Open the JSON in a text editor like Notepad++ . Search for terms like "hairType" , "bodyColor" , or "name" to change their values.
This is the gold standard for changing appearances. It adds a "Character Editor" item that allows you to change your hair, skin, and even your species [1].
Chucklefish, the developer, never implemented an official appearance change mechanic. While you can easily change your clothes and vanity armor at any time, your character’s (species, skin/fur color, hair style/color, body type) is saved as immutable metadata in your player file. Without a mod, changing these requires manually editing your game files or starting a brand new character.
Clicking "New Character" crashes the game to desktop or shows a completely blank UI. starbound change character appearance mod work
How to Make Starbound Character Appearance Mods Work: A Complete Troubleshooting Guide
This guide covers why appearance mods break and how to fix them so you can customize your pixel traveler without issues. Why Character Appearance Mods Stop Working
Many appearance mods do not work standalone. They alter underlying code that requires a master framework to function. Open the JSON in a text editor like Notepad++
: Use make_versioned_json to convert the text back into a format the game can read.
Trigger the glitch in-game (e.g., open the character customization screen). Close the game immediately.
Mods that alter the same default species categories will overwrite each other. It adds a "Character Editor" item that allows
Starbound: How to Make Character Appearance Change Mods Work
Starbound offers incredible freedom: you can build colonies, explore alien worlds, and customize your spaceship. But there’s one feature many players find missing from the vanilla (unmodded) game: .
: Open the new file with Notepad++ and search for "identity" to change hairType , hairColor , or skinColor .
To make changes to the body, hair, or skin color, you must use a mod or a technical workaround. 1. Top Mods for Changing Appearance (2026)