First-person Model — realistic first-person view mod with body rendering for Minecraft

Minecraft version used for this article: 26.1.2

Supported version range: 1.16.5 – 26.1.2

Dependencies: Not Enough Animations, Fabric API

First-person Model replaces the standard first-person view in Minecraft. Instead of a pair of floating hands at the bottom of the screen, you can see your actual body — torso, legs, and arms — directly while moving. The mod is entirely client-side and purely visual: it doesn't affect mechanics, doesn't move the camera, and isn't installed on the server. 

What changes in the view

Once enabled, looking down reveals your character's legs while walking, sneaking, or swimming. Hitting a block, drawing a bow, raising a shield — all these animations are displayed differently.

The camera stays at the exact same height and position as in vanilla. The hitbox, attack angle, and interaction distance remain unchanged. Therefore, using the mod on servers with anti-cheat protections carries zero risk.

The camera stays at the exact same height and position as in vanilla. The hitbox, attack angle, and interaction distance…

A player walking forward and looking down — moving legs and body are visible in first-person view

Toggling and switching

By default, the mod is active right after launching the game. The F6 key toggles between the mod's mode and the standard hand view directly in-game.

By default, the mod is active right after launching the game. The F6 key toggles between the mod's mode and the standard…

Minecraft keybind settings screen showing First-person Model bound to F6

Config

The configuration file is located at .minecraft/config

ParameterWhat it does
enabledByDefaulttrue — the mod is active on every launch; false — disabled until you press F6 manually
vanillaHandsModeVanilla hands mode
dynamicModetrue — the mod automatically switches between the full model and vanilla hands depending on the viewing angle; false — no automatic switching
vanillaHandsSkipSwimmingtrue — vanilla hands are always displayed while swimming, regardless of the mode; false — behavior follows the general mode
autoVanillaHandsA list of specific items in mod:item format. Holding any of these automatically switches the mod to vanilla hands
autoToggleModItemsItems that completely disable the mod when held. Used for items where the full body model interferes with interaction
hiddenLayersPlayer model layers that won't be rendered in first-person view. An empty list means all layers are visible
xOffsetHorizontal model offset in the standard state
sneakXOffsetHorizontal model offset while sneaking
sitXOffsetHorizontal model offset while sitting
renderStuckFeaturestrue — renders model features that are "stuck" in certain player states; false — disables their rendering

true — the mod is active on every launch; false — disabled until you press F6 manually 

true — the mod automatically switches between the full model and vanilla hands depending on the viewing angle; false — no automatic switching 

vanillaHandsSkipSwimming 

true — vanilla hands are always displayed while swimming, regardless of the mode; false — behavior follows the general mode 

A list of specific items in mod:item format. Holding any of these automatically switches the mod to vanilla hands 

Items that completely disable the mod when held. Used for items where the full body model interferes with interaction 

Player model layers that won't be rendered in first-person view. An empty list means all layers are visible 

Horizontal model offset in the standard state 

Horizontal model offset while sneaking

Horizontal model offset while sitting 

true — renders model features that are "stuck" in certain player states; false — disables their rendering 

autoVanillaHands and autoToggleModItems

Both parameters contain lists of item IDs. The difference between them: autoVanillaHands only switches the hand rendering to vanilla, while autoToggleModItems completely disables the entire mod as long as the item is held. For items with complex 3D geometry or specific aiming mechanics, the first option is softer, while the second is a full fallback to standard behavior.

Conflicts

Mods that alter the player model in non-standard ways can conflict with the rendering. The outward symptom is seeing the character's head when looking down. If this happens, the cause is an installed mod modifying the skin or skeleton outside the vanilla format. 

Conclusion

First-person Model does one thing: it shows the player's body in first-person without impacting mechanics. The configuration flexibility via autoVanillaHands and autoToggleModItems allows you to exactly define which items should keep vanilla behavior. It is great for survival modpacks where immersion is important, while the F6 toggle keeps it convenient for PvP setups.

Installation

A typical installation takes about 5 minutes. The flow is the same; only the loader and the matching build differ.

  1. Install a mod loader (Forge, Fabric or NeoForge) that matches your Minecraft version.
  2. Download the mod file (.jar) built for that same version.
  3. Place the .jar into your .minecraft/mods folder.
  4. Launch Minecraft with the modded profile and check the mod loads in-game.