline servers typically have this type of plugin, as cracked accounts are harder to control. There’s even a management system to prevent certain skins from being used, which may come in handy for admins. Installing this is quickly done with our panel, as it completely simplifies the process. With this in mind, we’ve created this Apex Hosting guide to showcase the ChangeSkinX plugin and how to install it on your Minecraft server.
 

Download

This plugin is a popular one to try out, as it has over 400,000 downloads and is available for Minecraft 1.8 to 1.19. Review the instructions below to download it and the dependency.

1. Navigate to ChangeSkinX on CurseForge, then click Files in the top menu.
   
2. Locate your desired Game Version for this plugin, then select it.
3. Once found, press the Download button to the right-hand side.
   
4. Save this file somewhere easily accessible for later use.
5. Additionally, download ProtocolLib since it’s a dependency plugin.
   Note: If you’re using 1.19 or higher, use this link instead to download it.

Installation

Follow the steps below to learn how to quickly install these plugins on your Minecraft server.

1. Head towards your Apex server panel, then click FTP File Access near the top left.
   

   Important: Ensure to use the correct Server Profile for this process.

2. Login with your password and continue into the plugins directory.
   
3. In the top left corner, press Upload and drag the files into the respective area.
   
4. Wait for these to reach 100%, then return to the main panel and Restart the server.
5. Once it’s loaded, join and run the /plugins command in-chat to confirm the installation.
   

   Note: If you see both plugins appear as green, then everything should work.

Getting Started

Upon joining the server with ChangeSkinX installed, you’ll notice new commands are available to use. These are automatically accessible if your account is a server operator. Using them in-game is the main function of the plugin, as it only needs one command to change skins. It’s a rather simplistic design that most players can easily follow along in-game. However, in order to successfully do this, you must have another person’s username. This is due to the plugin using Mojang servers, meaning only existing skins can be used and not custom ones. There is additional information in the sections below, which will help get you started with the ChangeSkinX plugin.
 

Commands

There’s only one main command to use, but has different arguments for it. For example, you can either use a username or UUID to switch Minecraft skins. This allows players to have more flexibility when using the plugin, plus its format is easy to remember for the future. Whether you’re wanting to pretend you’re the original creator of Minecraft (Notch) or mimicking your favorite influencer, the following commands down below show you how to do that. However, make sure to become a server operator or use a permission node plugin to manage them. A popular choice is LuckPerms, which allows you to create ranks for these commands so default and other players can run them.

Configuration

Sometimes, server owners may want to customize the plugin’s settings for unique features or disable them. For instance, inside ChangeSkinX’s configuration, there is an area to permit default skins so players without any can instantly have one. There are other options for you to try out, so follow along below to start making your changes.

1. Head towards your FTP File Access area from the main server panel, then login.
2. Continue to the plugins directory and click the ChangeSkin folder.
   
3. Afterward, press Edit to the right of the config.yml file.
   
4. Proceed to make any necessary changes, then click Save at the top.
   
5. Return to the main panel and Restart the server to apply the edits.

Skin Management

If you’re wanting to avoid inappropriate or specific Minecraft skins, then blacklisting them is required. This is done by enabling the skinPermission setting in the plugin’s configuration file, then adding the -changeskin.skin.whitelist.[UUID] node in your permissions manager. For example, server owners can block the ability to use Notch’s skin with this: -changeskin.skin.whitelist.069a79f4-44e9-4726-a5be-fca90e38aaf5. Alternatively, you can whitelist certain skins that players can only use with a similar node. Review the list below to know these permissions so you can better understand them.

Common Issues

In cases where ChangeSkinX isn’t loading or working, you’ll want to double-check that you’ve installed ProtocolLib. This is considered a dependency for the plugin to successfully load and work in-game. However, sometimes it wouldn’t function properly due to a version mismatch issue. Make sure that each plugin is for your server’s type, meaning 1.19.3 must have 1.19.3 builds of them. Once everything is confirmed, Restart the Spigot or Paper server to get everything working.
 

Sometimes players are unable to change their skins due a permissions issue, so ensure they’re granted access in your node managing plugin. We highly recommend using LuckPerms to control them, as it’s easy-to-use and has a built-in web editor too. However, you can always become a server operator to execute any command. Although, if these solutions don’t work then there could be a problem with Mojang servers and/or the account you’re using. Try using both the username and UUID to see if that helps resolve the issue.
 

This particular problem happens when a player successfully changes their skin, but attempts to send a chat message. The cause of this is due to online servers using Mojang’s authentication services to validate each one being sent. It only does this on newer versions of Minecraft, so switching that can resolve it. Although, players may simply relog into the server to fix it too. Alternatively, you can set the server in offline mode to completely solve the issue so it doesn’t occur again.
 

Useful Links

ChangeSkinX on CurseForge
How to Install Plugins on a Minecraft Server
How to Make an Offline Server in Minecraft
Installing and Using LuckPerms on Minecraft