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Resources / Plugins / MapPaint

MapPaint

Paint pictures in game on canvases made of maps: brush, color wheel, export and import as a string. No resource pack.

PluginsFree1.20 – 26.x
by BbIJABNPOBATEJb · listed from Hangar
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Direct download from Hangar · 0 downloads

What it does

MapPaint is a plugin for Paper / Spigot servers, made by BbIJABNPOBATEJb. Paint pictures in game on canvases made of maps: brush, color wheel, export and import as a string. No resource pack.

It supports Minecraft 1.20 – 26.x. That puts it at #109 of the 109 world and map plugins listed here. The last update came out on Nov 12, 2026.

Supported versions

26.x1.211.20

Release history

The newest is 1.0.0, released on Nov 12, 2026. It is made for Minecraft 1.20 – 26.3. It runs on Paper. The download is 6.5 MB.

VersionReleasedMinecraftType
1.0.0Nov 12, 20261.20 – 26.3Release

Commands

The commands named on the Hangar page of MapPaint:

/paint

Permissions

Permission nodes named there, to give with a plugin like LuckPerms:

mappaint.imagemappaint.usemappaint.exportmappaint.importmappaint.givemappaint.admin

Latest release on GitHub

MapPaint is open source. Its newest release on GitHub is MapPaint 1.0.0, published on Nov 12, 2026.

First release of MapPaint: paint pictures right in the game. One jar for Paper 1.20 – 26.3, no resource pack, no other plugins.

Paper
Java

1.20 – 1.20.4
17+

1.20.5 – 1.21.11
21+

26.1 – 26.3
25+

Download

  • mappaint-1.0.0.jar — English by default
  • mappaint-1.0.0-ru.jar — Russian by default

The jars are otherwise identical; the language can be changed at any time with /paint language (18 languages).

Features

  • Paint with the crosshair on canvases from 1×1 to 5×5 blocks, on walls, floors and ceilings.
  • A panel next to the canvas: seven tools, brush sizes and shapes, a color wheel with the whole map palette.
  • Undo and redo, transparent color, glowing paintings, signing and copies.
  • Export and import as a string, images from a URL with crop, zoom, brightness and contrast.
  • /paint report writes a file to attach to a bug report.

What works differently on older versions is listed in the README.

Description from the author on Hangar

MapPaint

Paint pictures right in the game: no resource pack, no other plugins.

A Paper 1.20 – 26.3 plugin, one jar for every version. 18 languages.

Place a canvas on a wall, take the brush and paint with your crosshair like with a mouse.
A finished painting can be signed, copied, moved to another wall, or turned into a string and sent to anyone.

The idea comes from the MC Paint datapack, but here a canvas is made of
regular maps in invisible item frames, so the client has nothing to download.

Features

  • Paint with the crosshair. Hold RMB to draw, release to finish the stroke. Strokes show up instantly.
  • Panel next to the canvas: point the brush at a canvas and buttons slide out — tools, brush sizes and shape on the left,

a color wheel on the right, painting actions on top. Only the painter sees the panel. Windows can be dragged around.

  • Seven tools: brush, eraser, fill, spray can, line, rectangle, ellipse. Shift keeps lines straight and turns

a rectangle into a square and an ellipse into a circle. The brush is round or square.

  • 244 colors — the whole map palette. Pick on the wheel, enter #RRGGBB, or take a color from a canvas or any block.
  • Canvases from 1×1 to 5×5 blocks, any proportions (the limit can be raised to 16×16), on walls, floors and ceilings.

16, 32, 64 or 128 pixels per block, changeable on a finished drawing.

  • Undo and redo — 30 steps per painting.
  • Transparent color for stickers and paintings of any shape.
  • Glowing paintings: use a glow ink sac on a painting.
  • Signing and copies: a signed painting can't be changed but can be copied in a crafting table, like a book.
  • Export and import as a string. A 96×64 drawing is about 460 characters.
  • Images from the web by URL: crop or fit, zoom, offset, brightness, contrast, saturation, dithering.
  • Placement preview: while you hold a canvas, the spot it will take glows on the wall.
  • Painting together: the author can open a canvas for everyone.
  • My paintings — everything you painted stays in storage even if the item is lost.
  • 18 languages, switched with /paint language.

Install

Drop mappaint-1.0.0.jar into plugins and restart the server. PacketEvents is bundled inside, you don't need it
as a separate plugin.

The language is English by default and is switched with /paint language . A build also produces
mappaint-1.0.0-ru.jar, the same plugin with Russian by default; it is attached to the GitHub releases.

Versions

One jar for Paper 1.20 – 26.3. Painting, the panel, menus, export, import and images work on every version.
What depends on the version:

1.20 – 1.20.1 · 1.20.2 – 1.21.3 · 1.21.4 – 1.21.5 · 1.21.6 – 1.21.8 · 1.21.9 – 1.21.10 · 1.21.11 – 26.3
Input windows · chat + chest menus · chat + chest menus · chat + chest menus · ✔ dialogs · ✔ dialogs · ✔ dialogs
Panel icons · item displays · item displays · item displays · item displays · ✔ sprites · ✔ sprites
Plugin items · brush, paper, painting · brush, paper, painting · ✔ own look · ✔ · ✔ · ✔
A stroke ends · ¼ s after release · ¼ s after release · ✔ at once · ✔ · ✔ · ✔
Walking while painting · ✔ · ✔ · slower · slower · slower · ✔
Color from a block · ✘ · ✔ · ✔ · ✔ · ✔ · ✔

1.21.6 and newer · Older
Titles, color codes and painting codes go into a dialog · The same is typed in chat; a code is copied by clicking a chat message and goes in parts of 200 characters
Image settings · Image settings as a chest menu

1.21.9 and newer · Older
Icons are sprites inside text, always bright · Icons are item displays, darker on walls facing east and west

On 1.21.4 and older a block outline can show between canvas tiles under the crosshair.

Language

/paint language current language and the list
/paint language ru switch

Bundled: en, ru, uk, de, fr, es, pt, it, pl, tr, nl, cs, sv, zh, ja, ko, vi, id.

The choice is saved to config.yml (language: en). Translations live in plugins/mappaint/lang/ and can be edited;
put your own xx.yml there and it becomes available as /paint language xx. Missing keys fall back to English.
Items that were already given out keep the text they were created with.

Quick start

  1. Craft a brush (stick + feather) and a canvas (paper + stick).
  2. Need a bigger one? Hold a stack of 1×1 canvases and press Shift + RMB to pick a size: a 2×4 canvas takes eight.

A crafting table works too: identical canvases laid out as a rectangle merge into one.

  1. Place the canvas with RMB on a wall, floor or ceiling.
  2. Take the brush and paint.

Brush controls

Action · What it does
RMB on a canvas (can be held) · Paint with the current tool
LMB on a canvas · Pick the color under the crosshair
LMB on a block · Pick the block's map color
RMB or LMB on a panel button · Press it
Shift + RMB off the canvas · Palette and tools as a chest menu
Shift while painting · Straight line, square, circle
Shift + mouse wheel · Brush size
Q / Shift + Q · Previous / next tool
F / Shift + F · Undo / redo

You can paint from up to 6 blocks away.

The panel

Every window has a + handle in the top right corner: hold RMB on it and drag, the window follows your crosshair and
flows around the canvas and the other windows. With LMB it's two clicks: grab and drop. Shift + click puts a window back,
/paint panel resets all three. The layout is remembered per player and used for every canvas.

What to do with a painting

Action · What it does
LMB on a painting without the brush · Take it down
RMB with a glow ink sac · Make it glow (a regular ink sac reverts it)
Painting + blank canvas of the same size in a crafting table · A copy. Signed paintings only
A single painting in a crafting table · A blank canvas. The drawing stays in "My paintings"
A single big canvas in a crafting table · 1×1 canvases back

Only the player who placed a painting can take it down. Only the author paints on it, unless "Anyone can paint" is on.

Screenshots

The Mona Lisa, The Starry Night and The Great Wave off Kanagawa (public domain) were loaded with /paint image.

Export and import

/paint export shows the painting code with a Copy button. The house drawing from the screenshot above, 96×64 pixels:

pc1:7ZVLjsMgDIbVqcbHYMGKU8yShY_DEXOyCcEQmhBiXlKr8ldVqjT9PmMefTx_fvXMO0W61P4ct9ziKwUYkmXXGhBzAikbBYg5gZSNAsSs4N35iKUC3ZffuH7u-ckYY0byjeEKaviGMohv9rSvzyw-JxBbyvnGcAQgRFpQiL8SwIWglH4WALjmrAY4CSrwRwHY5lg4eAPj_yWHPwhWrH270AC0Zm8qnkG4-t0wmumvghUoNr6dA3vtgI8EUXco25w04neBa46fXjeKe0EBP3Se-rO-dMf6hW97vIY0ZxKU-ktHqddzB3YD9Yo1xTz-vjZJYoUd-b7-ML12Irry4_0F3ftDx6ZrDh1xPev3AtoBtE6L-ItPkh9G4ItnHkBsfhgBOXRvvo74_PIL-PR4-v7kfwMfzlGKPixLfIm-ODyevn8Z5RPqD3c-gl-Y0XwYjJ-ZmZmZGZF_

/paint import opens a window to paste a code. The drawing goes:

  • onto the canvas you are looking at, if it's yours (F undoes it);
  • otherwise into a blank canvas in your hand;
  • in creative mode a new painting is simply created.

A code isn't tied to a server, a world or a game version. If the canvas has another size, the drawing is stretched.

Importing costs paper: one sheet per block of the painting (configurable). Free in creative mode and for admins.

Imported paintings are marked: the item gets a yellow "Import" line, and menus show "import" next to the state.
The mark goes away only when the import is undone or the canvas is cleared.

Very long codes are split into parts of about 12 thousand characters; the windows walk you through them.

Images from a URL

/paint image [url] or the panel button opens a window with settings:

The image goes to the same place a code would. Tuning is easiest on a canvas that already hangs: apply, look,
open the window again — settings are kept, the previous result is replaced and paper isn't charged twice.

mappaint.image is op-only by default because the server itself downloads the URL. Localhost and LAN addresses are
refused unless allowed in the config.

A painting as a block

Left: a block covered with three paintings of the bedrock texture. Right: real bedrock.

  • import the 16×16 texture onto a 1×1 canvas;
  • tick "Darken like a block face": the game shades block faces by direction and doesn't shade maps.

The correction depends on where the canvas faces, so import onto a canvas that already hangs, each face separately;

  • put a block of a similar color underneath: maps in frames are always drawn 1/128 of a block above the surface,

so a thin seam shows the block below.

Admin menu

/paint admin gives plugin items (Shift + LMB for 64) and lists every painting on the server:
LMB to take, RMB to export, Shift + RMB twice to delete forever.

Commands

/paint, also /mappaint. Painting commands apply to the painting you look at, then to the one in your hand.

Command · What it does
/paint · Palette and tools
/paint gallery · My paintings
/paint color · Color, the nearest one from the map palette
/paint size · Brush size in canvas pixels
/paint tool · Tool
/paint undo, /paint redo · Undo and redo
/paint panel · Put moved panel windows back
/paint clear · Fill the canvas with white (can be undone)
/paint sign [title] · Sign
/paint export · Painting code
/paint import [code] · Paste a code
/paint image [url] · Image from the web
/paint admin · Items and all paintings
/paint give [WxH] [amount] [player] · Give the brush or canvases
/paint language [code] · Plugin language
/paint report [seconds] · Debug file for a bug report
/paint reload · Reload config.yml and translations
/paint help · Short help

Permissions

Permission · Default · Gives
mappaint.use · everyone · Painting, placing canvases, /paint and menus
mappaint.export · everyone · Export
mappaint.import · everyone · Import
mappaint.image · op · /paint image
mappaint.give · op · /paint give
mappaint.admin · op · Other players' paintings, /paint reload, language and report, no limits and no costs. Includes everything above

Config

plugins/mappaint/config.yml, applied with /paint reload.

Setting · Default · Meaning
language · en · Plugin language
update-check · true · Tell admins when a new version is out
features.panel · true · Buttons next to the canvas; false — only the /paint menu
features.placement-preview · true · Outline of the place a canvas in hand will take
features.glowing · true · A glow ink sac makes a painting glow
features.shared-painting · true · The author can let everyone paint on a canvas
sounds · true · Interface sounds
canvas.max-size · 5 · Biggest canvas side in blocks, up to 16
canvas.default-resolution · 32 · Pixels per block of a new canvas
canvas.resolutions · 16, 32, 64, 128 · Resolutions players can choose
canvas.reach · 6.0 · Painting distance
canvas.resolution-undo-minutes · 30 · How long a resolution change can be reverted without losing detail
brush.max-size · 32 · Biggest brush
brush.eraser-transparent · false · The eraser makes pixels transparent instead of white
limits.paintings-per-player · 200 · 0 — unlimited
limits.undo-steps · 30 · Undo steps per painting
protection.only-placer-breaks · true · Only the placer can take a painting down
import.paper-per-block · 1 · Paper per block of the painting, 0 — free
import.code · true · Import from a string
import.image-url · true · Import images from a URL
import.image-max-bytes · 8 MB · Download size limit
import.image-resolution · 128 · Resolution of paintings created from an image
import.image-allow-private-hosts · false · Allow localhost and LAN URLs
autosave-seconds · 20 · How often changed paintings are saved
recipes.brush, recipes.canvas · stick + feather, paper + stick · Shapeless recipe ingredients

Placing and breaking go through the regular HangingPlaceEvent and HangingBreakByEntityEvent, so protection plugins work.

Notes

  • Colors are limited to what a map can show: 61 base colors with 4 shades each.
  • Drawings are stored by the plugin in plugins/mappaint/paintings. Without the plugin the maps in frames are empty.
  • A sketch taken from "My paintings" twice is the same painting: e

Written by BbIJABNPOBATEJb. Read it with pictures on Hangar.

How to install MapPaint

  1. Make sure your server runs Paper and Spigot on Minecraft 1.20 – 26.x.

  2. Download the .jar file from Hangar and put it in the plugins folder of your server.

  3. Restart the server. Avoid /reload, many plugins do not handle it well.

  4. Type /plugins in the console: MapPaint should be listed in green. Its config files are created in the plugins folder on the first start.

Full guide: How to install plugins on a Minecraft server

Compatibility

Minecraft versions
26.x, 1.21, 1.20
Runs on
Paper, Spigot
Edition
Java
Needs
Nothing else
License
MIT
Price
Free
Upkeep
Actively updated (Nov 12, 2026)

MapPaint compared with similar ones Compare all alternatives

ResourceDownloadsVersionsLast updatePrice
MapPaintthe one you looked at01.20 – 26.x46 min agoFree
ImageFrameLOOHP270K1.13 – 26.xSep 18, 2026Free
Take It Outrofumer121K1.20 – 26.x7 days agoFree
TreasureMapsPlusMachine_Maker8361.19 – 1.21Jun 19, 2025Free

Questions

Does MapPaint work on Minecraft 26.x?

Yes. MapPaint supports Minecraft 26.x. All supported versions: 26.x, 1.21, 1.20.

Is MapPaint free?

Yes. MapPaint is free to download from Hangar.

Which server software does MapPaint run on?

MapPaint runs on Paper and Spigot servers.

Is MapPaint still updated?

Yes. The last update came out in the past day.

What are the best alternatives to MapPaint?

The closest ones are ImageFrame, Take It Out and TreasureMapsPlus. Compare all alternatives

Alternatives to MapPaint

Take It OutPlugins · 1.20 – 26.x

Minecraft mod that lets you pick blocks from shulker boxes using mouse wheel, Easy Place, or right-click — perfect for Litematica schematics and printers.

Free120,739 downloads
heroic-mapPlugins · 26.x

Isometric and top-down maps of your world, rendered like the game itself, with a web map, layers and a companion mod.

Free18 downloads
Compare all alternatives ›

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